Shawdesh desk:

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ratings have hit an all-time low after he made the allegations of India’s involvement in the death of a Khalistani terrorist, an exclusive survey carried out by NDTV has revealed.

NDTV tied up with Claster Consulting to carry out the extensive poll in Canada. Ties between Indian and the country are at their lowest ebb after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament last month that “Indian government agents” played a role in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.

Canada has offered no evidence to substantiate the claim, which has been rejected by India as “absurd and motivated”.

Methodology

NDTV tied up with Claster Consulting to carry out the poll among 800 Canadian citizens over the age of 18, covering a mix of genders, age groups, regions, religions and ethnicities. The poll was carried out between October 1 and October 5 and the margin of error is +/- 3.5 percentage points.

Issues

The first question in the survey was ‘What are the issues that matter to Canadians the most?’ and our findings reveal that pocketbook issues, like cost of living and housing, were the most important for the average Canadian, followed by healthcare and the environment. Cost of living and inflation was, by far, the most important with 46% of people mentioning that, followed by housing at 11%.

Job Approval

Asked what they thought of Mr Trudeau’s performance, 54% of those surveyed said they disapprove of the job he is doing. What will worry the Prime Minister, who will be looking to get elected for the fourth time in 2025, is that 38% of people said they “strongly disapprove” of his performance, indicating voter fatigue.

India-Canada Ties

The survey indicates that most Canadians value the country’s relationship with India. Asked how they view the ties with the country, 62% said the relationship is very or somewhat important and only 20% said it is not important.

Relationship Worse Now?

To a question on whether they felt the relationship had taken a hit since Trudeau’s allegations against India, 65% said it has gotten somewhat or much worse. Of the people surveyed, 15% said it’s neither better nor worse and 12% said they ‘don’t know’.

Well-Informed, Mostly

When pollsters asked whether they had heard or read about PM Trudeau’s statements about Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 57% of those interviewed said they had and 31% said they had not. The ‘don’t know’ column was picked by 12%.

Did It Affect Trudeau?

Among those who had heard about the allegations, 37% said they made them view Mr Trudeau somewhat or much less favourably, while 25% said this made them look at him more favourably.

Situation Mishandled?

To the important question of whether PM Trudeau had mishandled the situation and endangered Canada’s relationship with India by making the allegations, 41% of Canadians said he had, while 27% said he had handled it well.

A Diversion?

With Trudeau’s ratings at an all-time low, we asked whether the prime minister raised the issue and risked his relationship with India to distract from his own failures. 39% of Canadians agreed and said it was a distraction tactic, while 35% said it was not.