More Canadians say they “trust none” of the federal political parties when it comes to economic management, than those who say they trust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.
According to a new survey conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News Channel’s Power Play, the Conservatives come out on top when Canadians are asked who they most trust to “responsibly manage the finances of the Government of Canada.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s party has a 16-point advantage over the Liberals on this question, with 35 per cent of respondents saying they trust the Tories the most. The next most common response was “I trust none,” which was how 21 per cent of Canadians surveyed felt.
The Liberals were the most trusted among 19 per cent of those surveyed. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s party placed fourth, with 10 per cent of respondents stating they trust New Democrats the most to manage government finances. Another seven per cent of respondents said there is “no difference.”
The survey was conducted between March 31 and April 1, days into the federal Liberal government embarking on a cross-Canada pre-budget spending announcement tour aiming to maximize eyeballs on a series of new initiatives targeting younger voters that will be included in Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s April 16 federal budget.
According to Nanos’ numbers, when looking at the 18-34 age group specifically, Conservatives also came out on top, with 30 per cent of younger Canadians saying they trust Poilievre’s party the most, followed by “none” and the NDP at 24.4 per cent and 14.4 per cent respectively.
The Liberals ranked fourth with just 14.2 per cent of surveyed Canadians aged 18 to 34 – largely those millennial and Generation Z demographics the party is targeting — saying they trust team Trudeau the most to manage federal finances.
As of the fall economic check-in, the federal deficit was projected to be $38.4 billion in 2024-25, and government coffers were not forecast to get back to balance at any point in the next six years, remaining billions away from Trudeau’s long-broken balanced budget pledge.
Methodology:
Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,069 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between March 31 and April 1, 2024, as part of an omnibus survey. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone using live agents and were administered a survey online. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
