The We Controversy Lingers: Weekly Issue Tracking (August 2020 Week 2)
The We Controversy still dominates political debate, but fewer Canadians paying attention
The controversy around the WE charity continues to be the top issue Canadians recall about the Prime Minister and Federal government over the past week.
When asked what they have read, seen, or heard more than 6-in-10 (62%) mentioned the WE charity controversy. This is down slightly week-to-week (70% last week) but still the lead story by a wide margin. Other key stories include COVID-19 (13%) and Trudeau’s recent vacation (11%).
Overall, the impact of recent issues in the news has been very negative for Trudeau and the federal government: 51% feel less favourable based on what they’ve been hearing, and only 17% feel more favourable, this leaves them underwater by 33 points. That is however a slight improvement from a negative balance of 41 points last week.
Overall Canadian attention to politics has dipped slightly and pulling overall attention to the WE issue down with it.In these comparisons we are looking at the percentage of all Canadians who recall the issue, including those who don’t recall anything in the news:
In mid-July, nearly half (45%) of Canadians recalled hearing something recently about the We Charity, with 66% of those people reporting a less favourable impression of the PM and the Liberal government based on the story.
Now, only about a third (34%) of Canadians recall the scandal, down 11 points. It remains a strongly negative story for the government (60% less favourable) but this is six-point improvement from July.
As pressure mounts on Prime Minister Trudeau in both the press and from the Bloc Québécois, and with Bill Morneau’s recent resignation, the government’s inability to move on from the controversy in voters’ minds is a critical flashpoint to watch.
For detailed results, download our full report here.
The controversy around the WE charity continues to be the top issue Canadians recall about the Prime Minister and Federal government over the past week.
When asked what they have read, seen, or heard more than 6-in-10 (62%) mentioned the WE charity controversy. This is down slightly week-to-week (70% last week) but still the lead story by a wide margin. Other key stories include COVID-19 (13%) and Trudeau’s recent vacation (11%).
Overall, the impact of recent issues in the news has been very negative for Trudeau and the federal government: 51% feel less favourable based on what they’ve been hearing, and only 17% feel more favourable, this leaves them underwater by 33 points. That is however a slight improvement from a negative balance of 41 points last week.
Overall Canadian attention to politics has dipped slightly and pulling overall attention to the WE issue down with it.In these comparisons we are looking at the percentage of all Canadians who recall the issue, including those who don’t recall anything in the news:
As pressure mounts on Prime Minister Trudeau in both the press and from the Bloc Québécois, and with Bill Morneau’s recent resignation, the government’s inability to move on from the controversy in voters’ minds is a critical flashpoint to watch.
For detailed results, download our full report here.
