Six in Ten (62%) Ontarians Agree Party Leaders Talking about the Issues that Matter to Them
The economy and job creation (35%), healthcare (16%), and taxes (15%) are the top three issues that Ontarians want their provincial party leaders to be talking about during the election campaign. These three issues clearly rise to the top, with all other issues lagging behind, including: debt/deficit reduction (6%), social services like pension, daycare and housing (6%), government accountability (6%), education (4%), poverty (3%), energy/electricity (3%), public transit (2%), the environment (2%), crime/justice (1%), and public services (1%).
Once those polled indicated which issue was most important to them, they were asked which party and leader they felt was best suited to handle that issue. The top six campaign issues are listed below, and Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty leads on the top two issues, while PC Leader Tim Hudak leads on issues three and four:
- Economy and Jobs (top issue among 35% of Ontarians): 42% Liberals, 35% Progressive Conservatives, 21% NDP, 3% other.
- Healthcare (top issue among 16% of Ontarians): 46% Liberals, 28% Progressive Conservatives, 24% NDP, 2% other.
- Taxes (top issue among 15% of Ontarians): 59% Progressive Conservatives, 22% NDP, 16% Liberals, 3% other.
- Debt/Deficit (top issue among 6% of Ontarians): 55% Progressive Conservatives, 31% Liberals, 12% NDP, 2% other.
- Social services (top issue among 6% of Ontarians): 43% NDP, 39% Liberals, 16% Progressive Conservatives, 2% other.
- Government accountability (top issue among 6% of Ontarians): 48% Progressive Conservatives, 27% NDP, 18% Liberals, 7% other.
Ontarians have also weighed in on some of the common themes and narratives of the campaign. Regarding the HST, two in three (66%) `agree' (36% strongly/30% somewhat) that `getting rid of the HST is important to them', while just one in three (34%) `disagree' (12% strongly/22% somewhat) that it is.
On the issue of energy, two in three (65%) `agree' (18% strongly/47% somewhat) that `clean energy should be a top priority for the next government of Ontario', while just one in three (35%) `disagree' (10% strongly/25% somewhat). However, a majority (57%) `disagrees (23% strongly/34% somewhat) that they are `prepared to pay more for their family's energy consumption if it means it's clean energy'. Just four in ten (43%) `agree' (8% strongly/35% somewhat) that they're prepared to pay more.
The Impact of Jack Layton...
One quarter (26%) of Ontarians `agree' (8% strongly/17% somewhat) that `Jack Layton's untimely passing will have an impact' on how they vote in this election, with 45% of those who currently support the NDP agreeing. This sentiment is particularly strong among young people, including those 18 to 24 (46%) and those aged 25 to 34 (33%), who appear to have been particularly moved by Mr. Layton's passing.
Most (59%) Ontarians do believe that Jack Layton's passing will have an impact on provincial NDP support in this election campaign, with 34% suggesting it will help the NDP campaign, and 25% believing that it will hurt the campaign. Four in ten (41%) believe there will be no impact.
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between September 16-20 2011, on behalf Global Television, CFRB Newtalk 1010, and the Ottawa Citizen. For this survey, a sample of 8,391 Ontarians 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 +/- 1.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire population of adults in Ontario 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
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[email protected]
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