The federal Liberals remain ahead of the Conservatives in support, but lost ground to Prime Stephen Harper’s government, dropping from 16 points ahead last month to nine this month, according to the latest public opinion poll by Forum Research.

The survey Aug. 18 and 19 of nearly 1,800 Canadian voters found that 41 per cent support Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and 32 per cent support the Conservatives.

Last month at this time the Liberals were at 44 per cent to the Conservatives’ 28 per cent.

The NDP remained stable, at 18 per cent last month and 17 per cent this month.

The poll results show that if an election was held today, in the 308-seat House of Commons, the Liberals would capture 142, which would be 13 short of a majority. The Conservatives would take 110 seats, the NDP 51, the Bloc 4 and Elizabeth May would retain the Green Party’s only elected seat.

Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff suggested the Conservatives’ jump in the polls might be due to the fact that Harper has stood in the spotlight during major world events such as the conflict in Gaza and fighting in Ukraine.

“We are uncertain what has caused this dip in Liberal fortunes, but it may be connected to world events, where the prime minister has been claiming the stage with some very tough performances, which can be difficult for a candidate who is not in government to challenge,’’ Bozinoff said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Forum survey also found that 26 per cent of Canadians now lean to the side of Israel in the Mideast conflict — up from 17 per cent in May — versus 17 per cent now on the Palestinian side (it was 16 per cent in May).

The number of respondents saying they lean to neither side in the Mideast dispute dropped to 54 per cent, from 64 per cent in May.

On the conflict in Ukraine, the Forum poll found 34 per of respondents fear we’re at risk of a world war and 26 per cent called for increasing sanctions against Russia, while 16 per cent called for cutting off all trade and travel to that country.

With regard to marijuana use, 35 per cent voiced support for complete legalization and taxation of the substance, and 31 per cent support decriminalization for small amounts.

The results are based on an interactive voice-response telephone survey of 1,798 randomly selected Canadians aged 18 and over. The results based on the total sample are considered accurate, plus or minus 2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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