https://globalnews.ca/news/5021267/trudeau-approval-rating-snc-lavalin-wilson-raybould/March 4, 2019 9:42 pm
Most Canadians side with Wilson-Raybould, believe
Trudeau has lost moral authority to govern: Ipsos poll
By Rahul Kalvapalle
A majority of Canadians are keeping tabs on the SNC-Lavalin affair and that doesn't bode well for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News.
If an election were held tomorrow, Trudeau would receive only 31 per cent of the decided popular vote - down three points from a couple of weeks ago - while Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer would receive 40 per cent, according to the poll of 1,000 Canadians carried out between March 1 and March 4.
That's the biggest lead the Conservatives have had since the previous election campaign - and that's despite the fact that the polling data was obtained before Treasury Board President Jane Philpott resigned from Trudeau's cabinet on Monday, following in the heels of former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould and principal secretary Gerald Butts.
"This is the first time we've actually seen the Conservative Party resuscitated and looking like they could potentially form the government," said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs.
"The Liberals, on the other hand, have been dropping precipitously over the space of the last few weeks. The question is have they hit bottom yet?"
The national approval figures are mirrored in Canada's largest province, Ontario, where the Conservatives sit at 40 per cent, nine points over the Liberals, who are at 31 per cent.
Crucially, the Tories enjoy a commanding lead in the vote-rich 905 region surrounding Toronto.
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The polling also reveals that the ongoing SNC-Lavalin affair is directly responsible for Trudeau's flagging support.
Sixty-four per cent of Canadians say they're now following the issue - that's 15 points up from two weeks ago.
Most of them also say they believe the issue deserves all the attention it has been getting, compared to less than a third who say the matter is being blown out of proportion.
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A majority of Canadians - 55 per cent - also say it's going to influence their voting decisions in this year's federal election. That includes nearly one in five Liberal voters.
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"[Canadians] are coming to conclusions, and the conclusions they're coming to relate to the character of the main protagonist," said Bricker.
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Nearly a quarter of Liberal voters say they believe Trudeau should step aside while the SNC-Lavalin affair is investigated, with 73 per cent of Liberals agreeing that the RCMP should probe the issue and lay charges against politicians and bureaucrats where appropriate.
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Bricker says Trudeau is faced with three options: tough it out until the next election, step aside and let someone else lead the Liberal Party or call a snap election to clear the air.
Approval rating numbers suggest Trudeau would be well-advised not to take up Option 3.
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