Canadians Split on Intention of Trudeau Government on the Investigation of China’s Interference in Canada’s National Elections

Toronto, April 4, 2023 — After leaked reports accusing the Chinese government of meddling in Canada’s recent federal elections, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed former Governor General David Johnston to lead an investigation into what happened. This Ipsos poll for Global News shows that Canadians are on the fence about the sincerity of this investigation: half (52%) say the political probe is a sincere effort to uncover what transpired, while 48% argue that the investigation is a cover up.

Quebec residents most suspicious of Liberal investigation

Canadians who believe the investigation and David Johnston’s appointment is a sincere effort by the Trudeau Liberals to get to the truth of what happened with China’s interference in our national elections are more likely to reside in Atlantic Canada (60%), Ontario (57%), and Alberta (56%).

Canadians who believe that the investigation and the appointment of David Johnston is an attempt by the Trudeau Liberals to cover up what happened with China’s interference in our national elections are more likely to reside in Quebec (57%), and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (52%).

Nearly half (48%) of Canadians say they have been following the news about the Government of China interfering in Canadian elections (12% very closely, 36% somewhat closely). Men (56%) are more likely than women (40%) to be following the issue. Regionally, those living in British Columbia (51%), Alberta (50%), Ontario (49%) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (48%) are more likely than those in Atlantic Canada (40%) and Quebec (36%) to be paying attention.

Opinion about the motivation behind the appointment differ between those who are following the issue more closely, and those who are not:

• Among those following the news, 48% say appointment of Mr. Johnston is well intentioned, while 52% believe it’s more politically motivated.
• Among those not following the news, 56% believe his appointment is a genuine attempt to get to the heart of the matter, while 44% think it’s a cover up.

Attitudes are also informed by one’s political leaning:

• Bloc (74%) and Conservative (67%) voters are most likely to believe that the investigation is a cover up, but only a minority of NDP (44%) and Liberal (21%) voters believe this is the case.
• Liberal (79%) and NDP (56%) voters are most likely to believe the investigation is a genuine attempt to get to the heart of the issue, while Conservative (33%) and Bloc (26%) supporters are more skeptical.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between March 20 and 22, 2023, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson

Senior Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2002
[email protected]

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