Canadians will vote to elect members of the federal House of Commons next Monday, amid a climate of ambivalence about their current leadership. Support for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has fallen sharply since 2016, his first full year in office, when nearly three in four (72%) said they approved of the way he is handling his job as prime minister. In 2019, for the first time, Canadians are more likely to say they disapprove (52%) than to say they approve (46%) of Trudeau’s job performance
Trudeau’s recent tenure has been marred by scandal, including a recent ruling that his administration violated ethics rules in pressuring the country’s attorney general to intervene in a criminal case involving a Quebec-based construction company. Trudeau himself also faced intense criticism after videos and photos surfaced of him wearing blackface and brownface at parties in the early 1990s and 2000s.
However, Canadians’ growing misgivings apply more broadly than just to views of the prime minister himself, and are reflected in declining satisfaction with high-profile election issues such as environmental stewardship and economic wellbeing. Asked more generally about their approval of the country’s leadership, just 49% say they approve in 2019, down from 64% in 2016.
This year’s election campaigns have placed considerable focus on questions about how to balance environmental concerns with economic growth. Trudeau’s Liberal government took power in October 2015, touting a plan to dramatically reduce greenhouse-gas emissions with a federal carbon tax imposed on provinces that did not already have one or did not meet federal emissions standards. – READ MORE