In spite of Omar Khadr controversy, Liberals and Trudeau are still very much on top

Justin Trudeau
Photo by Sukhwant Singh Dhillon

IF the Conservatives thought that they could garner political support by whipping up emotions against the apology and compensation to Omar Khadr by the federal government (in 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Khadr’s Charter rights had been violated by the federal government due to its involvement with his detention and interrogations in Guantanamo), they didn’t seem to make a dent in the popularity of the Liberal Party or Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

This week’s Nanos political tracking highlights brings this out:

  • Ballot – The latest Nanos federal ballot tracking has the Liberals at 39.8 per cent support, followed by the Conservatives at 33.0 per cent, the NDP at 13.6 percent, the BQ at 5.3 per cent and the Greens at 6.4 per cent.
  • Accessible Voters – Asked whether they would consider voting for each of the federal parties, 54.1 per cent of Canadians say they would consider voting Liberal while 43.9 per cent would consider voting Conservative.  More than one in three Canadians (35.8%) would consider voting NDP while 34.6 per cent and 27.2 per cent of Canadians would consider voting for the BQ and Green parties respectively.
  • Preferred Prime Minister – Nanos tracking has Justin Trudeau as the preferred choice as PM at 45.6 per cent of Canadians followed by Conservative Party’s Andrew Scheer (21.4%), NDP’s Tom Mulcair (8.1%) and Green Party’s Elizabeth May (5.4%).  Eighteen per cent of Canadians were unsure who they preferred.
  • Qualities of a Good Political Leader – Six of ten Canadians (63.6%) believe Trudeau has the qualities of a good political leader while 46.9 per cent believe Mulcair has the qualities of a good political leader.  Almost four in ten (37.1%) say Scheer has the qualities of a good political leader, while 36.1 per cent believe the same about May. One in four (25.4%) said Parti Quebecois’ Martine Ouellet has the qualities of a good political leader (Quebec only).
  • Nanos Party Power Index – The Nanos Index which is a composite of a series of measures including ballot and leadership impressions has the Liberals with 60.2 points, the Conservatives 50.4 points, the NDP 43.1 points, the Greens 33.9 points and the BQ 29.1 points (Quebec only).