As the Freedom Convoy enters its third week, Canadians are saying they’re not happy with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s performance.
A new poll from Maru Public Opinion finds that in response to the Freedom Convoy, “a majority (53%) of Canadians think the Prime Minister has looked weak in the face of threats to the country.”
Even worse for Trudeau, only 16% of Canadians say they would vote for the prime minister based on how he has dealt with the situation, as opposed to the 63% who say they wouldn’t.
“The last time I’ve seen numbers even close to this were in the final days of Brian Mulroney,” said Maru executive vice-president John Wright. “I think this could cost him (Trudeau) his job.”
During the Sep. 2021 election, Trudeau’s Liberals won 32% of the votes. According to polls, however, their performance since then is casting doubt on whether or not they are fit to govern, and even if Trudeau is fit to be the leader of his own party.
The poll found that only 3 in 10 Canadians believe that Justin Trudeau acted as a Prime Minister should act in face of a protest, while a plurality of Canadians believe that he should not be leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Despite overwhelmingly unfavourable coverage of the Freedom Convoy by the legacy media, Trudeau seems to have been unable to capitalize on any public disapproval of the protesters to enhance his own image.
As the convoy was approaching Ottawa and calling for an end to COVID restrictions, Trudeau called the protesters a “fringe minority” that holds “unacceptable views.”
While another poll recently suggested that 54% Canadians support ending all COVID restrictions, the findings of the Maru poll suggest that 44% of Canadians believe Trudeau has actually inflamed the situation with the truckers. Another 31% believe he is responsible for the incitement of the protests, while only 7% blame the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.
With increasing demands to dump federal public health measures and with five provinces having announced their own plans, Trudeau has yet to take any action to repeal federal COVID mandates.
Instead, Trudeau announced on Monday that he was invoking the Emergencies Act to deal with the ongoing protests, the same day that Ontario premier Doug Ford said his province would be dropping vaccine passports on March 1.
