Poll finds Trudeau trailing in all age categories as best choice for PM

The federal Liberal budget's efforts to address “generation fairness” have not swayed voters young or old, finds an online poll by the Angus Reid Institute.Seven-in-ten Canadians of all generations say they don’t believe the federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is working in the best interest of their age group. Vast majorities of Gen Z adults (18- to 24-year-olds) and Millennials (25- to 44-year-olds) also express doubt the Liberals have their best interest at heart, despite a volley of measures in the recent budget aimed at some of their top issues.Read more: Poll finds sliding support for Liberals despite spend-happy budgetCanadians’ top issues vary by generation but have been consistent for several years, with health care and affordability rating as high concerns since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Half (51%) of Canadians believe cost of living to be a top issue, an 11-point drop from last year.Both health care and affordability have been policy focus for the federal government in recent years. Still, when it comes to both issues, Canadians are more likely to say someone other than Trudeau is best to lead.On health care, 28% of Canadians say Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is the best choice. Trudeau (14%) finishes behind NDP leader Jagmeet Singh (22%) and none of the above (22%) and is tied with “not sure” (14%).On housing affordability, Poilievre again leads (31%) and Trudeau (13%) trails “none of them” (24%), and Singh (19%) and ties “not sure” (13%). The Conservative leader also outpaces Singh and Trudeau combined when it comes to issues of the economy and handling the deficit.Gen Z adults are more likely to say Poilievre (25%), Singh (23%) and none of them (21%) are the best choice for prime minister than Trudeau (10%), while Millennials believe Poilievre is the best choice at a plurality level.The poll also finds that twice as many Canadians (28%) select the deficit/government spending as a top issue as a year ago (14%).Two-in-five (43%) Canadians believe Poilievre is best to handle the deficit, far outpacing Trudeau (13%) and Singh (8%).When it comes to who is best to lead on various issues, Trudeau performs best on Indigenous issues and the environment. In both cases, one-in-five Canadians believe he is the best choice, and similar numbers choose Poilievre and Singh..The Angus Reid Institute conducted the online survey from April 19 to 23 among a representative randomized sample of 3,015 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI.