2023-09-01 12:15:00
CANADA – The popularity of the government led by Justin Trudeau in Canada continues to fall. Only a third of Canadians have a “high confidence” in federal institutions, particularly health institutions. Only the media mainstream and celebrities are doing worse than the government, whose trust ratings have been falling steadily since the Covid pandemic, according to an internal report conducted by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
Unveiled by Blacklock’s Reporteran Ottawa-based online media outlet specializing in coverage of Canadian government news, this “Survey on the use of public health measures, advice and risk assessment” finds a “very low confidence” of Canadians in their federal government.
“Trust, particularly in government and the health care sector, is essential to the effectiveness of public health measures,” recalls the PHAC report. If respondents say they have a “great confidence in hospitals and healthcare workers”this is not the case when it comes to the federal government and its institutions.
Credible doctors and scientists, not institutions
About 6,200 people across Canada took part in the survey, conducted by Abacus Data, a local polling and market research company based in Ottawa. The Canadians selected for this panel were asked to express their level of trust in a certain number of institutions and people, on a scale from 1 to 10. The results are clear.
Only 32% said they had “great confidence” in their federal government. With regard to nursing staff, the percentage is higher since 52% of those questioned trust doctors and nurses. 56% of respondents say they trust scientists more than friends and family (42%). From a health perspective, federal institutions are the least trustworthy in the eyes of Canadians. The fault, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s report to the policy of managing the coronavirus pandemic.
At the bottom of this list are journalists and reporters working for major media organizations (26%), social media influencers (12%) and celebrities (8%). These are the only groups that scored lower than the federal government and its institutions.
According to Blacklock’s Reporterthis PHAC study follows on from a previous one released on June 8 and dealing with “the impact of the pandemic experience on future vaccine-related intentions and behaviors”. This report already indicated a “public distrust” vis-à-vis the federal experts. “When asked what might be the remedy to restore trust, participants suggested being honest and admitting mistakes,” indicated The report. During the pandemic, “few people have gained more trust in government during the pandemic and on the contrary, many have lost trust.”
The results of this previous report showed that respondents believed that government information was “sometimes contradictory and confusing”requiring “factual, unbiased and politically neutral information” with supporting source.
Despite a reshuffle, Trudeau increasingly unpopular
Federal health institutions are not the only ones to suffer a loss of popularity. The Canadian government as a whole, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at its helm, “lose feathers” in the polls.
A June poll by Abacus Data showed Canadians’ rejection of the Liberal and his executive. 81% of the 2,000 people questioned want him to leave, 35% plan to vote for the Conservative party, to the detriment of Trudeau’s Liberals (28%) and the Democrats (21%).
The situation did not improve for Trudeau. On the contrary, the Prime Minister has had an eventful summer, with one of the biggest reshuffles of his cabinet since he took power. A survey released in August shows that 61% of Canadians do not have a better perception of government despite the arrival of new faces.
Halfway through his third term and two years before the next election, Justin Trudeau is doing no better than his government as his popularity continues to fall. It is still a survey by Abacus Dataconducted among 2,189 Canadians between August 18 and 23, which demonstrates this.
The Conservative party widened the gap at the head of voting intentions with 38%, against 26% in favor of the Liberals. The Democrats also lose points and collect only 19% of the voting intentions. Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives thus total a 12-point lead, the largest ever measured by Abacus Data since the 2015 federal election.
If Justin Trudeau plans to remain at the head of the party until the next election in 2025, more than half of Canadians (56%) believe on the contrary that their Prime Minister should resign and give way. After two terms, the liberal pays the price of sometimes unpopular measures. Its opponents mainly accuse it of a decline in purchasing power and the introduction, in parallel, of a carbon tax.
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