Two new polls suggest Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s charm is wearing thin on Canadian voters.
While a Tuesday Nanos/Globe and Mail poll found that only 12 percent of respondents thought Trudeau had was successful on his highly-publicized and largely lampooned trip to India, an Angus Reid survey released on Monday indicates Trudeau’s disapproval rating has climbed to 56 percent.
With 77 percent of respondents indicating Trudeau’s India trip was either “not a success” or “somewhat not a success,” The indicates that the eight days of negative publicity resonated with Canadians who read of stories of bogus trade deals and saw pictures of Trudeau posing in traditional Indian dress. The nadir of the trip occurred when a former Sikh terrorist, who was convicted of the attempted murder of an Indian cabinet minister, appeared at receptions with Trudeau and his retinue.
The polls follow an earlier survey, taken immediately after Trudeau’s trip, that indicated collapsing voter support for Trudeau and his Liberal Party.
With the House of Commons sitting again this week after a March break, the official opposition Conservatives came out swinging on a variety of issues — Trudeau’s India trip among them. Ontario Member of Parliament (MP) Erin O’Toole demanded an apology from Trudeau on Monday.
“When will the Prime Minister rise in this House and apologize to India for this diplomatic incident?” Mr. O’Toole said.
In reference to a bizarre background briefing that Trudeau’s national security advisor Daniel Jean provided to the national media, O’Toole also inquired, “When will the Prime Minister allow the national security adviser to brief the House in the same way they briefed the press gallery?”
Trudeau chose not to answer either question, leaving Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to assure the oppositon that those working for Canadian national security are not promoting partisan politics.
The Nanos poll was conducted from March 7-12 with a survey group of 1,000 Canadians and is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The Angus Reid poll is the result of a survey of 5,423 Canadian who were surveyed from March 6-15, with a margin of error of plus or minus two percent, 19 times out of 20.