NATIONAL PULSE – Carney, Freeland more trusted than Poilievre to handle Trump

Posted on March 5, 2025 in Feedback, National Pulse, Page One // 0 Comments

(Image: MarkCarney.ca)

Conservative Party leads in vote intent by three points over Carney-led Liberals

By ANGUS REID INSTITUTE

March 5, 2025 – As Canadians get their first taste of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term tariffs, many are giving more thought to which Canadian leader they’d prefer to deal with the president in the coming months and years.

With days left before a new Liberal leader is announced, new data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds 43 per cent of Canadians say Mark Carney would be best to square off against the U.S. president in the scenario he wins the leadership race, compared to 34 per cent who choose Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. In a scenario where Chrystia Freeland were to win the leadership race, the former finance minister also – albeit more narrowly – edges Poilievre as the more trusted choice to take on Trump (36 per cent Freeland vs. 33 per cent Poilievre).

This comes as Canadians await the next in a string of unpredictable decisions from Trump and at a time when one-in-three Canadians (34%) say the U.S. relationship is the top issue facing the country, behind only the cost of living (49%) and health care (41%).

With domestic and cross-border machinations unfolding day by day, the Canadian vote intention picture remains a neck-and-neck contest between the Conservatives and the Liberals. For the second consecutive survey the Conservatives hold a 40 per cent to 37 per cent advantage of the Liberals, assuming Carney as leader. With Freeland holding that post the CPC advantage rises to eight points.

The picture continues to reveal itself in key battleground provinces between a Carney-led Liberal Party and Poilievre’s CPC. With these two leaders in place, the Liberals hold a three-point edge in B.C. (39% to 36%), and a 13-point advantage in Quebec (34% to 21%) – though in that province the Bloc Québécois garners 38 per cent of vote intention. In Ontario, the CPC lead by six points (46% to 40%).