OTTAWA: The majority of Canadians are, so far, unconvinced the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal signed this week by the Canadian government will be a benefit, according to a new poll conducted for Postmedia Network.
But while voters may be uncertain about the value of Canada joining the world’s largest trading bloc, they do believe Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has the best plan for the economy, says the Mainstreet Research telephone poll of 5,630 Canadians, conducted Oct. 6 and 7.
Harper announced Monday that Canada and the 11 other TPP members had reached an agreement on reducing and eliminating trade barriers in a pact representing almost 40 per cent of the global economy.
Justin Trudeau has said his party wants to see the details of the agreement, but noted the Liberals have long been pro-trade and strongly hinted they’ll support the deal. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has come out against the TPP, saying it will destroy thousands of jobs in the auto sector, threaten the livelihoods of farming families and drive up the cost of pharmaceutical drugs.
One-third (33 per cent) of respondents said the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be “good” for the Canadian economy, while about one-quarter (24 per cent) said it will be “bad” for the economy, with 16 per cent saying it will make “no difference” and roughly one-quarter (26 per cent) not sure, according to the poll.
Asked which leader has the best plan for the Canadian economy, 37 per cent said Harper, followed by Trudeau at 31 per cent, Mulcair at 15 per cent and Green party Leader Elizabeth May at two per cent. Twelve per cent of respondents were undecided on which leader has the best economic plan.
The Mainstreet/Postmedia survey has a margin of error of 1.31 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The poll was conducted on a mixture of landlines and cellphones through what’s known as interactive voice response. The results were weighted by language, age and gender based on the 2011 Canadian Census.
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