Poll Reveals 50% of Canadians Hold Unfavorable View of Newest Liberal Budget

A recent poll indicates that the latest budget by the Liberals has not swayed voters, although there is widespread support for their initiative to construct millions of homes.

Less than half of those surveyed in Leger’s most recent poll expressed a negative view of the federal budget unveiled on April 16th.

Only 21% had a positive opinion, while a third of respondents either did not know or chose not to respond.

However, 65% of participants believed that the $8.5 billion allocation towards housing, with the goal of building 3.9 million homes by 2031, would benefit the nation.

Leger’s survey of 1,522 Canadians over the past weekend cannot be assigned a margin of error since online surveys are not considered fully random samples.

Individuals in Alberta were most inclined to hold a very negative view of the budget, with 42% choosing this option compared to 25% nationwide.

Over half of survey participants expressed support for the government’s plans to increase spending on energy efficiency, national defense, and student loan forgiveness for healthcare and education workers.

Furthermore, 56% believed that raising the capital gains tax inclusion rate, estimated to generate an additional $19.4 billion in revenue over the next four years, was a positive move.

The Liberals justify this change as essential to their goal of promoting generational equality by taxing the super-wealthy.

This initiative has faced backlash, including from the Canadian Medical Association, which cautioned on April 23rd that it could impact Canada’s ability to attract and retain physicians.

The budget suggests making two-thirds of capital gains taxable instead of half. This change would apply to individual profits exceeding $250,000, without a minimum threshold for corporations.

The medical association emphasized that many doctors will encounter higher taxes as they have incorporated their practices and used these entities for retirement savings.

Although the Liberals aim to target younger Canadians, including millennials and Gen Z, with changes to the capital gains tax, Leger’s poll revealed that 60% of participants over 55 years old supported this measure, the highest among all age groups.

Individuals aged 18-35 were least supportive of the Liberal plan to allocate an additional $73 billion towards defense over the next two decades. Only 45% in this age group considered the ramp up in defense spending beneficial compared to 70% of those over 55.

Leger also raised questions about the country’s fiscal future.

Nearly half of respondents, 47%, expressed a preference for the government to reduce spending and programs to achieve a balanced budget promptly.

Merely 16% believed that increasing spending and running large deficits is the optimal strategy for the next five years, while 14% supported raising taxes to reduce the deficit.