Who's got the election message Canadians want to hear?
3097 Comments (Before I refreshed the page) Commenting is now closed for this story.
Mohamed Mohammed Anyone but Justin. He has got to go.
David R. Amos Reply
to @Mohamed Mohammed: Methinks everyone should vote for anyone except
the incumbent in their riding then we would have true change N'esy Pas?
Mo Bennett 1 outta 4 ain't bad. or was that 2 outta 3? call meatloaf.
David R. Amos
Reply to @mo bennett: YO MO Methinks yous should call your shrink before voting for Dizzy Lizzy and her crew N'esy Pas?
Mo Bennett ABRLNB !! anything but reformacons, liberals, ndippers, bloc.
David R. Amos Reply to @mo bennett: YO MO Methinks nobody cares N'esy Pas?
Mo Bennett hone their messaging? don't you mean bold faced inaccuracies?
David R. Amos Reply to @mo bennett: True
Mo Bennett hire a reformacon, it's fun to watch 'em wreck the place!
David R. Amos Reply to @mo bennett: YO MO why not give Dizzy Lizzy a few drinks and have a circus?
Mo Bennett vote green, sleep at night, save yer grand kids.
David R. Amos Reply to @mo bennett: Yea Right Tell us another one
John Smith No one cares anymore what Trudeau has to say and no one believes him anyway.
David R. Amos Reply to @John Smith: Methinks apathy rules the day and nobody cares what any of them have to say N'esy Pas?
Mike Crow They should ban attack ads.
Politicians should only say what their platforms is and that’s it.
Let us decide who is best.
David R. Amos Reply
to @Mike Crow: Methinks they should ban all ads because they irritate
most people. If folks truly wonder what the politicians are about they
can ask them rather than making the rest of us waste our precious time
being subject to their BS N'esy Pas?
Hermann Wendt Scheer
is the only one to get canada back on the right track. Trudeau has
failed at every turn and destroyed this country. He is incapable of
doing anything right we have the proof, nearly 4 years of total
failures. The other, other than the conservatives parties are no
better. Scheer will have a lot of repair work ahead of him as PM.
David R. Amos Reply to @Hermann Wendt: Methinks you jest too much N'esy Pas?
Rachael Saunders The
Trudeau Liberals do not understand that they cannot continue to tax
Canadians. The high cost of living has many Canadians just scraping by;
living paycheque to paycheque.
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Rachael Saunders: Methinks you are running an ad within a comment section N'esy Pas?
BROCK Blakely Canada is setting records for capital investment moving out, those are facts and are not a good sign for the economy
David R. Amos Reply to @BROCK blakely: Methinks you should invest in where the money is going N'esy Pas?
Daryll Mcbain I am
voting Conservative. Taxes are up, we are alienated on the world stage
and Canada’s reputation has taken a huge hit with Trudeau at the helm.
David R. Amos Reply
to @Daryll Mcbain: Methinks whereas I finally have the right to do so
thanks to Mr Prime Minister Trudeau The Younger I should vote for me
N'esy Pas?
Mike Poska Let's take a poll on polls.
The only poll that counts is on election day when you head into your
local polling station and mark your X on the ballot. Get out and vote.
David R. Amos Reply to @Mike Poska: YUP
Rick Guthrie Let's see. A very unpopular PM and 3 way split on the Left. I'd say things are looking pretty good for Sheer.
David R. Amos Reply to @Rick Guthrie: NOPE
David R. Amos
Reply to @Rick Guthrie: Methinks everybody wants to forget Maxy Baby N'esy Pas?
Turner Jones Trudeau lost it when he chose Khadr over a widow and her two children.
David R. Amos Reply to @Turner Jones: Nobody cares about khadr
Who's got the election message Canadians want to hear?
CBC Poll reveals that health care, cost of living and climate change top voters' minds heading into election
Federal
party leaders - including, from left, the Greens' Elizabeth May,
Conservative Andrew Scheer, Liberal Justin Trudeau and New Democrat
Jagmeet Singh - face an electorate anxious about the cost of living and
concerned about the environment, according to a poll for CBC News. (Canadian Press/Associated Press photos)
As party leaders hone their platforms and messaging ahead of
this fall's election, the easy part is identifying the issues voters
care about. The challenge is convincing voters they are the best choice
for prime minister to deal with those same priorities.
Case in
point: while Justin Trudeau's Liberals are talking about the issues
Canadians say they care about most heading into the fall election, a
poll commissioned by CBC News suggests they aren't necessarily getting
credit for it.
