Most Canadians Question PM's New Press Process

Toronto, ON - A new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of CanWest News Service/Global News asked Canadians about the new process Prime Minister Stephen Harper has introduced when it comes to the way reporters ask him questions at media events. After being told that, nowadays, when reporters want to ask the Prime Minister a question they have to put their name on a list that the Prime Minster's staff selects from:

• A majority of six in ten (57%) indicate they feel this "new process just ensures that the Prime Minister gets questions from friendly reporters", while
• 38% feel it "just ensures a more orderly process at media events".

Further:

• Half (51%) feel that this represents a "significant issue for Canadian democracy" , but
• 48% would describe it as "no big deal".
When it comes to this issue, there are some notable dynamics within the regions:
• Residents of Atlantic Canada (66%) and British Columbia (64%) are the most likely to feel that the new process ensures the Prime Minister only gets questions from "friendly reporters", while those in Alberta and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (both at 43%) are the most likely to feel it "just ensures a more orderly process".
• Residents of British Columbia and Quebec (both at 57%) are the most likely to feel this is a "significant issue" for Canadian democracy - those in Alberta and Manitoba/Saskatchewan (both at 57%) are most apt to say it's "no big deal".

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted for CanWest News Service/Global News and fielded from May 30th to June 1st, 2006. For this survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1001 adult Canadians were interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the aggregate results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 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 each sub-grouping of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
416.324.2900
[email protected]

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