By Canadian Press

WE controversy takes bite out of Trudeau, Liberal popularity: Poll

Aug 5, 2020 | 1:04 AM

OTTAWA — A new poll suggests nearly half of Canadians would support an election if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is found to have broken the Conflict of Interest Act again.

The survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies also suggests the WE controversy has taken a bite out of Trudeau’s popularity as well as that of the federal Liberal party, putting the Conservatives within striking distance of victory.

The poll comes as the federal ethics commissioner is investigating Trudeau over an alleged conflict of interest in relation to the government’s decision to have WE Charity run a $912-million student volunteer program.

Trudeau was previously found to have broken the ethics law for accepting two paid family vacations from the Aga Khan and improperly pressuring then-justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to halt the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

The prime minister has apologized for not recusing himself from WE Charity decision given his and his family’s connections to the Toronto-based development organization, but denied any wrongdoing.

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The Leger online poll of 1,531 Canadians over age 18 took place July 31 to Aug. 2 and cannot be given a margin of error because it is not a random sample.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2020.

The Canadian Press