Economy (24%), Healthcare (17%), Environment (14%), Taxes (14%) Top Issues For Canadians in Campaign

Ottawa, ON - According to a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of CanWest News Service and Global Television, the economy (24%), healthcare (17%), the environment (14%) and taxes (14%) are tops for Canadians when thinking about the issues that they most want political leaders and candidates to be talking about during the campaign. Rounding out the list of ten issues that were presented to Canadians are poverty (6%), jobs/unemployment (6%), crime/justice (4%), education/schools/universities (4%), the armed forces/military/defence (2%) and terrorism (0.5%).

However different parts of the country have differing views on how these issues should be ranked:

• In British Columbia, the economy (26%) is tops, followed by healthcare (19%), taxes (11%), the environment (10%) and poverty (8%).
• In Alberta, the economy (23%) is the issue that most Albertans want the political leaders and candidates to be talking about, followed by healthcare (18%), taxes (17%), the environment (11%) and crime/justice issues (7%).
• In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, one quarter (26%) says the economy should be at the forefront, while others believe healthcare (16%), taxes (14%), crime/justice issues (11%) and the environment (8%) should be the main topics of focus.
• In Ontario, probably the province hardest hit by the slowing economy, 29% say this issue should be top of the list in terms of what candidates and political leaders should be talking about. Next in line are healthcare (15%), the environment (14%), taxes (10%) and jobs/unemployment (10%).
• In Quebec, Healthcare (19%) and taxes (19%) are tied for first position, while the environment (18%) is not far behind. Other issues that Quebecers want the national leaders to focus on include the economy (15%) and issues of poverty (9%).
• In Atlantic Canada, the economy (22%) is the first issue that Atlantic Canadians want the party leaders to talk about, followed by the environment (19%), taxes (18%) healthcare (11%), and issues of poverty (2%).

Key Issues By Party Support...

The data also reveals that the issues that Canadians think should be focused on varies greatly depending on which party they are supporting:

• For supporters of the Conservative Party, the economy (33%), healthcare (20%) and taxes (19%) are the top three issues. All others seem to be secondary, with crime/justice (6%) and the environment (4%) distantly round out the top five.
• Among those who say they would vote for the Liberals, the top issue that they'd like the leaders and candidates to focus on is the economy (27%), followed by the environment (21%), healthcare (14%), jobs/unemployment (8%) and taxes (7%).
• For NDP supporters, the economy (21%) is still top of the list, followed by healthcare (18%); the environment (18%) is not far behind. Completing the top five are taxes (13%) and poverty (10%). Interestingly, the ranking of these issues among NDP supporters most closely mirrors the top-five rankings of Canadians overall.
• Bloc supporters want the political leaders and candidates to be talking about healthcare (21%), taxes (20%), the economy (19%), the environment (12%) and issues of poverty (11%).
• Perhaps not surprisingly, the environment (32%) is first and foremost for those supporting the Green Party. Trailing this dominant issue are the economy (13%), healthcare (10%), taxes (9%) and jobs/unemployment (9%). Interestingly, 12% of Green supporters say that there is some other issue that they most want political leaders and candidates to be talking about.

These are the results of a poll conducted from September 9 to September 11, 2008. This online survey of 1016 Canadian adults was conducted via the Ipsos I-Say Online Panel, Ipsos Reid's national online panel. The results are based on a sample where quota sampling and weighting are employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the actual Ontarian population according to Census data. Quota samples with weighting from the Ipsos online panel provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample. An unweighted probability sample of this size, with a 100% response rate, would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire adult population in Canada been polled.

For more election commentary, please visit our blog at: http://election.globaltv.com/blogs.aspx

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Dr. Darrell Bricker
President & CEO
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
416-509-8460
[email protected]

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