Poilievre unrecognizable to 34% in poll

Many can't put name to Tory leader's face, which may be issue for Liberals

- STEPHANIE LEVITZ

About a third of Canadians can't put a name to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's face, a new poll suggests, even as his party commands at least a 17-point lead over Justin Trudeau's Liberals in public support.

But Abacus Data CEO David Coletto says that's not actually a problem for Poilievre, and instead signals one for Trudeau, whose floundering fortunes are driving big questions about how or if he can hang on to power and who might replace him if he goes.

In a survey conducted online between July 4 and 9, Coletto's firm put photos of the federal party leaders in front of 1,989 Canadians, and asked them to write in the person's name if they knew it.

Although 34 per cent of those surveyed couldn't name Poilievre, the other 66 per cent could; of them, 44 per cent had a positive impression of him and 43 per cent had a negative one. Of those who didn't recognize Poilievre, 26 per cent had a positive impression, 30 per cent were neutral, 28 per cent were negative and 16 per cent didn't know.

The results undercut a narrative among Liberals that people are not yet aware of Poilievre, and wouldn't support him if they were, Coletto said.

"If (the Liberals) think there's a path back and they can make him far less acceptable, they've got a lot of work to do in order to do it," he said.

"And I don't know if it's too late, but the longer this goes on, and the more (Poilievre) is able to reaffirm and strengthen people's impressions of him, the harder it's going to be to change people's minds."