Is the Federal Government Spending Taxpayers' Money Wisely?

Two thirds of Canadians (67%) do not think our federal government does a good job of spending taxpayers' money wisely. Those who disagree with current spending practices are comprised of two in five (40%) who strongly disagree with the suggestion that the federal government is spending wisely and another one in three (27%) who somewhat disagree.

Only three in ten (31%) approve of the way the government is spending taxpayers' money -- only five percent (5%) strongly agree that they are spending wisely.

These are the findings of a CTV/National Angus Reid Group Poll conducted among a representative sample of 1,516 adult Canadians between November 20th and 25th, 1997. A sample of this size has an associated margin of error of ±2.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.

Most likely to disagree that taxpayers' money is being spent wisely are NDP (84%) and Reform (81% -- 63% strongly disagree) supporters, and residents of the Atlantic provinces (81%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (76%) or British Columbia (76%).

Most likely to agree that the government is spending taxpayers' money wisely are Liberal supporters (45%).

This Canada-wide poll was conducted by telephone between November 20th and 25th, 1997 among a representative cross-section of 1,516 Canadian adults.

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 1991 and 1996 Census data.

With a national sample of 1,516, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results are within plus or minus 2.5 percentage points 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.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright, Senior Vice-President
Angus Reid Group
(416) 324-2900