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By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com

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The public approval rating of the Liberal government is down four percentage points in the latest Corporate Research Associates Inc. poll.

The survey, released Thursday, shows that 45 per cent of decided voters would back the Liberals if an election were held today, compared to 49 per cent in August and 63 per cent in February.

"Support for the ruling Liberals has declined over the course of 2008," said Don Mills, president and chief executive officer of CRA.

The Tories' popularity is up from 34 per cent in August to 38 per cent in this survey.

Paul Robichaud, opposition house leader and Tory MLA for Lameque-Shippagan-Miscou, said the numbers show a positive trend for the Tories.

"Our numbers are going up and the Liberal numbers are going down," he said.

"It is very obvious this time that the people who are not (happy) with the government are increasing."

Robichaud said the Tories are right where they want to be two years before the next election.

But while support for the Liberals is down, satisfaction with the performance of the Liberal government is up from 53 per cent in August.

"Satisfaction with the performance of the Liberal government rebounded and now stands at 60 per cent," said Mills.

Dissatisfaction with the government fell from 37 per cent three months ago to 32 per cent.

Premier Shawn Graham's popularity is also up by five percentage points to 42 per cent, compared to 37 per cent in August.

Robichaud said Graham shouldn't take too much comfort from his personal approval numbers.

He noted that former Premier Bernard Lord had a high personal approval rating in 2006 but still lost the election

Tory Leader David Alward's popularity is up in just the short time he has been leader, Robichaud said.

Alward's personal popularity is 25 per cent, compared to 18 per cent three months ago.

Leopold Mallet, executive director of the New Brunswick Liberal Party, said the poll shows support for the party and the premier is still strong.

"The premier's personal popularity ... improved over the last quarter," he said.

Mallet said he isn't worried that the party's support is down because the poll was taken right after the last federal election.

He said the fact that the Tories picked up some federal seats in New Brunswick affected the poll results.

The survey shows the NDP has the backing of 13 per cent of voters, compared to 14 per cent three months ago. Four per cent of voters support the Green party, which is unchanged from August.

The number people who are undecided, do not plan to vote or refused to state a preference is 38 per cent, down from 48 per cent in August.

NDP Leader Roger Duguay's personal popularity is at eight per cent, compared to 10 per cent in August.

The next leader of the Green party is preferred by four per cent of those surveyed, compared to three per cent three months ago.

The poll was based on a sample of 801 adult New Brunswickers conducted between Nov. 12 and Dec. 2. It's considered accurate within plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 95 times out of 100.