Canadians favour the Conservative Party of Canada’s new leader Pierre Poilievre over Justin Trudeau as their top pick for prime minister.
An Ipsos poll commissioned by Global News was conducted after Poilievre’s election to the party’s top post, and found 35% of Canadians believe the new Tory leader is the best choice for prime minister compared to 31% of Canadians who think the same of Trudeau.
Poilievre is polling ahead of Trudeau in every province west of Quebec, including a 41%-34% lead in the vote-rich Greater Toronto Area.
The survey went on to find that 37% of voters said that Trudeau was “in over his head” as the prime minister, while only 21% of voters said the same of Poilievre.
A similar poll conducted just after Erin O’Toole’s election to the Conservative leadership found Trudeau favoured over O’Toole by one point.
The weak numbers by the Trudeau Liberals echo growing frustration among Canadians struggling to manage a higher cost of living resulting from record inflation.
During Poilievre’s leadership campaign, the Carleton MP focused on the cost of living concerns, making clear it clear the current government is to blame with catchphrases like “Justinflation.”
The Poilievre Conservatives have spent much of their time in Question Period attacking the Liberals for their plan to increase taxes and their inability to tame Canada’s record inflation.
With cost of living issues being front of mind for voters, 42% said the Conservatives are the party best equipped to manage the economy and inflation, compared to the Trudeau Liberal’s 33%.
A September Angus Reid poll found that half of Canadians would use “arrogant” to describe Trudeau, with 45% saying they believed him to be “dishonest” and 39% calling him “corrupt.”
An Abacus Data poll echoed the sentiment of the most recent Ipsos poll, finding the Conservatives ahead of the Liberals by five points if an election were held today.
The Trudeau government hasn’t been popular among the Canadian public for several years, as the Liberals only won 32% of the popular vote in the most recent general election.
The findings from the Ipsos poll were gathered between September 19-20. A total of 1,002 Canadians were interviewed – in this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled.
