Galloping inflation, historic delays in the delivery of passports, airports struggling with endless lines: Canadians’ dissatisfaction with the way the country is run has a direct impact on the satisfaction rate of the Liberal government and Justin Trudeau .
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A survey conducted between July 11 and July 17 by Abacus Data shows that only 33% of Canadians believe the country is moving in the right direction, compared to 46% at the same time last year.
This is the worst result since April 2021, when the country was going through the third wave of COVID-19.
As in mid-June, 46% of respondents have a negative opinion of the Liberal government’s performance, while 38% have a positive opinion.
Justin Trudeau suffered directly, as negative impressions of the prime minister soared to 47%. Conversely, 34% of respondents have a positive opinion, a low.
This is the weakest result since Abacus Data began measuring it monthly, just over a year ago.
After a peak of 46% approval following the election period last September, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh now finds himself with 39%. As usual, Mr. Singh is the chef with the best margin between the positive and negative image (12%).
Conservatives at daggers drawn
Despite these figures, which are not very encouraging for the federal Liberals, there is very little movement in terms of voting intentions.
If an election were held today, the Liberals would garner about 31% of the popular vote compared to 33% for the Conservatives. The portrait is therefore almost identical to that of the federal elections of September 2021.
Within the Conservative base, leadership candidates Pierre Poilievre and Jean Charest have both seen their approval ratings skyrocket in the past month.
Frontrunner Pierre Poilievre now holds a 58% approval rating among Conservative voters, a 12% jump since June. Only 11% have a negative opinion of the MP.
The former premier of Quebec has nothing to be ashamed of, since his approval rating rose from 24% to 37% during the same period. Interestingly, 27% of Conservative respondents held a negative opinion of Jean Charest last month. They are now at 18%.
Since June and with the exclusion of Patrick Brown from the race over an allegation of illegal funding, Conservative voter support for Mr. Poilievre has increased more significantly (13%) than that of Jean Charest (6% ), despite Mr. Brown’s unequivocal support for Mr. Charest.
Strongly popular in the Conservative base, the picture becomes more complicated for Mr. Poilievre when the poll widens to the level of non-Conservative voters: among the latter, a greater number of people have developed a negative opinion of the MP for Carleton.
To the question “which leader best represents the values and ideas the country needs”, Mr. Charest wins over Mr. Poilievre in the general population, with 37% for the first and 29% for the second.
Again, the result contrasts with the Conservative base, where Mr. Poilievre wins 54% of the favor against 27% for Mr. Charest.
