Toronto: As Canada enters an election year, the opposition Conservative Party is now polling a record high, garnering close to 50% support, according to a new poll.
Federal elections are scheduled for October this year but with the Government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau teetering, they could come as early as this spring.
The Conservatives are planning a move to bring in a no-confidence motion soon as the House of Commons sits in late January. Their push for an early election is obvious as the party is leading by at least 20% over the ruling Liberal Party in a clutch of surveys released in the last quarter of 2024.
The latest, from the polling agency Nanos Research, on December 31, has the Conservatives at 46.6% in their federal ballot tracking which will translate to a supermajority in the next House, if these numbers hold.
“Conservative support hits a new long-term high with a 26- point advantage over the Liberals. This has occurred alongside calls for Trudeau to step down. Worry about jobs/the economy has also hit a new four-year high,” the firm’s Chief Data Scientist Nik Nanos said.
It’s not just Trudeau who is suffering in the perception of voters. New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh, who was in an agreement with the ruling party till September this year, has rescued it from falling in no confidence motions since then, including one that used Singh’s own words of criticism for the Trudeau government.
As Nanos told the outlet CTV News, “What it means is, going into 2025, the biggest winner is Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives, and the biggest losers are both Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh, because both the numbers for them and their parties are down in the close of 2024.”
But even getting over 21% backing in a poll could be a relief for Trudeau and his party, as a shock poll from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute (ARI) on Monday showed it sinking to a historic low of 16%.
Trudeau is under intense pressure from the majority of his caucus to resign. But he has said he will take the holiday period to reflect on the choices before him. His New Year message was self-congratulatory and gave no hint that he is considering quitting, as he said, “As we count down to midnight tonight, I invite Canadians to join me in celebrating all that we have achieved together in 2024 and in looking toward a better and fairer future in the new year.”
