Making the Grade: Canadians Rate the Campaigns So Far
Four in Ten Give the Conservative (44%) and NDP (44%) Campaigns a Grade of A or B,
Fewer Give Good Marks to Liberals (31%)

Toronto, ON - After nearly two full weeks of the official election campaign, Canadians have weighed in and have graded the campaigns of the four major political parties so far. The grades assigned by Canadians were based on the following scale: A - their campaign is looking great, B - their campaign is looking good, C - their campaign could use some work, D - their campaign is looking bad, and F - their campaign has fallen off the tracks and looks horrible.

According to the new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Postmedia News and Global Television, regardless of who they're voting for, Canadians had these marks to give to the campaigns of the four major parties so far:

• Beginning with the front-running Tories, 11% would give the campaign a grade of A (including 25% of Conservative supporters), while significantly more Canadians would assess a mark of B (32%), C (32%), D (15%) or even an F for fail (9%).
• Canadians are even less impressed with the Liberal Campaign, as just 7% would give it a grade of A (26% of Liberal supporters). More would give it a grade of B (24%), C (36%), D (19%) or F (14%).
• Jack Layton's NDP have been given an A by 8% of Canadians (including 26% of NDP supporters), while more would asses a mark of B (36%), C (37%), D (12%) or F (7%).
• In Quebec, 11% would give the Bloc a grade of A (including 23% of Bloc supporters), while more gave the campaign a grade of B (35%), C (32%), D (14%) or F (8%).
• When comparing the proportion of Quebecers who give good marks to each of the party's campaigns (a B or better), the NDP (57%) campaign scored ahead of the Bloc (46%), followed by the Liberals (34%) and the Conservatives (32%).

Perhaps the lack of stellar marks, overall, is a function of the fact that just 10% of Canadians `strongly agree' that `the federal party leaders are talking in this campaign about issues that are important to me', while another 50% only `somewhat agree'. Four in ten (40%) Canadians outright `disagree' (14% strongly/26% somewhat) that the leaders are talking about issues that matter to them.

A majority (58%) of Canadians `agree' (16% strongly/42% somewhat) that they're `paying close attention to the federal election campaign', while four in ten (42%) admit that they're not, `disagreeing' (15% strongly/27% somewhat) with this sentiment. Four in ten (42%) `agree' (9% strongly/33% somewhat) that they're `regularly discussing campaign issues' with their family and friends, while most (58%) Canadians `disagree' (27% strongly/30% somewhat) that they are.

At the start of the election campaign, many Canadians expressed frustration with being thrown into another election - Canada's fourth in seven years. Enthusiasm hasn't really set in yet as just four in ten (44%) `agree' (17% strongly/27% somewhat) that they're excited about voting on Election Day. A majority (56%) of Canadians `disagree' (27% strongly/29% somewhat) that they have this kind of enthusiasm for voting on Election Day.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between April 5 to 7, 2011, on behalf of Postmedia News and Global National. For this survey, a sample of 1,020 adults from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and political composition 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. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/-3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire population of adults in Canada 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:

Darrell Bricker
CEO
Ipsos Public Affairs
(416) 324-2001
[email protected]

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