The cost of living, climate change and health care
rank as the top-of-mind issues for Canadians surveyed, with concerns
about the affordability of home ownership and basic necessities like
groceries and retirement leading the list.
Those concerns help explain why the
Conservatives continue to focus their pre-campaign messaging on
pocketbook issues, attacking the Liberals' carbon-pricing system as a
tax on consumers while vowing to reduce emissions by imposing a cap on
the largest polluters to finance a green technology fund.
But the
poll also suggests Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer still has work to
do convincing voters he's in their corner. Just 41 per cent say they
believe he understands the average Canadian family.
The findings also point to an opening for the NDP and Green Party heading into the fall election campaign.
Although
two-thirds of the respondents believe New Democrats have lost their
way, the party remains the second choice among voters younger than 45,
and 46 per cent say they believe NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh understands
the average Canadian family.
Greens, on the other hand, are seen
as the most credible voices on climate change and a third of those
surveyed would consider voting Green to send a message to the
traditional parties.
NDP
Leader Jagmeet Singh, surrounded by fellow party-members, outlined a
platform that includes expanded health care during a speech at the
Ontario NDP Convention in Hamilton in June. Health care remains a
leading issue according to the poll. (Tara Walton/The Canadian Press)
The
online poll of 4,500 Canadians was conducted by Public Square Research
and Maru/Blue for CBC News between May 31 and June 10.
While polls
are considered snapshots in time, subject to change depending on new
developments, the themes and conclusions of this survey shed light on
how the political parties are faring in their voter outreach and
pre-campaign messaging.
"The numbers show the delicate balance the
parties need to strike, responding to voters' concern about climate
change and their ability to afford day-to-day costs," says CBC polls
analyst Éric Grenier.
"It's trickiest for the Liberals, who are
trying to appeal to both progressives, who care deeply about fighting
climate change, and the broader middle class. A lot of those voters live
in the suburbs, so they are worried about the costs of basic things
like commuting to work."
Financial anxiety and the middle class
For
example, the poll's finding that Canadians remain preoccupied with how
they will get by financially is consistent with a survey done by Finance
Canada after the 2018 budget.
It found middle-class Canadians
didn't feel their lives were getting better, despite the Liberals'
unrelenting messaging about "the middle class and those striving to join
it."
Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau have
positioned their tax and fiscal policies as supporting the middle class
"and those working to join it." But a poll for CBC News found anxiety
over the cost of living remains top of mind for many Canadians. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
It's
the sound bite Trudeau cabinet ministers offer up as they tout the
benefits of the government's "middle-class tax cut" and tax benefits
focused on families with children and low-income earners.
Still,
the Liberals remain undeterred. New French-language ads released just
this week resort to the same political messaging: "Justin Trudeau and
his team are focused on investing in the middle class."
While
health care is always a priority issue in election years, the poll done
for CBC finds that Canadians now rank climate change in the top three.
Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed say "our survival depends on
addressing climate change," or that climate change is "a top priority."
Pessimism on climate action
The
Liberals committed to reducing carbon emissions by 30 per cent below
2005 levels at the Paris climate conference four years ago. But many
leading climate scientists say they don't believe Canada can reach that
target, a sense of pessimism shared by most of those surveyed:
two-thirds said the government needs to do more to address climate
change.
"We know, just as smoking every pack of cigarettes causes
additional health damage, every additional gigatonne of carbon we
produce carries an additional cost," said Katharine Hayhoe, the director
of the Climate Science Centre at Texas Tech University, in an interview
with CBC Radio's The House airing this weekend.
"We
need the concrete details. We need people to take this seriously. They
[politicians] can disagree over what policy they propose or support. But
they have to be serious, meaningful policies with targets and goals to
cut our carbon emissions as soon as possible."
The poll also
offers some insight into the Conservatives' positioning on climate
change. Eight out of 10 respondents said they needed to know the party's
position on climate change, and just six per cent of respondents said
they don't believe in climate change.
This
month Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer delivered a vision for his
climate policy that includes a declaration that climate change is real -
an acknowledgement that may be important for the voters he needs to
attract in October. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
When party leader Andrew Scheer released his emissions-reduction plan last week,
he made a point of saying Conservatives believe climate change is real.
And the survey points to what the party must also know — that climate
change is a higher-priority issue in British Columbia and Quebec, where
the Conservatives must do better this fall than they did in 2015 in
order to win.
More than 40 per cent of respondents in those two
provinces list climate change as a top-of-mind issue, compared to less
than 30 per cent in the three Prairie provinces, where Conservative
support is traditionally strongest.
