Trudeau now the most unfavourably viewed major party leader in the country
August 30, 2021 – Are Justin Trudeau’s days of enjoying unmatched political rock god status well and truly over?
The party leader whose personal appeal and political momentum spurred a third-place-to-majority victory for the Liberals in 2015 now finds himself in a place far from the halcyon days of “sunny ways” that defined his brand and leadership six years ago.
Heading into the third week of Canada’s 44th election campaign, new data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Trudeau losing support among women – long his staunchest supporters – as well as in battleground regions he needs to win if his party is to form government after Sept. 20.
The Liberal leader is now the most intensely disliked among his major party challengers, with fully two-in-five (41%) saying they view him “very unfavourably”.
Trudeau’s pain is Erin O’Toole’s gain. The Conservative Party leader’s personal momentum – that is, the number of people whose opinion of him has improved over worsened – has quadrupled since the beginning of the campaign (7% to 28%). The demographic with which he is gaining ground is key: Generation X and Baby Boomer women are looking at O’Toole more favourably, representing gains among consistent voting segments of the electorate the CPC has struggled to reach in the past.
Thus, for the first time since the writs were dropped Aug. 15, ARI polling shows a lead – albeit a very narrow one – for the Conservative Party of Canada over the Liberals (33% vs. 31% respectively).
More Key Findings:
- The Liberal Party has dropped from competitive in a three-way race in British Columbia, to trailing the CPC by nine points and the NDP by 10.
- In Ontario, a comfortable lead of 10 points two weeks ago over the CPC has diminished to two points. The same trend is unfolding in Quebec, but with the Bloc Québécois closing the gap instead. The Liberal lead in that province is now just three.
- Despite Canadians’ engagement with the crisis unfolding in Afghanistan, the top issues for this campaign continue to be climate change, health care, and COVID-19 response.
Link to the poll here: www.angusreid.org/
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