Environment is maintaining its standing as a top ballot box issue leading into Canada’s federal election this fall, with 26% of respondents making it their first choice in a new interactive phone survey released over the weekend by Forum Research.
“This is quite a shift,” said Forum President Lorne Bozinoff. “Normally, the perennial number one and two are the economy and health care.”
In this survey, the economy came in a close second, at 25%, while health care was the top choice for 16% of respondents, the Toronto Star reports. Results have a 3% margin for error, 19 times out of 20.
As recently as February, a similar Forum survey with a smaller sample size “found 15% of respondents put the environment at the top of their list of concerns, a seeming shift that suggests voters are paying more attention to the political debate around climate change and extreme weather events ahead of the vote,” the Star writes, citing Bozinoff.
The Energy Mix is keeping a close watch on public opinion in its special report on Canada’s climate change election. Recent highlights have included:
• A Nanos Research survey in June in which nearly six in 10 Canadians said climate change would influence their vote;
• An Abacus Data survey in March which projected eight million Canadians “extremely” worried about climate change, and nine million identifying it as a top or top-two voting issue;
• An April 22 Ipsos poll in which Canadians identified climate change as a top-five ballot box issue, and 19% placed it first on their list of concerns.
Apparently Forum Research phone surveys (among others?) are subject to easy manipulation and now are likely to give inaccurate results. See the following:
https://o.canada.com/news/forum-research-rob-ford-brandon-souris
Thanks, William. I do remember some concerns about Forum Research, but they date back…and your link is from 2013. Any idea of whether there’s been more recent reporting — or, for that matter, whether Forum has responded in any way?
BTW, this is by no means the only opinion research to place climate or environment as a top-tier election issue. You’ll find details in our Special Report on Canada’s Climate Change Election, and we’ll be updating the page as the campaign unfolds: http://theenergymix.com/special-reports/climate-election-canada/