As Canadians keep their eyes on the mounting SNC-Lavalin saga that has rocked the Trudeau government, polls are showing that the Prime Minister and Liberals have taken a political hit as citizens continue to lose trust in the Federal administration.
In the most recent Angus Reid public opinion poll published today, results are showing that most Canadians believe that the SNC-Lavalin scandal runs deeper than what Liberals and the PMO have led the public to believe.
Many Canadians are awaiting the testimony of former Attorney General and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, who is expected to cautiously shed some light on the issue in which she was directly involved.
Allegations are that the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and his office placed pressure on Wilson-Raybould not to prosecute Quebec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin for fraud and instead pursue a remediation agreement. The allegations first came to light on February 7 in a report by the Globe and Mail.
In the opinion poll, research says that, “while it remains unclear exactly how much – if any – pressure Trudeau and his staff put on Jody Wilson-Raybould not to prosecute the Quebec-based engineering firm for fraud and corruption charges stemming from its business in Libya, most Canadians (66 per cent) say they believe there is a deeper scandal in the Prime Minister’s Office. Moreover, a similar number (63 per cent) say they believe SNC-Lavalin should be fully prosecuted under the criminal code, rather than allowed to negotiate a remediation agreement, as the PMO reportedly would have preferred.”
The poll further reveals that “these findings correspond with low marks for Trudeau himself. Fully six-in-ten Canadians (60 per cent) say they have an unfavourable view of the Prime Minister, and a nearly identical 59 per cent say their opinion of him has worsened over the last month or so. While this is driven largely by the negative views of right-of-centre voters, it’s notable that three-in-ten (28 per cent) who would vote for Trudeau’s Liberal Party in an election held tomorrow also say their view of the PM has worsened.”
Read more about the poll on the Angus Reid website.
