A small majority of Canadians want opposition parties to work together with the Liberals rather than trigger an early election, a new poll suggests, despite persistent low approval for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News between Sept. 6 and 10, released Wednesday, surveyed Canadians’ thoughts on the new political reality after the NDP withdrew from the supply-and-confidence agreement that ensured the Liberals would remain in power until next fall.
The end of the deal makes the prospect of an earlier election more likely, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh acknowledged after he “ripped up” the deal last week, and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is urging his fellow opposition leaders to quickly topple the government after the House of Commons returns on Monday.
But Ipsos found 56 per cent of Canadians surveyed don’t want that election just yet, saying they want all parties to try and work with the government on a case-by-case basis.
Only in Alberta and Saskatchewan did a majority of respondents say they want the opposition to defeat the government “at the earliest opportunity.”
Singh has said he will approach all votes in the House of Commons on a case-by-case basis and has refused to say definitely if he will support a motion of non-confidence if one arises.
He said Wednesday he’s “not going to listen to” Poilievre after the Conservative leader pledged to bring a motion of non-confidence “at the earliest opportunity” and challenged Singh to vote with him in favour.
Despite not clamoring for an election, the same poll found Canadians remain sour on Trudeau and the Liberals. Just 28 per cent of those surveyed nationally said Trudeau deserves re-election, a figure that is consistent across all regions.
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The Conservatives hold a nearly 20-point lead at 45 per cent compared with 26 per cent for the Liberals, while the NDP — which is pitching itself as the only party that can take on the Tories after ending the supply-and-confidence deal — sits at just 16 per cent in Wednesday’s poll.
The situation is only different in Quebec, where the Bloc Québécois received 34 per cent support compared to 25 per cent for the Liberals and 23 per cent for the Conservatives.
Canadians surveyed by Ipsos don’t believe the Liberals’ fortunes will change if Trudeau steps aside. A plurality, 47 per cent, said the party would fare the same under a new leader, while just 28 per cent said it would do better.
The poll was released as the Liberals and NDP hold their annual caucus retreats.
Speaking to reporters earlier Wednesday, Trudeau struck a confident tone about the upcoming fall session of Parliament and that he and his party will be able to present an effective contrast with the Conservatives.
“The reality is, all of us are focused on what to do to make sure that Canadians are being supported, are feeling confident about the future,” Trudeau said.
Despite frustrations voiced by Liberals in reports before the retreat and some voicing concerns during, other Liberals who spoke publicly on the sidelines of the meetings expressed positivity about their party’s approach to the coming election year and for Trudeau staying on as leader.
The Liberals will face their next test in just a few days with two more critical byelections in Montreal and Winnipeg.
Trudeau says people in those byelections, and in the next national election, will have to choose between Poilievre’s plan to cut services and the Liberal plan to invest in Canada.
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between Sept. 6 and 10, 2024, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
— with files from The Canadian Press
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.