TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2020) The approval rating of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government has tumbled in the wake of the WE Charity scandal and there are already calls demanding his resignation, an Abacus Data poll revealed on Monday.
The poll revealed that approval of the Federal government, while still net positive by 14 percent, has dropped by 10 percent since May. Trudeau's image has also taken a hit, with his approval rating sliding by 5 percent to 42 percent in the last two months.
"The WE Charity controversy has damaged the government's standing with Canadians, after several months of people feeling fairly positive towards the Prime Minister and the Liberals. So far the damage is significant but not extreme," Bruce Anderson, one of the report's two co-authors, said.
"Despite it being summer, Canadians remained highly engaged with current affairs and more continue to follow the news than they might normally do. It's pretty clear to me that the controversy has harmed the Prime Minister's image and pulled the Liberal vote down with it," the other co-author David Coletto said.
The data showed that 54 percent of those aware of the scandal and 59 percent of respondents who have closely followed the issue said that the government handled the controversy poorly. In addition, 40 percent of polled 2019 Liberal Party voters voiced dissatisfaction with the government's response.
Following multiple investigative pieces, which chronicled Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau's close ties to the WE Charity, which was awarded a $670-million sole-source contract to administer a government-sponsored student volunteer program, have led to a push by some for the prime minister's resignation.
"If they allow [Trudeau] to continue, if they don't demand that he resign, then they are telling Canadians that they are comfortable with his corruption," Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer told reporters during a press conference on Monday.
Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has also suggested Trudeau step aside and deputize Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland to lead government in the interim, although the prime minister has rejected these calls to date.
Both Trudeau and Morneau have apologized for not recusing themselves from the decision-making process but reiterated that the decision to award the contract was recommended by the public service.
Both Trudeau and Morneau are now the subjects of a Conflict of Interest investigation by the Ethics Commissioner. The ethics probe is the third for both during their five years in office.
The opposition has called for additional criminal and lobbying probes into the relationship between the Canadian government and the WE Charity.
