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According to the Ipsos Reid survey, his message may be starting to resonate.

[S]o far, it seems to be pretty much a showdown between the Conservatives and the NDP

Canadians are pretty well evenly split when it comes to sharing the NDP’s values, with 51% saying they do and 49% saying they don’t. That said, more Canadians seem to agree with the NDP’s take on issues than is the case for the Harper Conservatives.

Quebecers — who voted overwhelmingly for the NDP in 2011, electing a record 59 MPs (one of whom has since crossed the floor to sit with the Liberals) — were most supportive of an NDP government with 56% saying the party is ready. Ontarians were the next most supportive at 45%, followed by British Columbians (42%), Saskatchewanians and Manitobans (42%) and Atlantic Canadians (39%).

Just a quarter of those in Tory country — Alberta — agreed the NDP is ready to form government.

Bricker said the distribution of support could be a problem for the NDP as a plan to boost the number of federal seats in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario is poised to benefit the right more than the centre-left.

Meanwhile, Canadians were evenly split on the question of whether the NDP would do a good job of managing the economy with half saying they would and the other half saying they would not.

Women and younger people between the ages of 18 and 34 were more likely to agree the NDP is both ready to govern and capable of managing the economy. They’re also more likely to share the NDP’s values. That said, women were less likely than men to approve of Mulcair’s performance.

Overall, however, Mulcair and the NDP still have their work cut out for them as a majority of Canadians still don’t believe they’re ready for the country’s top job. Some 55% of Canadians said the party isn’t ready to govern, while 56% disapprove of the job Mulcair has done so far.

The survey of 1,021 Canadians was conducted online between Dec. 7 and 12, 2012. It took into account national demographics and is considered accurate to plus or minus 3.5 percentage points of the entire Canadian adult population.