Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is sticking to his guns on Bill C-51, despite fading popular support since the anti-terror legislation received a stamp of approval from the House of Commons last month.
Bill C-51 has prompted protests across the country from citizens who are concerned it will infringe on individual privacy.
Since its passage in the House at the beginning of , the Liberals have dropped more than three points on the Nanos Party Power Index -- from 56.4 on May 1 to 53.3 on the released earlier Tuesday.
Despite this dip, that he remains confident in his party's decision to back the bill.
"I'm extremely serene about the decision that I, and my entire unanimous caucus took as well, on this position," said Trudeau.
He added that polls in advance of an election "don't mean anything."
The Conservative government introduced the anti-terror legislation in January. It expands powers for CSIS officers, border guards and other law enforcement authorities, making it easier to monitor and arrest potential terror threats in Canada. The law also gives authorities more tools to disrupt individuals seeking to commit terror acts abroad.
The Conservatives passed the bill with the support of the Liberals. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair was staunch in his opposition.
"We chose to reject the politics of polarization and despite (Prime Minister Stephen Harper) trying to scare us about terrorists and despite (Tom Mulcair) trying to scare us about police states and our charter of rights and freedoms under attack," Trudeau told Power Play.
Trudeau said that his party took a position that would balance the need to "protect Canadians" and their "freedoms." He added that if elected he would repeal the elements in the legislation that are "problematic," bring in mechanisms for oversight and add a "sunset clause," or expiry date.
Trudeau acknowledged that his stance opens up his campaign to criticism, but was steadfast in his position.
"I've always said since the beginning that I reject the politics of attack of cynicism of division and that's what I'm going to stick with," said Trudeau.
The Nanos Party Power Index comprises a basket of political goods that includes ballot preferences, accessible voters, preferred PM views and evaluations of the leaders. It is modeled similar to a standard confidence index. The results are based on a four-week rolling average of opinion solicited through a random telephone survey of 1,000 Canadians in the period ending June 19th, 2015. It is considered accurate plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
