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But the Tories expressed skepticism about the numbers. Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said they resulted from wall-to-wall convention coverage.


''Give me 48 hours of continuous exposure on television and I'll probably be more popular than I am now," said Cannon, the Tories' Quebec lieutenant.

A new poll suggests the Liberals jumped to a four-point lead over the Tories during their leadership convention last week.

The Decima poll was conducted over four days during the Liberal gathering and concluded a day after Stephane Dion was picked as leader.


The survey suggested the Liberals had the support of 35 per cent of respondents while the Tories were at 31 per cent, the NDP was at 12 per cent and the Green party was at 10 per cent.

After trailing the Tories for almost an entire year, the Liberals have been steadily catching up and even surpassing the governing party in recent surveys.


Decima CEO Bruce Anderson said the newest numbers were likely skewed upward for the Liberals because of the publicity generated by their convention. But he added that they reflect a steady trend.


''This is the continuation of a phenomenon that's been going on for a while now," Anderson said in an interview.


''It's the somewhat slow and somewhat steady erosion of Conservative support among urban voters - particularly in Quebec but also in Ontario. . . .


''In urban Canada we are seeing some consistent recovery of the Liberal brand. . . . (It) has become less toxic at a relatively steady pace."


In census metropolitan areas, the Liberals lagged behind until July but have continued building on a lead that grew to seven percentage points in the latest survey, though the smaller sample has a higher margin of error.


Anderson said Dion's capacity to hold onto that apparent lead over time will depend on his success in stealing votes from the NDP and the Green party without alienating centrist voters.


Among all the leadership candidates, he said nobody was better placed than Dion to siphon votes away from his left-leaning rivals.


Dion made the environment the central theme of his leadership bid and has voiced skepticism, albeit to a lesser degree than the NDP, about the direction of Canada's Afghanistan mission.


''(Dion's victory) is the worst possible outcome for the Green Party out of that Liberal convention," Anderson said.


''The NDP also seems to be a bit squeezed."


The Liberals had a 15-percentage-point lead over the Conservatives in Ontario, and were in second place behind the Bloc in Quebec.


The Quebec numbers suggested the Bloc had 41 per cent support, followed by 26 per cent for the Liberals and 17 per cent for the Tories.


The margins of error for these smaller samples is higher than for the national results.


Decima's results come on the heels of similarly favourable polls for the Liberals by Leger Marketing and the Strategic Counsel.