Eight in Ten (81%) Canadians Believe a National Health Council Should be Created

Toronto, ONTARIO - A new Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) released today, indicates that eight in ten (81%) Canadians agree with the creation of a National Health Council as recommended in the Romanow Commission Report released last November.

Nine in ten (89%) agree that such a National Health Council should include representatives of health care advocates such as frontline nurses and not-for-profit organization of patient advocates.

Two-thirds (64%) of Canadians hold the position that even if some provincial governments resist the creation of a National Health Council, the Federal Government should proceed anyway and create one.

However, one in three (28%) say they would be more likely to vote for a member of their provincial legislature, if he or she opposed the creation of a National Health Council.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions between May 27th and May 30th, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,001 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Eight in ten (81%) Canadians agree with the creation of a National Health Council as recommended in the Romanow Commission Report released last November. In fact, half (50%) of Canadians strongly agree with this position. In total, 17% disagree with this proposition.

• Younger (86%) Canadians are significantly more likely to express agreement with this viewpoint than are older (77%) Canadians.

• Significantly more women (86%) than men (76%) agree with this proposition.

Nine in ten (89% - 65% strongly) agree that such a National Health Council should include representatives of health care advocates such as frontline nurses and not-for-profit organization of patient advocates. One in ten (9%) disagree that this these representatives should be included on a National Health Council.

• Women (91%) are significantly more likely than are men (87%) to indicate agreement with this position.

• Once again, younger (93%) residents are statistically more likely than are older (86%) Canadians to express agreement with this viewpoint.

• Canadians with some university or other post-secondary education (94%) are significantly more likely than are university (88%) or high school (87%) graduates or those who do not have a high school diploma (86%) to agree with this position.

Two-thirds (64%) of Canadians hold the position that even if some provincial governments resist the creation of a National Health Council, the Federal Government should proceed anyway and create one. One in three (34%) disagree a unilateral creation of a National Health Council by the Federal Government.

• Agreement with this move is highest amongst those in Atlantic Canada (70%) and Quebec (69%), while it is lowest amongst Albertans (51%). In fact, half (48%) of Albertans disagree with such a move by the Federal Government.

However, one in three (28%) say they would be more likely to vote for a member of their provincial legislature, if he or she opposed the creation of a National Health Council. Seven in ten (68%) Canadians say they would not be more likely to vote a politician that opposes a National Health Council.

• Regionally, those most likely to say they would voter for a provincial politician that opposes the creation of a National Health Council are found in Atlantic Canada (44%), Alberta (40%) and Quebec (34%). This compares to the views of British Columbians (24%), Ontarians (21%) and those in Saskatchewan/Manitoba (21%).

• Canadians without a high school diploma (39%) and those with just a high school diploma (36%) are more likely to say they would support a provincial politician that opposes the creation of a National Health Council, than are those some university or other post-secondary education (25%) or are university graduates (22%).

• Canadians in lower income households (37%) are more likely to support such a provincial politician than are their counterparts in upper (26%) or middle (25%) income households.

To view the release and detailed tables, please open the attached PDF files.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900