Tory support jumps slightly

1. Polling gap widens. Maybe it's that Olympic bounce they had been hoping for. Or maybe all of those bad feelings about prorogation have just melted away with the snow.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party are suddenly up again in the polls - just as Parliament prepares to return from its long winter's nap .

And Michael Ignatieff's Liberals? Well, not so much. But perhaps they can take some solace in the fact the spread between them and the Conservatives has been bigger since Mr. Ignatieff took over as leader.

A new survey in Canwest papers today suggest that the Conservatives enjoy the support of 37 per cent of voters, up three percentage points from a month ago, and that the Liberals are trailing at 29 per cent, which means they have lost two points. The NDP were the first choice of 16 per cent of those surveyed and the Bloc had 39 per cent support in Quebec

But, as they head back to what is expected to be a raucous session of Parliament (assuming the government survives the budget vote) both Mr. Harper and Mr. Ignatieff might take some stock of their own popularity.

The survey suggests that four in 10 Canadians have a worse impression of Mr. Harper than they did three months ago - compared to one in 10 who say he has improved in their eyes. And Mr. Ignatieff is also losing favour with three in 10 saying their impression of him has worsened.

Ipsos surveyed 1,000 Canadians by telephone Feb. 18-22. It says the national results of its poll are accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The regional results have a wider margin of error.

2. The new accountability? There's more controversy at Rights and Democracy.

Bruce Campion-Smith of the Toronto Star reports today that the Montreal-based agency, funded by the federal government, plans to give its new president greater powers to award contracts without public tenders.

According to the Star, a proposed change to the agency's bylaws would allow the president to appoint or engage "employees, agents, consultants and advisers" without first having to seek competitive bids for the work.

This comes as employees complain that, since the death of former president Remy Beauregard, there have been many contracts signs that did not comply with the agency's rules and procedures.

Outside auditors are now probing Rights and Democracy's finances.

So staff members are complaining about spending by interim president Jacques Gautier while chairman Aurel Braun has accused Mr. Beauregard of lacking oversight. And incoming president Gérard Latulippe will get more discretion to spend as he pleases.

(Editorial cartoon by Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)