https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/23/poll-trudeau-support-420066
Abacus Data poll reveals stable support for Trudeau and Liberals as Parliament returns
OTTAWA — A new poll suggests Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government have a firm layer of voter support despite a wobbly summer that saw his team engulfed by a contracting scandal.
The Abacus Data poll given exclusively to POLITICO arrives as Parliament reconvenes in Ottawa and Trudeau looks to reset his government’s agenda with a speech from the throne. All of this, of course, is unfolding as the country contends with the coronavirus crisis and the dawn of a second wave.
The poll, conducted from Sept. 18-21, found 35 percent of respondents would support the Liberals in an election. It put them just ahead of the Conservatives at 32 percent and the New Democrats at 17 percent with numbers that had barely budged since Abacus' previous survey at the start of the month.
“The patterns of opinion provincially and federally tend to underscore that people are drawn towards stability over disruption in this period of time,” Abacus chair Bruce Anderson said in a statement. “Events that might in other circumstances carry more political charge seem to be ignored by many people, as the focus is on getting through a day, a week, a month at a time, and hoping for a solution to the pandemic before too many more months.”
Trudeau’s popularity: The prime minister’s image in the eyes of the respondents remained divided with 40 percent saying they had a positive view of him, compared to 39 percent who had a negative impression. The poll said while the number was down from springtime highs, it was still above its level before the start of the pandemic.
Opposition leaders: The poll found that impressions of Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, who took the party’s top job last month, took a bit of a hit during the past couple of weeks with 23 percent of respondents holding a negative view of him — up from 19 percent on Sept. 3 — compared to 22 percent who had a positive view. For NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, 34 percent of those polled had a positive impression — down three percent from the start of the month — compared to 25 percent on the negative side.
Support for the federal government: The survey suggested Canadians generally had a favorable impression of the government, with 46 percent in approval versus 37 percent who disapproved.
Noteworthy numbers: Abacus highlighted the gap in the poll’s findings between the federal government’s approval rating of 46 percent and Liberal support among voters of 35 percent. “It suggests the Liberal vote share has plenty of room to grow and may be underperforming,” said the report that accompanied the survey results. For comparison, the report noted the Trudeau government’s approval rating was 36 percent just before the start of last year’s election campaign. Trudeau’s Liberals ended up attracting 34 percent of the popular vote.
A glance at the methodology: Abacus surveyed 1,500 people for the poll.