Majority of Canadians view Trudeau as 'incompetent' liar: poll

A poll released Sunday by Abacus Data for the Toronto Star suggests Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal policies are overwhelmingly unpopular in every region of Canada and among both sexes Among all respondents, the survey found 7 percent of respondents have an impression of Trudeau that is "very positive," 17 percent "somewhat positive," 20 percent "neutral," 20 percent "somewhat negative" and 39 percent "very negative."

Those results are remarkably similar by gender, with only 24 percent of men and 25 percent of women having an impression of Trudeau on the positive side of the scale, while 61 percent of men and 57 percent of women registered a negative impression. Trudeau's approval rating is the lowest in Alberta, where 52% indicated a "very negative" response and 19 percent a "somewhat negative" response.

His popularity is highest in Quebec with 30 percent on the positive scale and 51 percent on the negative scale. Atlantic Canada provided similar results with 28 percent positive and 56 percent being negative.

Toronto Star columnist Susan Delacourt notes that the last time her newspaper and Abacus asked Canadians about their feelings for Trudeau, men were markedly more negative about the Prime Minister than women. That disparity has vanished in the latest survey.

In his Substack analysis of the poll, Abacus Data CEO David Coletto said it is clear that Canadians' "negative feelings [towards Trudeau] are more intense than they have been at previous points over the past four years."

"More important, in my view, to understanding public attitudes as well as public reaction to the Prime Minister, is the big gap between those who have a very positive view of him (7%) and those who have a very negative view (39%)."

"Since last July, those with a very negative view are up 6-points while those with a very positive view is largely unchanged. In short, there are more than five times the number of Canadians who really don't like Justin Trudeau than really like him. That's the definition of an enthusiasm problem for the Prime Minister," Coletto continues.

Coletto says the reasons for disliking Trudeau provoke a "wide range of responses," with many pointing "to economic and financial pressures like inflation, the economy in general, and rising costs"

He notes that other reasons for opposing Trudeau are "immigration and the rise in immigrants" or "bad decisions" or "bad policy choices."

Many Canadians simply want a change in national leadership. However, Coletto observes that "there is also a personal side to the negativity towards Trudeau. Many believe he lies, breaks promises, is arrogant (that pops pretty clearly), and is incompetent."

The data comes from a national survey of 2,000 Canadian adults conducted from July 16 to 21, 2024. The poll was not assigned a margin of error because Abacus uses "online, opt-in panels" that are not truly random.