Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his Liberal MPs in a caucus meeting that they should not be expecting much improvement in the public’s support for his party.
This comes after reports circulated that the Prime Minister’s Office had set an internal goal to shave the Conservatives’ lead in the polls by five points every six months, aiming to hit their first goal deadline by July.
The Liberal Party has not been faring well in recent public opinion polls, as the Conservatives under their leader Pierre Poilievre has seen a massive uptick in support at the expense of the Liberals.
According to a report from The Hill Times, an anonymous Liberal MP said that Trudeau told his MPs that they should not expect to catch up to the Conservatives in public opinion polls anytime soon at the Liberals’ national caucus meeting in mid-April.
“He’s [Trudeau] trying to downplay expectations,” said an unnamed Liberal MP.
“It’s like treading water when you’re drowning. [He was telling us] to not freak out while you’re drowning, that you stay calm, and you can get back to the top for a lot of the Members who are below water.”
Since autumn 2022, the Conservative party has been edging out the Liberals in nearly every single public opinion poll, with the Tory lead widening substantially in late 2023.
Prime Minister Trudeau and the Liberals were hoping that their 2024 budget and the flurry of announcements that accompanied it would buoy support for the party, especially among younger Canadians frustrated with the state of the economy and housing market.
Now the Liberals are resorting to linking Poilievre to the “far-right” by playing up an endorsement the American commentator Alex Jones gave Poilievre and linking the Conservative leader to Diagalon.
The Liberal government revealed that they would be funneling billions more dollars into resolving Canada’s housing crisis, improving the state of the Canadian Armed Forces, and creating a federal school lunch program while announcing an increase to the capital gains inclusion rate.
However, a recently released poll from Angus Reid conducted after the 2024 federal budget reveal found the Liberals had made no gains with the public and young Canadians, and perhaps took another step backwards.
The poll found that if an election were held just after budget 2024’s release, the Conservatives would gain 43% of the vote, while the Liberals would win only 23%. The NDP are not far behind the Liberals, as they poll at 19%.
The same poll found that Canadians are not satisfied with the federal government’s budget, as 56% of Canadians say that the recent budget announcements makes them pessimistic about Canada’s economic future.
The Prime Minister’s office did not respond to True North’s request for comment.