Environment
Still A Top Issue
Canadians split on whether Canada is
doing better or worse than in 2015
Toronto, August 2nd – In a random sampling of public
opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1733 Canadian voters, half (TOP2: 48%)
think Canada is doing better, with a sixth (15%) saying Canada is doing much
better. While the other half (BTM2: 52%) think Canada is doing worse, with a third
(29%) saying Canada is doing much worse.
Respondents more likely to say Canada is doing better include those
aged 18 to 44 (51% of those 18 to 34 and 52% of those 35 to 44), females (51%),
the least wealthy (54%) and $60k to $80k (56%), post-grads (59%), those living
in Atlantic Canada (60%), Liberals (85%), and those who are most concerned with
the environment (72%).
Respondents more likely to say Canada is doing worse include those
aged 45 to 64 (56% of those 45 to 54 and 58% of those 55 to 64), males (56%),
those earning $20k to $40k (54%), $40k to $60k (56%), and $80k to 100k (54%),
the least educated (62%), those living in Alberta (70%), Conservatives (88%), and
those who are most concerned with immigration (79%).
Environment
continues to be tied with Economy for most important issue
The environment
continues to be a leading issue for the upcoming Federal election, with one-quarter (26%) saying it is the most important
issue to them in the coming campaign.
That is still an increase of 11 points since
we began tracking key issues in February 2019.
|
%
|
Feb 27 - 28, 2019
|
April 3 - 6, 2019
|
June 28 - 30, 2019
|
July 26- 28, 2019
|
|
Sample
|
1301
|
1634
|
1812
|
1733
|
|
Environment
|
15
|
21
|
26
|
26
|
|
Economy
|
26
|
28
|
25
|
25
|
|
Healthcare
|
17
|
13
|
16
|
14
|
|
Taxes
|
12
|
12
|
8
|
8
|
|
Immigration
|
10
|
5
|
8
|
8
|
|
Education
|
8
|
7
|
6
|
7
|
|
Housing
|
4
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
|
Public Safety
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
|
Something else
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
5
|
The
economy (25%) remains a concern of one-quarter of Canadians, which is
consistent with results from the past six months.
Healthcare
(14%) is the most important issue to about one-sixth and is the clear third
choice, right now.
Taxes
(8%) have dipped slightly, down 4 points over the results of the past six
months.
Clustered
behind are education (7%), housing (5%), and something else (5%).
Public
safety (2%) is least on the minds of Canadians right now.
Respondents
most likely to say the environment is their top issue includes those aged 18-34
(30%), 35-44 (28%), earning $60k to $80k (32%) or the wealthiest (29%), the
most educated (34%), and living in Atlantic Canada (36%).
Respondents
most likely to say the economy is their top issue includes males (29%), the wealthiest
(29%), the least educated (30%), and those living in Alberta (51%).
Healthcare and the economy second-most important
About
one-fifth (16%) say the economy is the second most important issue to them,
tied with healthcare (15%).
The
environment (11%), taxes (12%), and education (12%) are all clustered behind.
Education
and taxes are more popular as second issues than they are as top issues (Taxes:
first 8%/second: 12%; education: first 7%/second: 11%.)
A
few say their second issue is immigration (7%), housing (7%), or public safety
(5%).
1 in
10 (11%) say they have no second issue, and few (3%) say it’s something else.
“The environment is
once again tied with the economy for the top issue on voters’ minds,” said Dr.
Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “It doesn’t look like an anomaly;
it looks like a real shift at this point. And while the Liberals, NDP, and
Greens have been pushing their green agenda for some time, the Conservatives
released a green platform with somewhat muted results. Can the Conservatives
make up ground? Or do they focus hard on the economy, leaving the other parties
to battle over the green vote?”
