Canadians Say Attack on Parliament Hill Tops Rob Ford Saga, Senate Scandals as Top Canadian Political Story of 2014

Toronto, ON - The tragic attack on a soldier standing guard at the Canadian War Memorial, the subsequent storming of Parliament by the gunman and the heroism of Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers in taking down the shooter has been named the top Canadian political story of 2014 as chosen by Canadians, according to a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Global News.

Four in ten (39%) Canadians chose the attack in Ottawa as the top political story of the year, placing it first among 11 possibilities as assembled by Global News. In a distant second place, two in ten (21%) believe Rob Ford's final year as mayor of the City of Toronto was the top story of 2014, and the trio of senate scandals involving Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau placed third place, being chosen by one in ten (10%) Canadians.

Fewer Canadians chose the following as the top political stories of 2014: the Keystone pipeline debate (7%), Canada joins fight against ISIS and sends fighter jets (6%), Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's death (5%), the popularity of the Liberals and Justin Trudeau (5%), Allison Redford's spending scandal and her resignation as Alberta Premier (3%), Michael Sona's conviction in the Robocall scandal (1%), embattled Veterans' Affairs Minister Julien Fantino (1%), and finally MP Dean del Mastro's conviction and resignation from Parliament (1%).

Canadians in some regions were more likely than others to choose certain stories as the top of 2014:

• Those in Atlantic Canada (46%) were most likely to name the Ottawa shooting as the top story, followed by those living in Quebec (42%), BC (42%), Alberta (38%), Ontario (36%) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (36%).
• One in three (32%) Ontarians believe that the Rob Ford's final year as mayor of Toronto was the top political story of 2014, a significantly higher proportion than those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (23%), Atlantic Canada (15%), Quebec (14%), British Columbia (13%) and Alberta (10%).
• Nearly one in four (22%) Albertans believe the Allison Redford story was the top political story of the year - next in line were Quebecers at just 3%.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between December 16 to 19, 2014 on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,005 Canadians from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/- 3.5 percentage points had all Canadians adults been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
(416) 324-2002
[email protected]

About Ipsos Reid

Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

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About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

With offices in 86 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management.

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