By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Canada (AA) – A new poll released Monday shows that more than half of Canadians believe Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should quit.
The once-popular leader has bottomed out, with 57% of respondents believing that someone other than Trudeau should head the Liberals in the next election which has to be held no later than October 2025.
This follows an October Liberal uprising where more than 20 lawmakers in this own party demanded Trudeau step down, according to Canadian media reports.
But Trudeau deflected the revolt and stood his ground.
“We're going to continue and have… great discussions about how I can best lead the Liberal party forward,” Trudeau told reporters on Oct. 24.
The latest poll conducted by Nanos Research and commissioned by the Globe and Mail newspaper found what could be one of the major sources for the decline in Trudeau’s popularity.
The survey found that 41% cited the fact that their financial well-being had worsened in the past year.
Nik Nanos, head of Nanos Research, noted that Donald Trump won the presidential election after numerous polls found many Americans were feeling worse off financially, just like the Canadian poll respondents.
“I think we’re in a similar type of situation,” Nanos told the Globe and Mail. “It’s hard for a government to fight that.”
The revolt in Trudeau’s own party was spurred by another Nanos poll that tracked who Canadians would vote for and the opposition Conservative Party had around 41% support compared to the Liberals at 25%. Similar polls found the Conservatives would crush the Liberals in an election.
Trudeau and his Liberals were first elected with a decisive majority government in 2015. Overall, he has led this party to three election victories, but in 2021 it was a minority win, while Trudeau had hoped to secure a majority.