Criticism of Trudeau increases in Western Canada: poll

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived to give a statement on the California shooting before marching in the Lunar New Year parade, in Vancouver, on Sunday, January 22, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A new survey conducted by Research Co. reveals that more people in Western Canada now support a change in the federal government compared to a similar poll from June.

Overall, more than half of Canadians (52 per cent) think their province would be better off with a different prime minister, up one point from the previous poll. Much of these figures, however, can be attributed to the western part of the country.

Sixty-six per cent (up two points) of people in Alberta, 65 per cent (up five points) in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, 57 per cent (up four points) in British Columbia and 52 per cent (up four points) in Ontario believe things would be better with someone other than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in charge.

But fewer people in Atlantic Canada (44 per cent down, eight points) and Quebec (42 per cent, down three points) favour a political change in Ottawa.

“Canadians aged 35 to 54 (56 per cent) are more likely to believe that a change in the federal government would be beneficial to their province,” President of Research Co. Mario Canseco said in a press release. “The rating is slightly lower among their counterparts aged 55 and over (51 per cent) and aged 18 to 34 (50 per cent).”

When it comes to provincial leadership, Research Co. says almost 51 per cent of Canadians think their province would be better of with a different premier.

Criticism toward Ontario Premier Doug Ford has increased from 43 per cent in June to 57 per cent in January, while it has dropped for Quebec Premier Francois Legault from 48 per cent to 45 per cent, according to the survey.

In British Columbia, there has been little change in the results between John Horgan in June (41 per cent) and David Eby this month (40 per cent).

Fifty-five per cent of respondents in Alberta think the province would be better off without Danielle Smith at the helm, while 65 per cent previously felt the same way about Jason Kenney.

Fewer people (26 per cent) in Alberta think their province would be better off as its own country, down seven points since June.

In Quebec, separatist sentiment dropped to 29 per cent this month from 32 per cent.

Seventeen per cent of Canadians think their province would be better of joining the U.S. and becoming an American state, including 21 per cent of those in Alberta.

METHODOLOGY

Results of the poll are based on an online study conducted from Jan. 20 to Jan. 22, 2023, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error – which measures sample variability – is +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

 

Reporting for this story was paid for through The Afghan Journalists in Residence Project funded by Meta.