Like father like son? Not when it comes to Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his enfant le plus âgé, Justin Trudeau.
They are at opposite ends of the polls — with Pierre considered the most popular prime minister of recent times, and Justin the worst prime minister of the last 55 years.
A survey conducted by Research Co. found 30% of Canadians believe the current prime minister is the worst among recent PMs, while his predecessor Stephen Harper comes in second at 18%.
But it wasn’t even close.
In addition, 20% of surveyed Canadians believe that Pierre Trudeau has been the best prime minister since 1968, marking a one-point increase compared to a similar survey conducted in June 2022.
On the other hand, 11% of Canadians said the same thing about Justin Trudeau.
From first to worst?
1. Pierre Trudeau – 20%;
2. Stephen Harper – 17%;
3. Jean Chrétien – 11%;
4. Justin Trudeau – 11%;
5. Brian Mulroney – 8%;
6. Paul Martin – 3%;
7. Joe Clark – 2%;
8. John Turner – 1%;
9. Kim Campbell – 1%.
The least popular PMs, from top to bottom:
1. Justin Trudeau – 30%;
2. Stephen Harper – 18%;
3. Kim Campbell – 7%;
4. Brian Mulroney – 6%;
5. Pierre Trudeau – 5%;
6. Jean Chrétien – 3%;
7. Joe Clark – 3%
8. Paul Martin – 2%;
9. John Turner – 1%.
The survey also found that despite being considered the worst by 18% of Canadians, 17% of Canadians consider Harper the best, and his popularity is much higher in Alberta.
“More than a third of Albertans (36%) believe Stephen Harper has been Canada’s best recent prime minister,” Research Co. president Mario Canseco said in a Friday press release. “Pierre Trudeau fares best in British Columbia (27%), Ontario (23%) and Atlantic Canada (22%).”
When it comes to Atlantic Canadians, 32% ranked Harper the worst recent head of government while, in Alberta, Justin Trudeau’s negative rating reaches 45%, while it’s 36% in British Columbia and 36% in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
In the context of leaders of the Official Opposition, the late Jack Layton is remembered well. Some 48% of Canadians believe the former NDP leader would have made a “good” or “very good” prime minister, a sentiment echoed by 61% of respondents aged 55 and over.
On top of that, five former leaders of the opposition were reviewed positively by more than one-in-five Canadians: ex-Reform Party leader Preston Manning (28%), former Progressive Conservative leader Robert Stanfield (27%), former NDP leader Tom Mulcair (also 27%), as well as former Conservative leaders Andrew Scheer (22%) and Erin O’Toole (also 22%).
If only Stanfield had not dropped the football . . .
The ratings were lower for former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff (19%), former Alliance leader Stockwell Day (also 19%), former interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose (18%) and former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion (also 18%).
Different polls, different results.
According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, Trudeau’s approval rate at the eight-year mark sits four points higher than former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s approval rate, as well as eight points higher than his father Pierre Elliot Trudeau.
Angus Reid noted that several events this spring may have impacted Trudeau’s approval rate, such as the “launching of an investigation into foreign election interference, scrutiny over a $160,000 vacation to Jamaica, a divisive budget re-forecast, and the leaking of an admission that Canada will likely never meet its NATO obligations.”
Then again, it could be none of the above.
As former US President Barack Obama once noted, “If the critics are right that I’ve made all my decisions based on polls, then I must not be very good at reading them.”
