Negative Impressions of Poilievre Increase Slightly While Tory Lead Remains Steady: Poll

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Sept. 26, 2024. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

While the Conservative Party maintains its over 20-point lead on the Liberals, negative impressions of Pierre Poilievre have increased by 5 points over the past month, an Abacus Data poll released Oct. 13 found.

The survey conducted from Oct. 3 to Oct. 10 found that 39 percent had a positive impression of the Conservative leader, while 40 percent held a negative impression, giving him a net favourability rating of -1. In September, Abacus found that 39 percent had a positive impression of Poilievre while 35 percent had a negative impression.

Abacus Founder and CEO David Coletto noted that negative perceptions of Poilievre have grown by 6 percent among past Liberal voters, 7 percent among past NDP voters, and 16 percent among past Bloc Québécois supporters.

“What is clear is that his negatives have increased almost entirely among people who didn’t vote Conservative in 2021,” he said. “Among those who didn’t vote Conservative in 2021 but say they are open to voting Conservative today, Mr. Poilievre’s negatives are up 3.”

Canadians’ impressions of the other major party leaders remained negative. Fifty-nine percent held a negative view of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau compared to 23 percent positive, for a net favourability rating of -36, and a record 41 percent held a negative view of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh compared to 30 percent positive, for a net favourability score of -11.

The latest survey comes as Parliament resumed but soon became deadlocked over the Liberal government refusing to hand over unredacted documents related to Sustainable Development Technology Canada’s alleged misspending of taxpayers’ money. For over a week, Conservative MPs have debated a motion to send the issue to committee, and since privilege issues take precedence over other parliamentary matters the government has not been able to advance any bills.

The Abacus survey found Conservatives have the support of 43 percent of respondents, compared to 22 percent for the Liberals and 19 percent for the NDP. The Conservatives lead by 41 percent in Alberta, 34 percent in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 18 percent in British Columbia, 22 percent in Ontario, and 12 points in the Atlantic provinces, while the Bloc Québécois has a 12 percent lead in Quebec, compared to the Liberals and the Conservatives being tied at 24 percent.

The poll also found that 51 percent believe there should be a change in government and believe there is a good alternative, which was down 5 percentage points since September, while those who want change but don’t feel there is a good alternative increased by 5 points to reach 34 percent. Additionally, only 15 percent of Canadians polled believed Trudeau and the Liberal Party deserve to be re-elected.

An Oct. 1 Abacus survey that examined how Canadians felt about Trudeau and Poilievre found 22 percent had a positive view of the prime minister, 16 percent were neutral, and 61 percent had a negative opinion, while 39 percent had a positive view of Poilievre, 19 percent were neutral, and 37 percent had a negative opinion.