WINNIPEG -- A new opinion poll suggests Manitoba's NDP government is still paying a political price for its sales tax increase.
The Probe Research poll, done for the Winnipeg Free Press, had 29 per cent of decided respondents say they would vote for the NDP if an election were held now.
That's virtually unchanged from the last poll in June, which was two months after the government announced plans to raise the provincial sales tax to eight per cent from seven per cent.
The Progressive Conservatives scored 43 per cent, down three points from June, while the Liberals garnered 20 per cent -- up three points from June and a 13-point jump from the 2011 election.
Liberal support has shot up between elections in the past, including a 15 per cent score in a Probe poll in December 2010, only to fall again by voting day.
The Probe poll surveyed 1,002 people by telephone between September 19 and 28, and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Thirteen per cent of respondents were undecided or refused to state a preference.
Within Winnipeg, where 31 of the 57 legislature seats are, NDP and Tory support in the Probe poll is virtually identical. The Tories scored 37 per cent support while the NDP garnered 36 per cent.
The Tories have had a hard time winning seats in Winnipeg since they were voted out of power in 1999, and currently hold just four seats in the city.
The margin of error for the results within Winnipeg is higher than the overall poll results.
Probe surveyed 600 Winnipeg residents, and says the margin of error is +/- four percentage points.
