Justin Trudeau is losing support among young Canadians who are tired of the high-cost of living and seem dispirited about their own futures in Canada.
In a poll published Thursday, Canadians under the age of 24 were asked if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was “working in the best interests of their generation.” Seventy-one per cent responded “no.”
To be fair to Trudeau, huge majorities of every generation didn’t see him as working in their best interest — but the dissatisfaction was heaviest among voters who came of age after the Liberals’ 2015 election win…
The Conservatives have been scoring outsized support among younger Canadians for more than a year. It was in September that an Abacus Data poll first returned the unexpected result that Poilievre was more popular among Canadian youth than among Canadian seniors — a situation virtually unprecedented for a Conservative leader.
In recent months, as projections keep showing the Tories on track for a supermajority in the next election, it’s due largely to under-34 voters defecting from the Liberals to the Conservatives.
Other surveys show that the unpopularity of Trudeau coincides with a general unhappiness among young Canadians. And that unhappiness is mostly about their inability to own a home.
Canadians used to be among the most contented citizens on the planet. The most recent World Happiness Report, based on data gathered by Gallup, a polling firm, suggests they are now the world’s 15th-happiest people, having been the 6th-happiest before Mr Trudeau took office.
A closer look reveals a gap between satisfied seniors and those under 30, who are wretched. Young Canadians are the world’s 58th-happiest, just ahead of youth in Ecuador, a country racked by gang violence. The divide is between those who own housing and those who can only dream of doing so. Younger voters, who helped Mr Trudeau leapfrog to power in 2015, vote on issues now, not leader image, says David Coletto, a pollster. Affordable housing is the issue that preoccupies them.
When Mr Trudeau took office, a household earning the median income could cover the costs of owning an average home by spending 39% of their pay, according to rbc, a bank. Now that figure is 64%. Soaring interest rates and decades of sluggish housing construction are to blame.
The housing crisis has also created a problem for Trudeau’s embrace of immigration as a solution for the country’s falling birth rate:
Amid a housing affordability crisis and strain on social services, Trudeau’s government is rolling up the welcome mat for some immigrants.
It has capped the number of permanent residents it will welcome, announced a temporary limit on international student visas, and pledged to shrink the proportion of the population made up of temporary immigrants such as foreign workers…
The plan was bold: By 2025, Canadian officials announced, the country would take in nearly 1.5 million new permanent residents. For the most part, they would be economic immigrants, selected through a points system that values skilled work, education, and youth.
But behind the scenes of that 2022 announcement, the Canadian Press reported, federal public servants had warned that rapid population growth could strain the health care system and housing affordability. Housing stock, they said, had not kept pace with the population.
All of this seems to be getting to Trudeau who recently said he thinks frequently about leaving his job but he vowed to go on.
In a 24-minute interview released on Friday with the French-language broadcaster, Mr Trudeau said: “I could not be the man I am and abandon the fight at this point.”
“I think about quitting every day. It’s a crazy job I’m doing, making the personal sacrifices,” said the leader, who has been in office since 2015. “Of course, it’s super tough. It’s very challenging at times.”
The next Canadian election has to be held no later than October of 2025. If his current polling continues, he won’t have to worry about his crazy job beyond that date.