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Liberals won over Muslims by huge margin in 2015, poll suggests
5-03-2016
Muslim Canadians voted overwhelmingly for the Liberal Party in last year’s election, helping Justin Trudeau secure the majority government that nine out of 10 of Muslims believe will help improve relations between themselves and other Canadians, according to a new survey.
The poll of Muslim Canadians also found widespread support for the right to wear a niqab during a citizenship ceremony and a large degree of opposition to the anti-terrorism legislation known as Bill C-51, two hot-button issues that may have cost the Conservatives dearly in the last federal election.
The Environics Institute polled 600 Muslim Canadians between November 2015 and January 2016, asking a number of questions related to identity and religious issues, in addition to more politically themed questions.
Of those who said they had voted in the 2015 federal election, 65 per cent reported voting for the Liberals, with 10 per cent saying they voted for the New Democrats and just two per cent for the Conservatives.
Another 19 per cent of Muslim respondents refused to say how they had voted.
These numbers mark a shift away from the NDP and Conservatives compared with 2011. An Ipsos Reid exit poll of voters in 2011 found that 46 per cent of Muslim Canadians had voted for the Liberals, with 38 per cent having cast a ballot for the NDP and 12 per cent for the Conservatives.
Though the 19 per cent of non-responders leaves some degree of uncertainty, it seems likely that in 2015 the Conservatives lost a significant proportion of the Muslim voters they had in 2011.
With the niqab debate, legislation that would strip citizenship from dual citizens convicted of terrorism, and the "barbaric cultural practices" tip line, the campaign was one in which many Muslim Canadians felt targeted by the Conservatives.
Perhaps not coincidentally, then, 90 per cent of Muslim Canadians report being optimistic that the new Liberal majority government under Justin Trudeau will improve relations between Muslims and other Canadians. Just three per cent were pessimistic.
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