Canadians Name Alberta Wildfires (36%) as Top Canadian News Story of 2016
Toronto, ON - Nearly four in ten (36%) Canadians say that the wildfires that devastated Alberta and captivated the attention and compassion of the entire national is the top Canadians news story of 2016, receiving more than twice the votes of any other leading Canadian story, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News. Perhaps not surprisingly, half (49%) of Albertans and those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (45%) say that the wildfires were the top story, while fewer in Atlantic Canada (43%), Ontario (34%), Quebec (31%) and BC (31%) say the same.
Following distantly behind, and rounding out the top five news stories of the year in Canada are: Trudeau's first year in office (17%), the First Nations suicide crisis across Canada (13%), Fentanyl devastating Canadian communities (9%) and Canadians watching the U.S. election (9%).
Further down the list of most notable news stories are Gord Downie's farewell tour and the Secret Path (6%), Canada finding success at the Rio Olympics as young stars emerge (5%), the royal visit of Will and Kate with their children (2%), the Jian Ghomeshi verdict (2%), and terror suspect Aaron Driver killed in Ontario (1%).
Trudeau's first year in office was chosen by disproportionately more Quebecers (23%) when compared to those living in Ontario (16%), BC (14%), Alberta (14%), Atlantic Canada (14%), or Saskatchewan and Manitoba (12%).
The Fentanyl crisis appears to resonate the most with residents of British Columbia (24%), followed by those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (15%), Alberta (10%), Ontario (7%), Atlantic Canada (6%) and Quebec (4%).
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between December 15 and 21, 2016, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 3,004 Canadians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics 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. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ 2.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. 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:
Sean Simpson
Vice President
(416) 324-2002
Ipsos Public Affairs
[email protected]
About Ipsos
Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry. With a strong presence in 87 countries, Ipsos employs more than 16,000 people and has the ability to conduct research programs in more than 100 countries. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is controlled and managed by research professionals. They have built a solid Group around a multi-specialist positioning-- Media and advertising research; Marketing research; Client and employee relationship management; Opinion & social research; Mobile, Online, Offline data collection and delivery. Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999. www.ipsos.com
