Most Canadians now want early election as Trudeau support drops again: poll

Ipsos polling done exclusively for Global News was released Friday and shows over half of Canadians believe there should be an early election.

As the Liberal government grapples with political upheaval following the exit of Chrystia Freeland from the federal cabinet, a new Ipsos poll shows most Canadians now want an early election.

That comes as support for Conservatives is surging and support for the Liberals is at a near-historic low this week — putting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just one point above the record-low support seen by former Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff in 2011.​

Ignatieff led the party to its worst defeat in history in 2011, which  saw the Liberals reduced to third-party status behind the NDP as official opposition and the Conservatives winning a majority government.

Ipsos polling done exclusively for Global News and released Friday shows over half of Canadians (53 per cent) believe opposition parties should defeat the government “at the earliest opportunity” and trigger an early election.

Meanwhile, 46 per cent believe opposition parties should work with the government on a case-by-case basis to avoid an early election.

This is a near-reversal of the data released on Monday morning before Freeland’s resignation, which shared responses gathered in early December.

That poll said 54 per cent did not want an early election and 46 per cent did.

The popular vote share for the Liberals has dropped one per cent since last week and six points since September to 20 per cent, tying them with the New Democrats.