Toronto: According to a new poll, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s woeful visit to India is weighing down his political fortunes. A new poll says that if federal elections were held now, his Liberal Party would lose to the opposition Conservatives and among the factors in that plunge in popularity is the much-panned eight-day tour of India in February.
These latest findings are from polling agency Ipsos, in a survey conducted for the Canadian network Global News. According to the results, the Liberals would capture 33% of the vote, five points behind the Conservatives. An article accompanying the poll noted that “public reaction to a recent troubled trip by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to India two weeks ago might be a symptom of a growing problem”.
Global News cited Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, as stating there was a “shift in public perception” towards Trudeau and his party. He suggested “the recent trip to India is a prime example of that change.” The poll also found that 40% of Canadians believed the visit had a negative impact on relations with India, with only 16% having a positive view of the trip.
“It’s the first time we’ve shown, since before the election, any time the Liberals have been behind. They’ve been consistently four or five points ahead of their nearest competitor; sometimes more than that for the last two years and a bit,” Bricker was quoted as saying.
The poll also found that a majority of those polled, 54%, disapproved of the performance of Trudeau’s government. “The thing that’s really held them up is the prime minister and people’s views of him so when that takes a hit, everything starts to go and that’s what’s happened here,” Bricker was quoted as saying. The poll was conducted between February 28 and March 1 and surveyed 1,001 Canadian adults.
