On shifting support

For those looking for an indication of how the Libs' carbon tax figures to play out once the novelty wears off, the latest B.C. provincial poll offers a strong hint. There, the opposition NDP hadn't been able to overtake the Campbell government despite years of Lib scandals and mismanagement - but finally pulled off the feat in the latest poll based on an all-out attack against a provincial carbon tax:

For the first time in years, more people say they would vote for B.C.'s New Democrats in an election than for the ruling Liberal party, results of a new public poll show.

Conducted independently by Angus Reid Strategies between Aug. 21 and 25, the online survey puts the NDP ahead of the B.C. Liberals by three percentage points -- a slim lead that falls within the survey's margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

However, it's still a major shift from just one year ago, when the opposition party trailed in popularity by nearly 10 points.

The survey, which comes on the heels of an internal NDP survey conducted in July showing a neck-and-neck race between parties, also reflects a strong public appetite for change, with 58 per cent of respondents saying it's time for a new political party to be in power.

For New Democrats, the numbers were heralded as a sign the party and its leader, Carole James, are on the right path ahead of the May election.

Of course, there are some other factors at play in B.C. - though it's still noteworthy that the "time for a change" numbers have only shifted now as well. And the picture is a bit murkier federally with multiple parties on each side of the carbon tax question.

But it's still striking that even in what may be the most environmentally-conscious province in Canada, a smaller carbon tax than that proposed by the federal Libs seems to have proven politically toxic for the Campbell government. And that gives voters looking for the best option to take down Harper federally yet another reason to see the NDP as the best bet to take votes and seats away from the Cons.