The pandemic has left its mark on Canada's political parties. Chantal Hebert writes:
Never have so many Canadians had to rely on governments for so much and for so long as they have over the past 12 months.
Given that, it should come as little surprise that the pool of progressive voters and the ranks of those who support government activism seems to have expanded over the course of the COVID-19 episode.
That reality has caused considerable pain for Conservatives -- who are philosophically committed to the principle of less government:
A year into the pandemic, the Conservatives are the only federal party that is consistently falling below its last election score in voting intentions.
Even as a debate has raged over the federal delivery of vaccines, the Conservatives, who — based on their seat count — are best positioned to replace the Liberals in government, have failed to hang on to their 2019 audience, let alone add to it.
Every national poll published since Feb.1 has Conservative support hovering around the 30 per cent mark. That’s down four points from the party’s election finish.
The same fate holds true for Conservative premiers:
Over on the Conservative side, the reviews range from decisively mixed in the case of Ontario’s Doug Ford and Manitoba’s Brian Pallister to outright negative in the case of Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe and Alberta’s Jason Kenney.
Even in the Conservatives’ heartland, the pandemic is doing the Canadian right no favours.
The pandemic has also improved prospects for the NDP:
As support for the Conservatives has shrunk, that for the NDP has expanded. In all but one of the last six national polls, the New Democrats have scored better than in the last election.
That is not to say Jagmeet Singh is necessarily on a roll. Historically some of the NDP’s best polling results have been achieved between elections.
We'll have to see if the Dippers fortunes have improved permanently. And the Green Party is still trying to find its footing under its new leader, Annamie Paul.
So, despite Justin Trudeau's stumbles, the Liberals appear to have weathered the pandemic pretty well.
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