CNC News
Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats are receiving rising support across much of Western Canada, narrowing the gap with a floundering Conservative Party while the Liberals remain in the mid-30s, according to a poll released Tuesday by Leger Research.
Singh’s NDP, which won 24 seats on just 16 per cent support a year ago, now enjoys the support of 23 per cent of Canadians, according to Leger, a rise of seven points.
The Conservatives, at 29 per cent, stand five points below their 2019 election result, when the deeply unpopular Andrew Scheer led the party.
The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stands at 35 per cent support, two points up from their 2019 election result, which gave them the largest group of MPs in the Commons, though not a majority.
For Singh’s party, the results are a new peak in a gradual rise that started just after the onset of the pandemic, according to Leger’s polling, which is now done every second week.
For much of the pandemic, Singh has successfully pressed the governing Liberals to provide support for unemployed workers and small business facing bankruptcy.
His push for a national paid sick leave program was at least partially successful in forcing the Trudeau Liberals to respond, although the government of British Columbia, the only NDP-governed province, recently announced it would introduce legislation to plug gaps in the Trudeau plan.
The Leger poll shows strong support for Singh’s NDP in British Columbia, but also an increase in support in the prairies, where conservative Premiers have faced tough criticism of their pandemic responses from the public and the medical community. The federal NDP enjoys 21 per cent support in traditionally conservative Alberta, up from 11 per cent in the 2019 election.
The Leger poll also shows considerable variation in Canadians’ approval of their Premiers’ pandemic responses. As a group, Atlantic premiers receive a net +52 approval, as does B.C. Premier John Horgan.
But Albertans give Premier Jason Kenney net -38 approval, the lowest in Canada. Manitoba Premier Pallister and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe get the second and third lowest marks, at -4 and +15 respectively. A net approval score is the result of subtracting the per cent disapproval from the per cent approval.
A series of provincial polls has recently shown the opposition NDP ahead of Conservative incumbents in voter support in both Alberta and Manitoba.