More than three-quarters of Canadians identified climate change and environment as a key ballot box issue, and 60% said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who skipped next week’s 100 Debates on the Environment, in a national poll released yesterday by GreenPAC.

The poll of 1,876 Canadians conducted September 6-8 found that 48% see climate and the environment as “very important”, and 29% consider them important; only 9% said they are unimportant. 

36% would be “much less likely” to support a candidate who failed to show up at their local debate, 24% would be somewhat less likely, and 51% said a candidate’s absence would show they were “out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Canadians”.

“Poll after poll shows that the environment is a top voting priority for Canadians,” said 100 Debates Manager Ari Pottens. “Now we know there is a political cost for being AWOL on this issue.”

The GreenPAC release and debate website list the events taking place in well over 100 ridings across the country.

“The 100 debates, each hosted by local community groups and businesses, are taking place in nearly every province and territory on October 3, 2019,” GreenPAC notes, after the Leaders’ Debates Commission summarily scheduled its own English-language TV debate on October 7, the date GreenPAC originally announced.

But despite the unexpected logistical challenge, “thousands of Canadians have already pre-registered to attend,” GreenPAC says. “While more than 260 candidates have confirmed their attendance, and only a small handful have declined to attend, some candidates are still undecided about whether they will come.”