BC Liberals Still in the Honeymoon Period

Vancouver, September 4, 2001 - British Columbians think the BC Liberal government is doing a good job so far in living up to the commitments they made in their 90-day plan. Almost two-thirds of people in the province (64%) rate the BC Liberals as having done a very good job (23%) or moderately good job (41%) at living up to their commitments. Only one-in-five BC residents (18%) say the BC Liberals have done a poor job, with 11% saying they've done a moderately poor job and 7% saying they've done a very poor job.

"On May 16th, British Columbians gave the BC Liberals a mandate for dramatic change in our province. These findings clearly indicate that the public is happy with the actions taken by the BC Liberals to date" says Rhys Gibb, Senior Research Manager with Ipsos-Reid. "What is particularly notable is the fact that this support is consistent across different regions within the province, gender lines, age groups and other demographic segments. There is broad-based approval for the job the BC Liberals have done in living up to their commitments."

These findings are based on a survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid late this summer. Ipsos-Reid surveyed 800 British Columbians between August 7th and 14th 2001 using the BC Reid Express, Ipsos-Reid monthly BC omnibus survey.

Majority (57%) thinks pace of change is about right. Only one-in-five (18%) think things are moving too quickly.

Most British Columbians are comfortable with the pace of change brought about by the by the decisions and actions of the BC Liberals since they've been in office. Fifty-seven percent of BC residents think that changes are happening at about the right pace. The remainder of British Columbians are about equally split between thinking change is happening too slowly (21%) or too quickly (18%).

Observes Rhys Gibb, "At the time our survey was conducted, the BC Liberals were just nearing the end of an aggressive 90-day agenda for British Columbia. The strong public appetite for change is reflected in the fact that more than three-quarters of British Columbians think change is happening at the right pace or even too slowly."

Personal income tax cuts are going to pay down debts (26%), for personal spending (26%) and for saving/investing (24%).

At the time of interviewing, the BC Liberal's 25% across the board cut in personal income taxes had been in effect for just over one month, or two typical pay periods. Three main uses emerged when we asked British Columbians to tell us what they were mainly doing with the extra money they now have as a result of the tax cut. First, 26% of BC residents say they are using the extra cash to pay down debt. Second, an equal number (26%) say they are simply spending the money. Third, a sizable portion (24%) say that they are either saving it (16%) or investing it (8%). At the same time, however, 17% of people say that they haven't noticed it or that it was too small of an amount to make a difference. Lower household income residents (under $30,000) were the most likely not to have noticed the tax cut (26% did not notice).

Ipsos-Reid asked British Columbians about the BC Liberal's long term plan to cover the expected shortfall in government revenues from lower taxes by generating economic activity through increased consumer spending, business investment and job creation. For the most part, British Columbians have faith in the Liberal strategy, as two-thirds (64%) say they are confident the strategy will work. However, the strength of confidence is not high as just 15% say they are very confident the strategy will work, compared to 49% who are only somewhat confident.

At the other end of the spectrum, 22% of BC residents say they are not very confident that the strategy will work and 12% say that they are not at all confident it will work. "People are happy to see their tax cuts and want to believe that this BC Liberal strategy will work. However, they're not entirely convinced and appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach" says Gibb.

This Ipsos-Reid, BCTV, Vancouver Sun poll is based on a random provincial telephone survey conducted between August 7th and 14th, 2001 among a representative cross-section of 800 British Columbian adults. These data are statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional, age and sex composition reflects that of the actual BC population according to 1996 Census data. With a provincial sample of 800, one can say with 95% certainty that the overall results are within +3.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult BC population been polled. The margin of error will be larger for other sub-groupings of the survey population.

Established in 1979, Ipsos-Reid is Canada's leading market research and public opinion company. Its is best known for the Angus Reid Express Poll, the most widely quoted source of public opinion in the country. Founded by Dr. Angus Reid, Ipsos-Reid has conducted extensive market and social research in 80 countries and in 40 languages, and serves clients around the world through more than 300-professionals and 1,000 data collection staff in eleven offices. The company is a member of the Paris-based Ipsos Group, ranked among the top ten research companies in the world.

For more information, contact:
Rhys Gibb, Senior Research Manager,
Ipsos-Reid Vancouver
t: 604.893-1633
e: [email protected]
w: www.ipsos-reid.com