Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party approval rating has reached its lowest point in nearly a year, following Trudeau’s crackdown on “Freedom Convoy” protestors in February, according to a Tuesday poll from Nanos Research.
Nanos Research, a public opinion and polling company based out of Ottawa, Canada, released a poll showing that Trudeau’s liberal party was facing its lowest approval rating in nearly 12 months, according to the Wall Street Journal. Trudeau’s remarks towards those who challenged his COVID-19 health policies came under fire from members of his own party, who considered them disdainful, the outlet reported.
A separate Nanos poll found that 47% of Canadians’ impression of Trudeau was “worsened” by the Prime Minister’s “handling of the Truckers Convoy Protest.” Comparatively, 20% said it improved their impression of Trudeau while 31% said it had “no impact,” the poll found. An additional 2% were “unsure” of how their impressions were affected. (RELATED: Canadian PM Says Truckers Protesting COVID-19 Mandates Will Get Criminal Records)
Approval among Canadians about the Trudeau-led Liberal Party is near a 12 month low as of last week according to polling from Ottawa-based Nanos Research. A separate Nanos poll gathered after Mr. Trudeau cleared a nearly monthlong trucker-led demonstrationhttps://t.co/uBSpw8nAjA
— Andrew Wilkow (@WilkowMajority) March 3, 2022
The polls from Nanos Research are the latest in a series of surveys that spell trouble for Trudeau’s approval rating. A February Maru Group poll showed only 29% of Canadians believed he “acted like a prime minister should in the face of the protest.” At the same time, a poll from the Angus Reid Institute showed that 65% of Canadians believed Trudeau’s comments to “Freedom Convoy” protesters “worsened the situation,” as opposed to 20% who believed his remarks “helped.”
“Freedom Convoy” protesters against COVID-19 vaccine mandates blocked Ambassador Bridge on the U.S.-Canada border in February 2022. In an unprecedented move, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, giving the government the power to forcefully clear protesters.
Trudeau won reelection in Sept. 2021, but only by a slim margin, according to the New York Times. “Loyalty to the party is really loyalty to him, which is going to be really difficult when people start thinking about who the successor is going to be,” said Dalhousie University’s Lori Turnbull, according to the outlet. ” “But right now, if you’re part of that movement, then you are all-in with him,” she continued, the outlet reported.