"I'm sure we'll see a lot of polls that say a lot of things," said Lloyd Longfield, the Liberal candidate for Guelph, who hopes to fill the space left by Liberal MP Frank Valeriote, who is retiring after two terms in politics.

Although Guelph has shown its Liberal stripes both federally and provincially for decades, "it's not something I take for granted," Longfield said. He said as he's been campaigning, he hears plenty of support for Trudeau, who is trying to run a respectful campaign that discusses ideas and not personalities.

Longfield said he welcomes the debates when they come — and at least five are planned already, he said.

"Whatever brings active discussion is beneficial," he said. "If we get people talking, we might get people voting."

Gord Miller is the local candidate for the Green Party. He was Ontario's Environmental Commissioner before entering politics as a candidate.

In a phone interview, Miller said it's very early to put much stock in polls and that the local candidates haven't even appeared before the public in any official way. So no one even knows who they are, let alone decide if they have the chops to do the job.

Still, he sees the survey result as a positive.

"It shows the electorate has lost faith in the Liberals. That's been shaken and I'm pleased. It means I'm in the running," he said. "My fear is that everyone will vote the way they always have. This poll suggests they are thinking about what's happening.

"I'm hearing a lot of hostility over Bill C51 and more people don't like the Liberals for supporting it than the Tories for bringing it up in the first place."

Gloria Kovach, a former Guelph city councillor, is the candidate for the Conservatives and Andrew Seagram is the candidate for the NDP. Neither was available for interviews Wednesday.

The survey also asked Guelph residents what they think about the provincial Liberals' plan to sell off 60 per cent of Ontario Hydro:

• 38 per cent say the government is on the right track; 58 per cent say the government is on the wrong track; and four per cent don't know.

• 79 per cent oppose the plan, 17 per cent support the plan and three per cent don't know.

• of NDP voters (in the 2014 election), 12 per cent support it while 88 per cent are opposed.

• of Liberal voters, 26 per cent support it while 72 per cent are opposed. Two per cent don't know.

• of PC voters, 14 per cent support it while 84 per cent are opposed. Two per cent don't know.

• 74 per cent think privatization will increase electricity rates; 14 per cent think privatization will have no impact on rates; 10 per cent think it will lead to lower rates and three per cent don't know.

CUPE is holding a public meeting about the proposed Hydro One sell-off on July 23 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 103 in University Centre at the University of Guelph.

CUPE president Fred Hahn will be one of the speakers, along with Asia Barclay of the U of G's Central Student Association, Paul Kahnert, former Ontario Electricity Coalition organizer, and Martha Inglis of the Guelph and Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination.

"Selling off Hydro One is a provincial Liberal plan, but the federal Liberals may end up paying the price," Hahn states in a CUPE press release. "Both parties should be taking note that an overwhelming majority of voters in Guelph and across Ontario don't want critical public assets like Hydro One sold off."

jshuttleworth@guelphmercury.com