A discouraging drop in the polls has left the federal Liberals scrambling to support their image as a party that is fit to lead, rather than one that is destined to sit in second place.

A Strategic Counsel survey released Monday put the Conservatives at 41 per cent if an election was held immediately, with the Liberals trailing well behind at 28 per cent support among voters. That represented a two-percentage-point slide for the Liberals in a month-long period, versus a six-percentage-point gain for the Tories.

Following a morning strategy meeting, Liberal MP Ken Dryden said that the party would continue to make its case that the Conservative government is not moving in the right direction for Canadians.

He said the polls change nothing and that the Liberals will continue to vote against the government at every opportunity.

"Using this time to set out the directions that we believe matter, that we believe Canadians feel matters, that's what we need to be doing far more and presenting that kind of case to Canadians," Dryden told reporters gathered outside the meeting in Ottawa.

Rumoured defections

The Strategic Counsel survey -- conducted for CTV and The Globe and Mail -- was released only hours before the Toronto Star reported that the Conservatives are courting three sitting Liberal members to cross party lines -- a move which would push the Tories closer to majority government territory. The Liberals have denied the report.

CTV Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife, however, said the report appeared to be "mischief-making on the part of the Conservatives," rather than an immediate threat to the Liberal ranks.

At present, the Conservatives hold 143 of the 308 seats in Parliament and would require an additional 12 seats to hold a majority government. The Liberals have 77 seats.

Four seats remains vacant, including two in Quebec, as well as one in British Columbia and another in Nova Scotia.

The seats will be decided in four byelections scheduled for Nov. 9.

Looking at the bigger picture, Fife said Ignatieff was wrong to push for an election at a time when Canadians are tired of going to the polls.

The Liberal leader may also be suffering at the polls as a result of Conservative attack ads that challenge his authority as a leader, as well as from the recent unity problems the party has faced in Quebec.

"When a party is not united, you don't tend to get people supporting it," Fife told CTV News Channel from Ottawa on Tuesday morning.

More Opposition critics

Meanwhile, Ignatieff announced the expansion of his team of Opposition critics and has reorganized it to focus on government ethics, health and economic issues.

"Our new line-up represents the wealth of talent and diversity in the Liberal caucus," Ignatieff said in a statement. "Every day, our team will fight to expose Conservative failures and hold this government to account."

The Liberal leader named Mario Silva as his special adviser on Latin America issues, Bryon Wilfert on the Asia Pacific and Borys Wrzesnewskyj on emerging democracies.

Additionally, nine Liberal MPs were given new critic positions, including:

  • Kristy Duncan, who was named as the party's public health critic
  • Marlene Jennings, who became the critic on government ethics and democratic reform
  • Justin Trudeau, who was named as the youth and multiculturalism critic
  • Navdeep Bains, who became the small business and tourism critic
  • Ujjal Dosanjh, who was renamed as national defence critic.

With files from The Canadian Press