Category Archives: polls

Hit Me With The Double Digits

green party, ndp, polls

Today, for what I’m pretty sure is the first time, the Green Party of Canada hit 10% in a national poll. This reflects positively on our message and our new leader. It reflects negatively on the status quo parties who are failing to offer leadership.

For your reference, in 1993 with only 6.88% of the popular vote, the NDP elected 9 MPs.

Over the coming months, as the Green Party launches a series of policy conferences across the country, expect to see our popularity and credibility continue to rise.

Can I get a yip yip?

Hey. Play Nice.

democracy and good government, liberal party, polls

Liberal MP Maria Minna (what a name, that) and Liberal leadership contestant Hedy Fry are upset that Harper has asked Liberal MP Wajid Khan to be his special adviser on the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Said Maria, “This is, pure and simple, a partisan effort aimed at halting the Conservatives’ slide in the polls. We should not be aiding and abetting their efforts in that regard.” Added Hedy, this is “a clear conflict of interest and of trust.”

Wow. And I was worried I was getting too cynical.

Listen folks, we need more cross-party cooperation and dialogue, not less — especially in a minority government situation. Harper could make a monkey his special adviser on banana affairs for all I care, so long as said monkey was qualified for the job.

I’m with Bill on this one. Give Wajid a chance.

Canada Changing

climate crisis, conservative party, democracy and good government, polls

If you haven’t heard of WorldChanging, you should check it out. It’s a positive, solutions-based blog, primarily about environmental and other issues regarding our collective survival.

I mention it today because they’ve just started a short series called CanadaChanging, where they’ll be looking at the progress our country is making. Or, as they put it, “Canada, while by no means a global leader in sustainability overall, does have enough candles burning to be worth a look.”

Oh stop, you’re making us blush.

It’s interesting to note that a recent poll “identified global warming, the environment, pollution and the need for new energy technologies as leading concerns for Canadians.” In contrast, only 10% of respondents ranked health care as the number one challenge for Canada in the near future.

Now here’s the million dollar question: If most Canadians believe that the climate crisis is our greatest challenge, how come we elected a government that didn’t even use the word “climate” or the phrase “global warming” in their entire election platform?

To be honest, I’m a little baffled (though I do have one or two theories that likely have something to do with it).

More than “positioning,” please

climate crisis, conservative party, polls

A new poll by Decima Research finds that 63% of Canadians believe the Conservative government is “doing a poor job on the environment.” (The poll was even taken before the government gutted environment programs last week.)

Pollster Bruce Anderson was quoted as saying that public opinion research suggests Canadians are becoming more focused on global environmental issues, and that “it’s important for [the Conservatives] to position themselves as progressive advocates of environmental solutions domestically and internationally if they want to broaden their support base.”

Bruce isn’t wrong. I might humbly add, however, that “it’s important for the Conservatives to become progressive advocates of environmental solutions — and implement those solutions — if all of us want to preserve our quality of life.”

But hey, I don’t want to get into an argument over semantics.