Canadians don’t feel the government has done enough to protect Canada’s interests in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks, according to new research conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News and The Globe and Mail.

The Nanos research was completed just before the TPP trade announcement on Oct. 5, in which Canada and 11 other nations reached a tentative deal on a massive Pacific Rim trading bloc. If it is ratified by the participating governments, the deal would encompass about 40 per cent of the world's economy and eliminate barriers for certain Canadian exports.

Canadians were asked whether they were confident the federal government had done a good job advancing Canada's interests in the trade talks. Just under half of Canadians surveyed were either not confident (32 per cent) or somewhat not confident (16 per cent) that the government has done a good enough job advancing Canada’s interests.

Comparatively, 18 per cent were confident, and 24 per cent were somewhat confident that they had done a good enough job. Eleven per cent of respondents were unsure.

Asked which federal party they trusted most to protect Canada's interests in a trade agreement, the survey found the Liberals and the Conservatives were tied, with 30 per cent of Canadians trusting each party equally to protect Canada’s interests. The NDP was in third place with 22 per cent.

Five per cent of Canadians trusted the Greens the most, while two per cent most trusted the Bloc. Ten per cent were unsure.

Dairy and auto sectors

Almost three quarters of Canadians said they were concerned about a potential negative impact on dairy farmers as a result of the TPP, with 39 per cent saying that a negative impact would be important to them, and 34 per cent saying it would be somewhat important to them.

And three in four Canadians said that a negative impact on the automobile industry as a result of the TPP would be important (35 per cent) or somewhat important (40 per cent) to them.

Survey methodology

Nanos Research conducted an RDD (random digit dialing) dual frame (land-and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,000 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between Oct. 3 and 5, 2015, as part of an omnibus survey.

The results were statistically checked and weighted by age and gender using the latest Census information and the sample is geographically stratified to be representative of Canada. The margin of error for a random survey of 1,000 Canadians is ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.