Morning Brief: Pandemic handling a ‘potential liability’ for Liberals – iPolitics

Feb 8, 2021

Good morning, iPolitics readers.

— Political insiders say all is not lost for Liberals yet: Canadians’ displeasure with the federal government’s vaccine rollout is problematic, but is currently only a “potential liability” for the Liberals, rather than a sure sign that they have fallen completely out of favour. The Hill Times reports that the pandemic, which was previously seen as a “slam-dunk political win” for the incumbent governments, is now damaging the Liberals’ popularity. While it previously could have boosted voter support for them in the next election, now it could become a liability, as Canadians grow impatient with the vaccine rollout.

— Kady O’Malley looks ahead to the rest of the day in politics with iPolitics AM: “With the House of Commons on hiatus until next week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to take advantage of the parliamentary downtime to embark on a closed-to-media virtual road trip, starting in Nova Scotia’s Eastern Passage, where he’ll join local MP Darrell Samson for a mid-afternoon chat with the student council at Island View High School.”