The poll also suggests
Canadians are less concerned about other issues championed by the
Conservatives in the recent past. Only 18 per cent list deficits as a
priority issue — suggesting Scheer's recent decision to scrap his
original promise to balance the books in two years might not be an issue
in the campaign — and just three per cent point to crime and public
safety as a priority.
Perhaps the biggest challenge facing all the
parties as they fine-tune their messaging for the fall election is the
one that they can do the least about.
The CBC survey suggests
Canadians' trust in government is low, with fully nine in 10 saying
politicians care more about staying in power than doing what's right.
CBC Politics' new weekly Canada Votes newsletter
Get
analysis from our Parliamentary bureau as we count down to the federal
election. Delivered to your inbox every Sunday evening – then daily
during the campaign. Sign up here. Commissioned
by CBC News, the Public Square Research and Maru/Blue survey was
conducted between May 31 and June 10, 2019, interviewing 4,500 eligible
voters. Respondents for this survey were selected from among
those who have registered to participate in the Maru Voice panel. The
data have been weighted to reflect the demographic composition of
Canada, according to Statistics Canada. Because the sample is based on
those who initially self-selected for participation in the Maru Voice
panel rather than a probability sample, no estimates of sampling error
can be calculated. However, a comparable probabilistic national sample
of 3,000 voters would have a margin of error of +/- 1.8 percentage
points, 19 times out of 20, while samples of 500 voters have a margin of
error of +/- 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The poll results referenced in this article came from the following questions, with answer options in brackets:
"Please
read the following statements about Andrew Scheer and the Conservative
party and indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each. Andrew
Scheer understands what the average Canadian family is going through.
The Conservative party needs to tell us what their climate change
strategy is." (Agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat,
disagree strongly)
"Please read the following statements
about Jagmeet Singh and the NDP and indicate how strongly you agree or
disagree with each. The NDP has lost its way. Jagmeet Singh understands
what the average Canadian family is going through." (Agree strongly,
agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, disagree strongly)
"Please
read the following statements about Elizabeth May and the Green
party and indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each. I am
thinking of voting Greens to send a message to the traditional parties."
(Agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, disagree strongly)
"If
you had to say, how serious a problem is climate change?" (Our survival
depends on addressing it, it's a top priority, it's important, but not a
top priority, it's not a priority but we should do something to protect
the environment, I don't believe in climate change)
"Thinking
about the upcoming federal election in October specifically, which
issues are most concerning to you?" (Health care, climate change, cost
of living, jobs/the economy, housing affordability, home ownership,
government mismanagement, deficit spending, gun control, nobody to vote
for, immigration, terrorism, trade negotiations, rascism, the quality of
life in Indigenous communities, women's equality)
"What,
if anything, are you most worried about?" (My health/health of a family
member, cost of living, climate change, crime and public safety,
terrorism, my job/finding a job, immigration, international
relations/trade agreements, truth in the media, racism, social
inequality, none of these issues worry me)
"Please read
the following statements about issues in Canadian politics and indicate
how strongly you agree or disagree with each: Politicians care more
about staying in power than doing what's right." (Agree strongly, agree
somewhat, disagree somewhat, disagree strongly)
Ontario
Premier Doug Ford, a wealthy businessman who has used the term 'elite'
to disparage his political opponents, says elitism has nothing to do
with money. (Albert Leung/CBC)
This story is part of a series digging into the results of a CBC News-commissioned online poll of 4,500 Canadians ahead of the October federal election.
Between
bites of his free hamburger at last Saturday's Ford Fest celebration
north of Toronto — an annual barbecue hosted by the family of Ontario
Premier Doug Ford — 65-year-old Tony Laino provided a concise answer
when asked who he considers the "elites" of society.
"Those that think they're better than me," he said. "Because I don't espouse their beliefs."
That's one definition, anyway.
The
label "elites" seems to get flung around the political arena constantly
these days. It's become one of the dirty words of politics.
It's
also a term that resonates with many Canadians, particularly in an era
when political populism seems to be gaining ground. A new CBC poll
suggests nearly 80 per cent of Canadians either strongly or somewhat
agree with the statement: "My country is divided between ordinary people
and elites."
But what exactly does it mean? And why has it gained such traction as a political insult?
Tony
Laino, a retired information management consultant, says elites can be
defined as 'those that think they're better' than him. (Albert Leung/CBC)
"It's
become such an elastic term, it's become useless as a classification,"
said Sean Speer, a sessional instructor and senior fellow in public
policy at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and
Public Policy.
