As the House of Commons returns to session for the fall session, support for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government has reached a “new low,” new polls show.
Just over a third of Canadians (33 percent) support the Trudeau government, according to an Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News and published Monday. That approval rating has fallen four points since the last time Ipsos conducted a similar poll in June.
Darrell Bricker, global CEO of Ipsos public affairs, said it’s not just the government’s message that is unappealing to voters, but so is the messenger himself, and by that I mean Trudeau.
“What we heard from the administration is that over the summer they were going to try to improve their popularity and approval ratings, and clearly that didn’t happen,” Bricker said in an interview with Global News.
“In fact, the numbers have gone in the opposite direction since June,” he said.
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who has led in the polls for more than a year, was favored by 45 percent of Canadians surveyed by Ipsos, who said he would be the “best prime minister in Canada.”
However, fewer Canadians felt this way about the incumbent leader, with only 26 percent saying Trudeau was their best choice for prime minister. The new leader of the Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh, was not far behind with the support of 23 percent of Canadians.
Nationally, only six percent chose Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet.
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The poll comes as MPs return to the House of Commons on Monday in a significantly changed political landscape, especially after the New Democrats pulled out of a offer-and-confidence deal with the Liberals.
Bricker said, given the Liberals’ dwindling support in the polls: “there is an incentive for the opposition parties to negotiate very hard with the government, without fear of elections.”
Voters in two Canadian ridings – one in Quebec and another in Manitoba – will also go to the polls on Monday.
In Quebec, the Liberals hope to hold on to the LaSalle-Émard-Verdun riding, which became vacant when former Justice Minister David Lametti resigned from politics. The rate has been Liberal red since its inception in 2013 and the first election in 2015, which brought the Liberals to power.
In Manitoba, the NDP hopes to keep the riding of Elmwood-Transcona in orange hands after three-term MP Daniel Blaikie resigned.
What are the biggest concerns for Canadians?
Economic issues are a top priority for Canadians.
In the Ipsos survey, 47 percent said they want Canada’s elected officials to focus on lowering the cost of everyday items like groceries this fall.
More than a third (36 percent) also want MPs to prioritize inflation and interest rates.
The annual inflation rate fell to 2.5 per cent in July, according to Statistics Canada’s latest report in August. That was the slowest pace for price growth since March 2021.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate in three successive decisions, bringing it to 4.25 percent earlier this month.
Affordable housing (28 percent) and immigration (25 percent) were also among the top five concerns for Canadians, according to Ipsos.
In preparation for Parliament’s return, the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Bloc Québécois met last week to discuss their fall strategy.
Speaking to reporters in Nanaimo, B.C., on September 11, Trudeau said he was preparing and ready to take on Poilievre.
“I can’t wait to continue working this fall with Pierre Poilievre, whose perspective is that austerity is the only way forward – because I know that confident countries invest in the future,” Trudeau said.
Poilievre has pledged to table a vote of no confidence in the Liberal government in the House of Commons “as soon as possible” – and directly challenged Singh to vote with him.
These are some of the findings from an Ipsos survey conducted on behalf of Global News between September 5 and 9, 2024. A sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18 and older were interviewed for this study. Quotas and weighting were applied to ensure that the composition of the sample reflected that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The accuracy of Ipsos’ online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.8 percentage points 19 times out of 20, if all Canadians aged 18 and older had been surveyed. The credibility interval will be wider among subgroups of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including but not limited to coverage error and measurement error.
– with files from Sean Previl of Global News and The Canadian Press
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
