OTTAWA—A new poll suggests many Canadians are paying attention to the Liberal government’s alleged political interference scandal and that it is souring opinions of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The poll by Forum Research, provided exclusively to the Star, included 1,301 randomly selected Canadian adults who responded to an interactive telephone survey on Wednesday and Thursday — the day of Jody Wilson-Raybould’s stunning justice committee testimony in Ottawa and the day after. A majority of respondents — 55 per cent — said they could “confidently explain the situation related to the Prime Minister´s Office and SNC Lavalin,” including 27 per cent who said they can “very confidently” explain it. Meanwhile, 57 per cent said the situation has “worsened” their opinion of Trudeau, versus 36 per cent who said it has had “no effect” and 7 per cent who said their view of the prime minister has been improved by the situation. Results of the poll are considered accurate +/- 3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.“Everyone is showing a pretty good level of awareness,” Forum Research President Lorne Bozinoff said. “That we can say without a doubt, and they seem to know a lot about it.”Read more: Trudeau refuses opposition demand to recall Parliament over SNC-Lavalin affairOpinion | Heather Mallick: SNC-Lavalin controversy? Just put it to bedCaught in the SNC-Lavalin scandal, Canada’s top civil servant should help us understand his job, expert saysThe controversy erupted Feb. 7, when the Globe and Mail reported that officials in the Prime Minister’s Office pressured the former attorney general to intervene in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin to strike a mediation deal with the global engineering and construction giant that is based in Montreal. Trudeau and his office have repeatedly denied there was inappropriate pressure, while Privy Council clerk Mic ...
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