Awwal 23, 1432 / April 27, 2011, SPA -- The left-leaning New Democrats hit new heights in polls on Wednesday, making Canada's May 2 election impossible to predict and sending a rumble of discontent through Canadian financial markets, according to Reuters. The NDP's unexpected surge could split the center-left vote and hand the ruling Conservatives a majority. It could also give the New Democrats a chance of forming their first national government, in coalition with the faltering Liberals. The New Democrats, who rail against scheduled tax cuts for big businesses and are pushing an ambitious spending agenda, have never come close to governing Canada. They are campaigning to replace what they say is a broken political system dominated by the two main parties: the Conservatives and the Liberals. An online poll by Angus Reid for the Toronto Star put support for the governing Conservatives at 35 percent, well below the 40 percent usually needed to guarantee a majority of the 308 seats in the House of Commons. The New Democrats were at 30 percent and the Liberals, who started the campaign in second place, were at 22 percent. "I'm feeling the winds of change blowing all through this country of ours," NDP leader Jack Layton told a party rally in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Clearly on a roll, he repeatedly referred to himself as the next prime minister. The concept of a Layton government, outlandish when the campaign started, grew more solid when Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said he was ready to co-operate with the NDP. "I'm happy to work with the New Democrats, not in coalition but side by side, project by project, and I think we could give great government for Canadians," he told CTV television. Layton says he is prepared to work with any party to advance his party's agenda, which includes boosting the corporate tax rate, increasing pensions and introducing a cap-and-trade system to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. These ideas will not necessarily thrill markets, which are looking more closely at the NDP's platform. The Canadian dollar lost some ground early on Wednesday amid uncertainty over who will form the next government, the path of deficit reduction, the level of corporate taxes and Ottawa's energy policy. The latter is particularly important as Canada is the largest supplier of energy to the United States.
