Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have regained a small lead over his main rival, Tory leader Andrew Scheer, after trailing for months ahead of upcoming Canadian elections, according to a poll published Saturday.
The Abacus Data survey of 1,500 Canadians showed 33 percent would vote for the Liberals if the ballot were held now instead of in October, up two percentage points from April.
Support for the Conservatives slipped two points to 32 percent.
Trudeau’s golden boy image had taken a heavy hit over a split in February with two senior ministers who alleged that he and his aides brought improper pressure to settle a corruption case against a Canadian engineering giant. Trudeau has denied the accusation.
His former attorney general refused to intervene in the case, and on Wednesday a judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence to try the company, SNC-Lavalin, on fraud and bribery charges linked to its dealings in Libya.
Trudeau remains Canadians’ top choice for prime minister but his personal approval rating has as fallen to a low of 33 percent, versus 30 percent for Scheer.
As the two frontrunners battle it out for pole position, the unexpected rise of the fourth-ranked Green Party has also grabbed significant attention.
The Green Party currently holds only two seats in Canada’s 338-seat parliament, but has doubled its support since January to 12 percent, and is now nipping at the heels of the New Democratic Party (NDP), whose support is unchanged at 16 percent.
“These numbers suggest some softening of Conservative support over the month, some strengthening of the Green Party, and an ongoing weak trend for the NDP,” pollsters Bruce Anderson and David Coletto said.
In Atlantic and Western Canada regions, the pair noted, the NDP actually trails the Greens.
