NATIONAL PULSE – Vaccine program gives Trudeau govt a shot in the arm

By ANGUS REID INSTITUTE

May 21, 2021 – The medical feat of jabbing hundreds of thousands of Canadians with COVID-19 vaccines is not only bringing Canada closer to the end of a devastating third wave of the pandemic, it is also giving the Trudeau government’s perceived handling of the crisis a shot in the arm.

As vaccine willingness continues to rise, the government in charge of procuring and distributing said vaccines is regaining favour in public opinion.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds half of Canadians now saying the federal government is doing a good job of handling the COVID-19 response – a six-point increase from April.

A majority of past Liberal, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois voters now give the government a positive rating on the file, though just one-in-five past Conservative voters feel the same way.

This does not, however, mean that the federal government is in the clear ahead of a widely predicted 2021 federal election. In the event one were called, just 34 per cent say they would support the Liberal Party at this point.

This is near-identical to the number who say they would support the CPC. The fortune for Liberals and challenge for Conservatives continues to be where that support is drawn. The Liberal Party continues to hold a considerable advantage in Ontario and Quebec, which offer greater political advantage than Conservative strongholds in the west.

More Key Findings:

• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has an overall approval rating of 43 per cent. This is up marginally from April (+2) though Canadians are still more than three times as likely to strongly disapprove (35%) than strongly approve (10%) of him

• While the federal government receives an overall positive rating on pandemic performance (+3), with 50 per cent saying the Liberals have done a good job and 47 per cent saying bad, the Prime Minister receives more negative (50%) than positive reviews (46%) for an overall rating of -4
• Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole continues to lag behind in favourability. While NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is viewed favourably by 46 per cent of Canadians, just 27 per cent say the same of O’Toole

Link to the poll here: www.angusreid.org/