The federal budget is only being presented next week, but already we know a lot of its highlights — thanks to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau laying it all out for us ahead of time. What’s behind this unusual strategy, and will the Liberals be able to use the budget to change the dial?

Plus, what position does Trudeau’s jurisdictional fights with the premiers put Pierre Poilievre in? And with the New Democrats losing three veteran MPs who won’t run in the next election, what’s the state of the NDP?

To break it all down, the political pollsters are back.

Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer at Pollara, was director of research and advertising in Justin Trudeau’s prime minister's office and the Liberals’ pollster during the last three federal election campaigns.

Andrew Enns is executive vice-president at Léger. He conducted polling for the Conservatives in Stephen Harper’s last three campaigns and has polled for provincial conservative parties across Canada.

James Valcke is director of research and strategy at Viewpoints Research, which has polled for the NDP in elections across the country. He has worked on various central campaigns, including Jack Layton's breakthrough 2011 election.

THE NUMBERS: On this week’s episode of The Numbers podcast, available for Patreon members here, Philippe and I chat about about fresh national polling numbers that suggest the pre-budget rollout the Liberals have embarked upon has not yet had an impact on public opinion. We also discuss the retirement of three veteran NDP MPs and some new poll numbers out of British Columbia and Alberta.

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