A new poll conducted by the largest Canadian-owned market research and analytics company has the governing territorial Liberals trailing well back of the front running Yukon Party.

As described by the official Opposition party, the Léger poll – which the party commissioned and which involved 500 responders – “has found Yukoners have lost confidence in the territorial Liberal government.”

The survey asked, “If the Yukon election were held today, which party’s candidate would you vote for? Would it be...?

“(If undecided), which of the territorial parties are you leaning, even slightly, toward supporting at this time?”

Léger discovered the Liberals are polling at 23 per cent, down from 28 per cent last January.

The Yukon Party is currently polling at 45 per cent, with the NDP at 30 per cent.

The Léger poll shows that just 11 per cent of voters are undecided.

“This most recent poll, conducted after Premier (Sandy) Silver announced his retirement, demonstrates that even knowing a change of leadership is coming, Yukoners have lost faith in the Liberals,” said Brad Cathers, the Yukon Party’s Democratic Institutions critic.

“Less than one quarter of Yukoners support the territorial Liberal government.”

The poll results come after the territorial Liberals “have ignored the cost of living crisis, failed to address the doctor shortage, mismanaged the education system, and fumbled their response to the need for more housing lots,” the Yukon Party said.

(As the Star reported last week, at that time, the government released a series of measures designed to help Yukoners cope with the rising cost of living.)

“Yukoners want a government that is focused on their priorities, including making life more affordable,” added Cathers.

“The Yukon Party will continue to focus on the issues that are important to Yukoners, and on solutions that respond to people’s needs and priorities.”

This morning, the Star asked cabinet communications staff for reaction to the findings.

“We will not be commenting on a Yukon Party-commissioned poll,” was the response.

Léger conducted its phone interviews with the 500 Yukoners between Sept. 12 and 21.

The survey research was conducted by live-agent telephone data collection from Léger’s virtual call centre in Winnipeg.

The results of this study are accurate +/- 4.35 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

The survey was jointly developed by Léger and the Yukon Party.

The interviews averaged about seven minutes in length. The sample was developed by Léger and consisted of a combination landline and wireless records.

All surveys were conducted in English.

Quotas were set to ensure a proper balance of interviews were conducted with men and women.

In addition, the final data have been weighted to ensure they accurately reflect the age and gender based on federal voter turnout incidence in the territory.

Léger has more than 600 employees working in eight Canadian and U.S. offices.