No fallout for Liberals over Khadr settlement, polling suggests

Appeasement of ex-detainee ‘fails to galvanize’

Three s eparate opinion polls conducted in recent weeks by different research firms all suggest the Trudeau government hasn’t taken much of a hit for its controversial settlement with Omar Khadr.

The most recent numbers from Nanos Research, released Tuesday, show the Liberals with 39 per cent support, up slightly from their poll four weeks ago, followed by the Conservatives at 30 per cent and the NDP at 18 per cent.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the preferred choice for prime minister among 45 per cent of respondents, with Conservative leader Andrew Scheer trailing at about 21 per cent.

The Nanos numbers align with other recent polls suggesting the Liberals aren’t suffering f or t he Khadr settlement, news of which broke in early July. Along with a reported $ 10.5- million payment to Khadr, the Liberals also issued a formal apology to him for “any role Canadian officials may have played” during his 10 years in custody at the U. S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Khadr was c onvicted of killing Sgt. Christopher Speer in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was 15. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Khadr’s constitutional rights were violated during his time at Guantanamo Bay.

Last week, Abacus Data r el eased s ur vey r esults showing 43 per cent of respondents would vote Liberal if an election were held today, compared to just 31 per cent who would vote Conservative and 16 per cent who would vote NDP. Support for the Liberals in that poll was unchanged since May.

Forty- nine per cent of respondents expressed a positive view of Trudeau, up from 46 per cent in April, compared to 20 per cent who had a positive view of Scheer.

Abacus credited the state of the economy for the Liberals’ strong showing, with 68 per cent of respondents saying the economy is growing.

“What these initial numbers show is t hat many people are feeling better about current economic conditions and are not showing any rise in fatigue with or frustration with the federal government,” said chairman Bruce Anderson in a news release.

A third poll, released by Campaign Research on July 12, showed very similar results, with 40 per cent saying they would now vote Liberal, ahead of the Conservatives with 31 per cent and the NDP with 19 per cent. Campaign Research’s numbers have also changed little since June, when the Liberals had 39 per cent support and the Conservatives had 30 per cent.

“It appears t hat t he Khadr controversy failed to galvanize public opinion of the prime minister and t he government as some t hought it might,” Campaign Research CEO Eli Yufest said in a news re- lease.

The Liberals remain in good standing despite a recent poll from the Angus Reid Institute showing that 71 per cent of respondents believe the Trudeau government should have fought the Khadr case rather than settle. Most were more opposed to the financial compensation than to the apology.

The s ame poll f ound that 64 per cent agree that Khadr remains a “potential radicalized threat" living in Canada.

“No doubt, Canadians do not approve of the settlement he received, but their anger is not yet projected towards the prime minister,” Yufest said in his release. “As news of the Khadr settlement percolates among the electorate, it will be interesting to see if public opinion moves against the Liberals and Prime Minister Trudeau."

The Nanos findings are based on a random telephone survey of 1,000 Canadians, with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Abacus Data surveyed 2,036 Canadians between July 14 and 18, with a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Campaign Research surveyed 1,540 Canadians between July 7 and 10, with a margin of error of two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The Angus Reid Institute surveyed 1,521 Canadian members of an online panel between July 7 and 10, with a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.