As we reported earlier, the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce is releasing a poll today showing voting intentions in the three Lower Vancouver Island ridings: Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, Saanich-Gulf Islands and Victoria. Former provincial management services assistant deputy minister Har Singh, was commissioned to do the poll. But the actual grunt work was done by Access Resources Corp. Haven't heard of that company before?

Well, unless you've had an overdue bill recently, that's not surprising. Access Resources is a collection agency expanding its operations into the field of market research. But what's even more interesting is that some of that research includes election polling and voter identification work for the Conservatives focusing on five British Columbia ridings, including Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca.

One reason: the company's vice-president of business development is none other than Jeff Bridge, a nice fellow who Public Eye has met several times in his capacity as a senior British Columbia operative for Stephen Harper and the Tory's Vancouver Island campaign manager (a position now occupied by Troy DeSouza).

In an interview with Public Eye, Mr. Bridge said the polling work for the chamber was not done at the same time as the polling work for the Conservatives, nor by the same people.