Majority Say They Pay Attention to Politics Between Elections

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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.