As Canadians prepare to head to the polls Monday, more subscribers have made up their minds on who they’ll vote for—and the incumbent Liberals are in the lead, according to The Logic’s latest survey.

Thirty-eight per cent of subscribers said they would choose the Liberals, up from 30 per cent in The Logic’s August survey. Following behind are the Conservatives at 33 per cent, up 11 percentage points from last month. About 11 per cent of respondents said they intend to vote for the NDP this month, a decrease of one percentage point. Respondents who said they were unsure of who to vote for fell from 29 per cent in August to about 10 per cent in September.

Three per cent of subscribers chose the People’s Party, another three per cent responded with “other,” and two per cent said the Green Party. Compared to August’s survey, which did not include the People’s Party, those who responded with Green Party or “other” stayed about the same, and no respondents chose the Bloc Quebecois this month.

When it comes to promoting Canadian innovation, most subscribers said in September the Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau had the strongest plan, at 35 per cent. The Conservatives under Erin O’Toole were close behind, at 34 per cent. That’s up from nearly 31 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, in August. 

About 25 per cent combined said this month that either they’re unsure or they don’t believe any party has a strong innovation plan. That’s more than those who chose the NDP under Jagmeet Singh, at three per cent, or the People’s Party under Maxime Bernier, at two per cent.

“Very little has been discussed regarding Canada’s low productivity growth [or] troubles with the innovation economy,” one subscriber said.

Another subscriber wrote, “Where is economic growth? What does it look like? How do we make more things in this country? It can’t all be about exporting raw materials and the service industry.”

The Liberals’ platform presents the party as green devotees who want to promote Canadian innovation and self-reliance. The Conservatives’ platform includes promises to rejig federal innovation programs, and ending the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Meanwhile, the NDP’s platform indicates that support for the innovation economy would come through consumers’ market power, as well as public spending on health and green infrastructure. Lastly, the Green Party says it would encourage environmental innovation by investing in cleantech and renewable energy, including a Canada-wide power grid.

While climate change and the energy transition are still a top economic issue for subscribers, the number of respondents who said so dropped from 49 per cent in August to 42 per cent this month. 

“[They need to discuss] more about the climate crisis, much more about intergenerational inequities from climate to economics. And [they need] to really address the angry tone in a more constructive manner. I want a respectful and evidence-based debate, not angry insults,” one subscriber wrote in response to a question about what the parties should be discussing.

Subscribers appear to be less confident about the economy’s ability to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic: 55 per cent of subscribers said they are optimistic, a decrease of five percentage points from last month’s subscriber’s survey. 

Respondents who say they are pessimistic fell from 28 per cent in August to 24 per cent in September, while those who are neither optimistic or pessimistic increased from 10 per cent to 17 per cent. 

“Canada has the will and capability to move forward,” a subscriber wrote.