'This could cost him his job': A blockaded Canada turning on Trudeau, poll finds

Not the time to call an a election. Conservative leader O'Toole was just ousted by the party and it will take months to replace him.

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/this-could-cost-him-his-job-a-blockaded-canada-turning-on-trudeau-poll-finds

Although Canadians sympathize with the anti-mandate demands of Freedom Convoy, they increasingly hate the protests themselves. A new Maru Public Opinion poll found that 56 per cent of Canadians don’t have an iota of sympathy for Freedom Convoy — and two thirds wouldn’t mind seeing their blockades cleared by military force.

But Canadians are also turning their ire on a “weak” government response and an intransigent prime minister whom they blame for “inflaming” the situation. The Maru poll, which was conducted from Feb. 9 to 10, found that only 16 per cent of Canadians would vote for Trudeau based on his actions of the last two weeks.

“The last time I’ve seen numbers even close to this were in the final days of Brian Mulroney,” said John Wright, executive vice-president of Maru Public Opinion and a 32-year industry veteran. “I think this could cost him his job.”

Wright says poll numbers point to a misjudgment on both counts. Forty-four per cent of respondents believed that Trudeau’s statements had “inflamed” the situation. While 53 per cent have said he “looked weak in the face of threats to the country.”

In the background of all this is a simmering frustration that the Trudeau government continues to hang onto harsh COVID restrictions even as governments around the world declare an end to the pandemic.