Majority Say They Pay Attention to Politics Between
Elections
Almost two-thirds say
they don't trust promises made before an election
Toronto, January
26th - In a random sampling of public
opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1408 Canadian voters, more than 8 in 10 (81%) say they
attention to politics between election cycles, with about half of those (40%)
saying they pay a lot of attention.
One-sixth (BTM2: 17%) say they don't
pay attention to politics if there isn't an election, with few (1%) saying they
don't ever pay attention to politics or that they do not know (1%).
Respondents most likely say that they
pay attention to politics between elections (TOP2) include those aged 55-64
(89%), males (87%), those earning $60,000-$80,000 (88%), $80,000-$100,000
(89%), or the most wealthy (91%), living in Alberta (88%), with a
college/university (88%) or post-graduate degree (89%), or supporting the
Conservatives (90%) or BQ (87%).
Respondents most likely to say they
don't pay attention to politics between elections include those aged 34 and
younger (25%), females (22%), the least wealthy (26%) or earning
$20,000-$40,000 (27%), living in Atlantic Canada (23%) or Québec (20%), the least educated (29%), and Green (34%)
supporters.
Most don't trust pre-election promises
More than half (BTM2: 58%) say they
don't trust the promises made by politicians before an election, with one-sixth
(17%) saying they have no trust at all in these promises.
4 in 10 (40%) say they trust
pre-election promises, but very few (3%) say they have a lot of trust in them.
Few say they do not know (2%).
Respondents most likely to say they
don't trust pre-election promises include those aged 34 and younger (59%),
35-44 (58%), 45-54 (62%), or 55-64 (61%), earning $20,000-$40,000 (59%),
$40,000-$60,000 (61%), or $60,000-$80,000 (58%), living in Atlantic Canada
(68%) or Alberta (67%), the least educated (62%) or with a college degree
(62%), and supporting the Green Party (75%) or BQ (75%).
Respondents most likely to say they trust pre-election
promises include those aged 65+ (42%), earning $80,000-$100,000 (51%), with a
post-graduate degree (48%), and supporting the Liberals (60%).
Those that say they pay attention to politics between
elections are slightly more likely to trust these promises than the average
voter, with more than 4 in 10 (44%) of these attention paying voters saying
they trust pre-election promises, while half (55%) say they do not.
Those who don't pay much attention between elections are
much less likely to trust pre-election promises, with
three-quarters (76%) saying they do not trust them, and only 1 in 10 (11%)
saying they do.
“Canadians say they are very engaged between elections, with almost
everyone saying they pay at least some attention to politics between elections,”
said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. "What's interesting
is that those that say they don't pay attention between elections are far less
likely to trust pre-election promises than those that say they do pay
attention."
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
