Most Canadians don’t recognize the people lining up to replace Justin Trudeau
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The good news for Justin Trudeau is that almost every Canadian knows who he is, the bad news for Trudeau is that most want him to lose his job.
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A new poll from Abacus Data shows that 98% of Canadians can identify Trudeau when shown a photo of him.
What’s truly shocking is 2% said they had no clue who our celebrity PM was.
Now, while people know who Trudeau is, just 23% across the country say they would vote for him and his party if an election were held now. That ranges from a high of 35% support in Atlantic Canada to a low of 11% in Alberta and a measly 26% in vote-rich Ontario.
The Conservatives in this poll are faring much better.
Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives would take 43% of the vote nationally if an election were held now, with a high of 62% support in Alberta, a low of 19% in Quebec and 47% in Ontario. Poilievre’s problem is that about a third of Canadians don’t recognize him when shown a photo of the Conservative leader and likely next prime minister.
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Liberals were taking great glee in pointing this fact out the other day.
This was proof that Canadians don’t really know Poilievre, this was proof that voters weren’t really ready to elect him. Truth is, the Liberals should stop laughing because the roster of people touted to replace Trudeau when he steps down are virtually anonymous.
Chrystia Freeland was the best known among the gaggle of Liberals eyeing the party’s top job. Even still, after being in cabinet for nine years and being finance minister for the last four, only 39% of Canadians could identify Freeland.
That means, 61% of Canadians had no idea who Trudeau’s deputy PM was when shown a photo.
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It’s even worse for foreign minister Melanie Joly — 80% had no clue who she was while 81% couldn’t name Anita Anand. Housing minister Sean Fraser was recognized by just 4% of Canadians, which is the same recognition Trudeau fixer Dominic LeBlanc received.
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Liberal golden boy Mark Carney, the man many are recruiting to try to replace Trudeau, was recognized by just 7%, meaning 93% could not name him.
I can picture some poll participants wondering if he played a character on Mad Men or perhaps was one of the two guys who played the role of Darren on Bewitched. Carney may look like he’s out of central casting, but at this point, like the others, he’s fading into the background.
Pierre Trudeau famously said backbench MPs were nobodies 50 yards off Parliament Hill. Turns out that applies to an awful lot of cabinet ministers and people with a big name in politics.
This shouldn’t be surprising, there are a lot of Canadians who simply don’t follow politics, who don’t engage with political news. They are still voters and still have a say but many won’t read, watch or listen to much political news until it’s time to cast their ballot.
Trudeau having such high name recognition and having 98% of people identify his photo is not surprising, he was literally born into the palace when his father was PM and has been in and out of the spotlight ever since. Poilievre being recognized by two thirds of the population after less than two years as opposition leader is quite respectable.
What’s truly impressive is that Poilievre has kept his 20-point lead over Trudeau for so long. Canadians know Trudeau, but they are done with him and clearly want change.
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