Canadians think Poilievre best person to lead the country, survey shows
Rachel Emmanuel
Canadians think Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is the best person to lead the country — including Ontarians, where the voter-rich Greater Toronto Area has largely handed victory to the Trudeau Liberals in the last two federal elections.
The Ipsos poll for Global News was conducted from Sept. 19-20 and surveyed over 1,000 Canadian adults.
Of the respondents, 35% said Poilievre is the best candidate for prime minister, while Trudeau fell four points behind at 31%.
Trudeau’s support was strongest in BC, where he was only two points ahead of Poilievre at 38%. Trudeau was also ahead in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, but he otherwise fell behind the new Tory leader.
That includes Ontario, where Poilievre had 41% support compared to 34% for Trudeau.
In the last two federal elections, former Conservative leaders Andrew Scheer and Erin O’Toole could not break through to GTA voters. Despite the prairie provinces overwhelmingly electing Conservative MPs, and the Tories winning the popular vote, the Conservatives failed to government because GTA and Quebec voters chose the Liberals.
Earlier this month, Poilievre was crowned Official Opposition leader after winning the Conservative party leadership race on the first ballot with 68% of voters’ support.