Pro-Palestinian supporters during a demonstration in Toronto on October 9, 2023. PHOTO BY COLE BURSTON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Support for the Liberal Party among both Jews and Muslims is declining amid the Gaza conflict between Hamas and Israel, according to a new poll.
Canadian Muslims now favour the NDP over the Liberals, while Canadian Jews are more supportive of the Conservatives, according to the Angus Reid Institute poll released May 16. Among both groups, the Liberals placed second, around 10 points behind the leading party.
A majority of both Jews and Muslims say the Liberal government’s response to the conflict in Gaza has been poor, especially the government’s role in standing up for international laws, according to the polling firm.
Some 51 percent of Muslims surveyed said their opinion of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had worsened recently, while some, including Muslim donors, have withdrawn their support over the government’s lack of a call for a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict in December.
Similarly, nearly half of Jews surveyed said their opinion of Mr. Trudeau deteriorated as incidents of anti-Semitism have increased since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, which precipitated the Gaza conflict.
A report released earlier this year by B’nai Brith Canada, a Jewish advocacy group, said nearly 5,800 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in 2023, from less than 2,200 the prior year.
The group’s director of research, Richard Robertson, said the number was the highest recorded by his association since they began keeping records in 1982.
The level of anti-Semitism has even prompted some Jews to decide to leave the country, as was the case for Moshe Appel and his family, who had lived in Montreal and elsewhere in Canada. Mr. Appel said that growing anti-Semitic incidents led his family to move to Israel because they felt it would be safer for them.
Despite moving to the Tories, Jews have a somewhat negative opinion of party leader Pierre Poilievre, according to Angus Reid, but still prefer him to Mr. Trudeau.
Among Muslims, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has favourable support, while none of the groups surveyed had a positive view of Mr. Trudeau overall.
Overall, the Tories enjoyed the largest share of support from Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, Jews, and those with no religious affiliation, with only Muslims largely favouring the NDP, which has consistently demanded a ceasefire in Gaza.
Muslims, the fastest-growing religious group in the country according to Statistics Canada, account for 4.9 percent of Canadians, compared with just 2 percent in 2001. The growth largely comes from immigration.