Marit Stiles's impossible moment

And polls on polls

ABOVE THE FOLD

A showdown in the NDP has morphed into a litmus test for rookie leader MARIT STILES’s authority. But first: the Grits are making a comeback in their stronghold territory and the PCs pollster gauges Ontarians on the Greenbelt saga.

POLL WATCH I — The third-place, unrecognized and leaderless Liberals are climbing back to Toronto supremacy. That’s the upshot from fresh polling Liaison Strategies released this morning.

By the numbers: Per the poll — conducted for the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada on October 3-4 — the Liberals came out on top in what used to be their key territory in the 416. Thirty-seven per cent of respondents in the 416 said they’d cast their ballots for the Liberals if an election were held today, while the PCs and NDP each earned 28 per cent support apiece.

That compares to last spring’s election in which the PCs and Liberals were neck-and-neck at 32 per cent, and the NDP brought home 28 per cent. The Greens (5 per cent) and “other” …