As history professor Beverly Gagenoted in a 2017 New York Times column,
the word is still seen in a positive light when used as an adjective —
an elite athlete, for example. But it takes on a nefarious meaning when
used as a noun and "has become one of the nastiest epithets in American
politics."
It's been used frequently by U.S. President Donald Trump,
but it's also been a rallying cry for many Canadian politicians,
including Ford and former prime minister Stephen Harper, who would often
take shots at the "liberal elite."
Historically,
the term "elite" seemed to have a connection to the rich. Politicians
of all stripes have often tried to show off their working-class bona
fides, regardless of their personal wealth.
In his initial foray
onto the political stage, former prime minister Brian Mulroney was
branded as the "Boy from Baie Comeau," Que., downplaying his role
as president of the Iron Ore Company of Canada, said Tim Powers,
vice-chairman of Summa Strategies, who served as the director of policy
and research for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
Mulroney's former
Liberal rival, Jean Chrétien, who amassed great wealth in the private
sector and would also go on to become prime minister, was promoted as
the "little guy from Shawinigan."
"So it's always been there," Powers said. "I think the right really co-opted it with more vigour under Stephen Harper."
'We want to look average'
Powers
said by 2006, when the Conservatives under Harper were trying to unseat
Prime Minister Paul Martin, the party had done a lot of
research looking at how people identified themselves.
In an appeal to the middle class, he said, the Conservatives ran a series of what can be described as low-budget commercials.
"The
whole plot point of those commercials, as I recall hearing the
rationale behind the advertising, was, 'We want to look average. So, not
elite. We want to contrast ourselves to Paul Martin, the shipping
magnate."
The term, or concept anyway, would continue to be used
to score political points. Another of Harper's Liberal opponents,
Michael Ignatieff, was portrayed as an out-of-touch elitist in the 2011 federal election.
Current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has had to deflect barbs from the Tories about being a "trust fund baby."
"It's been
pretty commonplace because most people would prefer to self-identify as
being with the 'us' as opposed to the 'them,' because the 'them' are
the elites and the people who get an advantage," Powers said.
He
suspects the increased potency of going against the so-called elite in
recent years comes from the reaction of people who have "drank the
populist elixir" for their concerns about globalism, economic
inequality, and being left out of jobs and opportunity.
"I think
it's become more and more politically valuable to talk about elitism,"
he said, "because it also now means you recognize there is an advantage
afforded to elites that wasn't there before."
The same CBC
poll suggests 52 per cent of Canadians either strongly or somewhat
agree with the statement: "The government doesn't do anything for me."
During
the 2011 federal election, the Conservatives tried to portray Liberal
Leader Michael Ignatieff as an out-of-touch elitist. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Speer, who was the research assistant on Harper's book Right Here, Right Now: Politics and Leadership in the Age of Disruption, suggested
one segment of the population feels particularly ignored by the
political system — people without a post-secondary education.
And populist politicians like Trump have been able to tap into their frustrations and fuel the divide, he said.
Nothing to do with money
But Speer believes the results of the CBC survey may reflect a confusion about what's happening in this country.
"I
think people would be shocked to discover where they fit in the broader
Canadian society," he said. "A significant number of them, based on
income status, would be quote, unquote elite."
However,
that's where the subjectivity of the term comes into play. Would
"elite" not apply to the same wealthy politicians like Ford and
Trump who use it to disparage their opponents?
Laino, the Ford Fest attendee and a retired information management consultant, says no. It doesn't have to do with money.
"Donald Trump is a super wealthy guy and he's not an elite by any means," he said. "It's attitude."
Ford made similar comments when asked to define the term while appearing on CBC's Metro Morning in March 2018.
WATCH| Doug Ford provides his definition of the "elite"
Newly elected Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford speaks with Metro Morning guest host David Common. 9:07
"People
that look down on the common folk, the people that think they're
smarter than other people ... they just think they're better, they're
smarter, and they can tell the common folk how to live their lives," he
said. "And they drink their little bottle or glass of champagne with
their pinky up in the air. That's what an elite is."
Elitism has
nothing to do with money, Ford said. "Half of them don't have two
pennies to rub together. They think they're something that they aren't."
But
Amanda Galbraith, a principal with the public strategy and
communications firm Navigtor Ltd., said the word may actually be losing
some of its political punch.
"I do think it's kind of reached the
point now where it is sort of white noise, because who
defines elites? Everybody's using the term."
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