Muslims and Jews say their opinion of Trudeau has worsened

Canada’s shifting demographics has meant a commensurate shift in the ways political parties look for voters. Modern politicians have sought to appeal to support bases across diverse linguistic, cultural, and religious diasporas.

In 2015, the Liberals’ appeal to Muslim voters helped power Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to a majority government. But recent tensions brought on by the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and the resulting humanitarian crisis, have changed the political landscape.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds the Liberals’ balancing act in addressing the Israel-Gaza conflict costing it support among two key constituencies. Trudeau’s party trails the NDP (41% to 31%) in vote intent among Canadian Muslims and the CPC (42% to 33%) among Canadian Jews.

However, those are not the only religious groups where the Liberals find themselves with a support deficit. Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative party are the preferred choice of a majority (53%) of Christians, Hindus (53%) and Sikhs (54%).

This comes as Canadians of all religious stripes – or none at all – report deteriorating opinions of the prime minister. As the federal government attempts to navigate its response to the ongoing war in Gaza, it has earned plenty of criticism from Canadian Muslims and Jews. Among both groups, at least half say their opinion of Trudeau has worsened in recent weeks.

However, the opposition leaders have yet to capitalize on souring approval of Trudeau among these two key groups. Canadian Muslims are about as likely to say their opinion of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh have improved (22%) as worsened (20%); half (47%) say their views of Poilievre have become more negative in recent weeks.

Assessments of both leaders by Canadian Jews trend negative (Singh -36; Poilievre -6).

https://angusreid.org/religion-and-vote/