Four in five Canadians believe political corruption, backroom deals and bribery are common place in Canada and they don’t trust the feds to solve the problem.
According to an Angus Reid survey, most Canadians believe corruption in both the private sector and Canada’s governments is widespread. Nearly half believe corruption plays a “significant” role in the rising cost of living.
Governments of all levels have found themselves in hot water in recent years over ethics investigations.
The Trudeau government, since coming into office in 2015, has seen countless scandals ranging from the SNC-Lavalin, WE charity scandals and alleged questionable business dealings, including those involved with the recently removed Liberal Minister Randy Boissonnault.
The Angus Reid Institute, in partnership with Mindset Social Innovation Foundation and the World Refugee & Migration Council, surveyed 1,615 Canadian adults between Nov. 14 and 19, 2024, using a representative randomized sample. A statistically weighted survey reports no margin of error, and a probability sample of the same size would carry a margin of error of greater or less than 2% 19 times out of 20.
The survey found that 86% of Canadians believed that backroom political deals and bribery were common in their province, and 81% thought money laundering occurs regularly in Canada. Nearly half of the respondents, 49%, said political corruption was “extremely common” in their province, with 37% saying it was commonplace in parliament and the legislature.
Ontario reported the highest levels of perceived political corruption, 91%, with 58% saying it happens all the time. Quebecers and Atlantic Canadians were the least likely, though 82% still said it was happening all the time or commonplace.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford has been the target of several corruption complaints aswell, including allegedly giving preferential treatment to certain developers in a deal to build on environmentally protected Greenbelt land. His party is also often accused of holding pay-to-access events.
Conservative supporters and Green Party supporters were the most likely to say political corruption is a common problem in Canada, 90%. CPC voters were the most likely, 53%, to say it was a regular occurrence.
Nearly four in five Canadians, 79%, also said they believe the level of corruption in Canada has increased in the past three years, while only 21% said it has stayed the same. Less than 1% of Canadians felt corruption had decreased in that time.
Conservative supporters were the most likely to say backroom deals and bribes had gotten worse, with 71% saying it increased a lot and 20% saying it increased a little.
The majority of Canadians, 63%, said they had no trust in the average politician to act according to the laws and regulations governing their profession.Those who didn’t vote in the last election were the most likely to report distrust in politicians acting according to laws and regulations, with 81% saying they had no trust.
With corruption in both the business world and politics in mind, 85% of Canadians felt that illegal or “questionable” activities contributed to the rising cost of housing, food, and other essential goods in their community. 50% of Canadians said that it plays a big role, while 35% said it plays a small one, and only 5% said it plays no role at all.
Of four in five Canadians, 80%, 37% said they were not confident at all or were “not that confident,” 43%, in the federal government to fight corruption effectively. 16% said they could, while only 3% said they were “very confident.”
Outlooks improved slightly for the provincial government. 78% said they lacked confidence in their provincial government’s ability to do the same, while 19% said they were confident. While 68% said they lacked confidence wholly or partially that their municipal government could fight corruption.
Meanwhile, the RCMP is still investigating the Liberal government’s Sustainable Development Technology Canada, or SDTC, for allegedly distributing tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to “ineligible companies.”
The Conservative Party of Canada’s ethics critic Michael Barrett tells True North he isn’t surprised by the results of the poll.
“Canadians are right to feel corruption is widespread in the Trudeau government because it is. After nine years of scandal after scandal, this is the most ethically compromised government in Canadian history,’ Barrett said. “Members of Trudeau’s Liberal government have been slapped with six ethics violations and the Prime Minister is a serial ethics violator himself, having twice been found guilty of breaking ethics laws.”
He said the Canadian taxpayers are stuck footing the bill for government scandals that are “almost too many to list.”