Alberta Political Scene: Western Alienation February 14, 2001
Calgary, Alberta - In an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll released today, two-thirds (67%) of Albertans disagree with the suggestion that "the Alberta provincial government should take itself out of national programs like the Canada Pension Plan, RCMP, and Canada Health Act and replace them with its own Alberta-only programs", and almost half (46%) strongly disagree. Alternately, three-in-ten (28%) agree with the statement, with 13 percent who strongly agree. Five percent (5%) were unsure or did not have an opinion on the matter.
- Women (77%) are more likely than men (56%) to disagree with the opting-out proposition.
When choosing between two options to "have their views better represented in the federal government", two-thirds (64%) also say that "the best way is to vote for a national party which represents all of the regions of Canada because then Western Canada would be part of the government". Only a third (33%) prefer the other option, thinking that "the best way is to vote for a party which is only based in Western Canada because it does not have to compromise its views". Three percent (3%) were unsure or did not have an opinion.
- Women (69%) are more likely than men (58%) to think that an "all-region" national party is the best way to better represent their views in the federal government.
These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Globe and Mail/CTV poll conducted between February 9th and February 11th, 2001. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 750 adult Albertans. The results are accurate to within 177 3.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire Alberta population been surveyed. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. The data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Alberta population according to the 1996 Census data.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Marc Henry
Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid
(403) 237-0066
