Mark Carney leads the race for the Liberal leadership as the LPC gains ground against the Conservatives

According to data from Abacus Data, 33% of Canadians have a positive perception of Mark Carney, compared to 29% for Chrystia Freeland. This gap also widens among current supporters of the Canadian Liberal Party (PLC), with 64% having a favorable opinion of Carney, compared to 54% for Freeland.

The race now seems to be between these two candidates. However, Carney, former governor of the Bank of Canada, also enjoys greater support among Cabinet members compared to the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

The PLC appears to be benefiting from greater support from the electorate since its leadership race to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The latter announced on January 6 that he would resign once his successor is elected on March 9.

According to David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, the Canadians’ desire for government change has “softened” since Justin Trudeau’s resignation and the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatens Canada with 25% tariffs.

Fewer people seem to believe it is time to change government and that there are good alternatives to the ruling liberals: this figure has dropped from 56% of respondents in the days following Ms. Freeland’s abrupt resignation in December, to 52% in the following weeks, and then to 49% today.

This data comes from the latest Abacus Data survey, a Canadian market research and public opinion firm, conducted between January 22 and 26 with 2,205 Canadians, as reported by CBC News.

If federal elections were held now, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party would lead the Liberal Party by 21 points. This represents a decrease of three points for the Conservatives and an increase of two points for the Liberals compared to Abacus data from January 14.