Poll: 53 percent of Canadians view federal response to COVID-19 favourably, only 42 percent on economy

Only 53 percent of Canadians said the federal government did a “good job” managing the COVID-19 pandemic per a Nanos Research poll conducted for the Globe and Mail.

21 percent were “neutral” on the government’s handling of the pandemic, with the remaining 26 percent noting they did a “poor job.”

The poll reflects attitudes regarding relatively few deaths and cases in Canada, despite an ill-prepared vaccine rollout.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not indicated a timeline when unvaccinated tourists can resume travel to Canada but pledged to make travel easier for those who were vaccinated.

Canada’s controversial quarantine hotel mandate ended on July 5, after months of pushback from freedom-oriented organizations and government officials.

On handling the economy, residents painted a less rosy picture. 42 percent said the government did a “good job,” while 25 percent were “neutral” and 32 percent citing they had done a “bad job.” Only one percent of 1,051 Canadians polled were unsure.

Throughout the pandemic, the federal government spent hundreds of billions of dollars to support Canadians, a projected $354.2-billion deficit in 2020-21 and a $154.7-billion deficit forecast for this year.

The federal debt surpassed $1 trillion, and the combined debt with the provinces and territories exceeded $2 trillion during the course of the pandemic response.

On maintaining US-Canada relations, 54 percent cited a “good job,” 21 percent were “neutral,” and 23 percent said the government has done a “poor job.” Only 2 percent were unsure.

With calls from industry and government officials south of the border to loosen travel restrictions between the countries, the threat of unilateral action towards Canada has been made by US officials. Travel for Canadian citizens to the US is easier than US citizens travelling to Canada.