Justin Trudeau’s honeymoon is over, polls are showing.
The mounting scandal involving SNC-Lavalin and Jody Wilson-Raybould’s testimony against the Prime Minister’s Office has taken a toll on Trudeau’s favour among Canadians.
An Ipsos poll shows his reputation has taken a hit nationally, as 67 per cent of Canadians sided with Wilson-Raybould in her standoff with Trudeau, compared to just 33 per cent agreeing with Trudeau’s handling of things.
The same poll suggested that if an election were held in March, Trudeau would receive only 31 per cent of the vote.
A Mainstreet Research poll published Mar. 31 shows the Liberals trailing the Conservatives, with the Conservative Party of Canada on track to net 37.4 per cent of the vote, compared to just 35 per cent for the Liberals.
“The SNC-Lavalin controversy has stung the Liberals but has not knocked them out. The one question remaining is whether more damage will hit the Liberals because of this issue,” said Mainstreet Research President Quito Maggi.
In British Columbia, a province that plays a key role in any Liberal majority projections, a Research Co online poll found the majority of residents believe other party leaders are better suited to take the reins of the country, compared to Trudeau.
In the poll, which had a sample size of 800, 53 per cent of British Columbians agreed “a different party leader would do things better in Ottawa as Prime Minister than Justin Trudeau.”
What’s more telling about these numbers is that one-quarter of those who voted Liberal in 2015 find themselves looking at other options.
It’s worth noting that Wilson-Raybould herself was one of the Liberals’ star candidates in 2015. She has said she intends to run again as a Liberal in 2019 in her riding, Vancouver Granville.
