Poll: Mark Carney seen as the best person for the job by most Quebecers

A recent Léger poll shows that the Liberal Party’s new leader and designated prime minister Mark Carney is seen in Quebec as the party leader best suited to confront Donald Trump’s tariffs and his threats of annexation.

The current crisis has caused the Liberal party’s polling numbers to soar to heights no one could anticipate even two months ago.

Almost twice as many Quebecers now see the designated prime minister as better placed to confront Trump than Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

This is according to the Léger poll conducted online for The Canadian Press from March 7 to 10 among 1,548 Canadians. Since this is a web survey, it cannot be assigned a margin of error.

This honeymoon period among Quebecers toward the former Governor of the Bank of Canada is having a major impact on voting intentions, as the federal election could be called before the end of the month.

Political fortunes change as Trump’s threats increase

Across the country, Carney’s Liberals garner 37 per cent of support, placing them on par with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives.

This represents a seven-point increase for the Liberal Party and a six-point decrease for Poilievre’s party since Feb. 24.

In Quebec, the gap is marked: the Liberal team commands 36 per cent of voting intentions, compared to only 23 per cent for the Conservatives.

In the context of a tariff war with the United States, Yves-François Blanchet’s Bloc Québécois is struggling to stand out, dropping to 25 per cent from 37 percent in January, according to Léger.

Jagmeet Singh’s New Democratic Party is bringing up the rear in Quebec with 8 per cent of support.

This past December in Quebec, the federal Liberals were tied with the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois had managed to secure 35 per cent of the vote.

But now everything has changed. While the Conservatives remain stable, the Liberal Party is surging with that seven-point gain, while the Bloc and the NDP are losing major ground.

Much of the renewed support for the Liberals is due to strong public support for Ottawa’s firm stance against the unpredictable U.S. president. Quebecers’ satisfaction rate with the Trudeau government has jumped 10 per cent compared to December.

The Liberals are making a comeback in voting intentions after lagging far behind the Conservatives for nearly two years.

However, all is not well for Carney, former Governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, as 53 per cent of Canadians say they want a change of government.

Carney “is not out of the woods yet,” according to pollster Jean-Marc Léger.

The new leader may even have already reached his peak of popularity, as he faces enormous challenges that will not leave him unscathed on election day.

The pollster says that a lot will depend on how he handles the looming trade war and how he stands up to Trump.

Approximately half of Quebec respondents say they are dissatisfied with Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, which has been in power for nearly a decade.

Furthermore, 33 per cent of Quebecers would like to exercise their right to vote this spring, in April or May, while another third would be willing to wait until October 20.

A general election could be called in Canada as early as next week.

—With files from The Canadian Press