poll – mackaycartoons

Thursday September 12, 2019

September 19, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

September 12, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 12, 2019

There is deep angst in Canada ahead of this fall’s election

We may have voted for hope, optimism and sunny days in 2015 but Canadians don’t appear to be very optimistic heading into the Fall of 2019.

August 14, 2014

Canadians do see a strong economy right now. Assessment of their personal finances has gone from 32 per cent positive (Q4 2015) to 46 per cent today and their assessment of their job security has grown from 39 per cent positive (Q4 2015) to 52 per cent today.

On the eve of the writ dropping, one would assume from these numbers that the federal Liberals would very much like to have the 2019 ballot question be: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”

But it won’t be, because despite these views and some impressive economic numbers at the macro level, Canadians aren’t optimistic about their longer-term prospects. Pocket-book issues and concerns over affordability are a common thread connecting most of the top issues Canadians identify as priorities: healthcare, the economy, housing, climate change, and taxes.

Our concerns are more than economic. There is deep angst about the direction of the country. Canadians are questioning the value and the very role of government, politicians and political parties in their lives and many politicians are going to run into the buzz saw of growing cynicism once they start knocking on doors. For starters:

January 3, 2014

* 67 per cent (unchanged since 2016) agree that the country’s economy is rigged to the advantage of the rich and powerful

* 61 per cent (vs. 56 per cent in 2016) agree that “traditional parties and politicians don’t care about people like me”

* 57 per cent (vs. in 47 per cent November 2016) say the country is “going in the wrong direction”

* 52 per cent (up dramatically from 37 per cent in 2016) agree that “Canadian society is broken”

This level of angst and cynicism among Canadians is going to pose a challenge for all political parties. Delivering policy ideas along with messaging to motivate supporter turn-out will be difficult, and they will need to find a balance between positive, forward-looking messages and empathetic, “we get you now” messages.

Imagine if you were a federal candidate hearing this at the door while looking for a vote: “I think the economy is stacked against me, I don’t think you care about me, I think our society is broken and our country is headed in the wrong direction. Tell me how you are going to fix this and why I should vote for you?” (Global News)

Wednesday May 16, 2018

May 15, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 16, 2018

Ontario election: NDP overtakes Liberals as the ‘Anti-Ford’ party, according to Ipsos poll

NDP’s Andrea Horwath is jumping ahead of Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals one week into the 2018 Ontario Election.

According to an Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News, the NDP is gaining ground with 35 per cent of respondents saying they would vote for Horwath’s party – that’s up six points from last week’s polling. The Liberals would only garner 22 per cent, down four per cent from last week.

But Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservatives are still ahead, with 40 per cent of respondents saying they would vote PC if an election were held tomorrow. That number is unchanged from last week.

Only three per cent say they would vote for other parties (including the Green Party).

“Normally you would expect the NDP not to be a factor in that the fight would be between the Liberals and the Conservatives,” pollster Darrel Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, explained. (Source: Global News)

Thursday June 23, 2016

June 23, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 23, 2016

Wynne hits new ratings low, poll finds

It’s tough to find a politician more unpopular than Kathleen Wynne.

Donald Trump?

Maybe here in Ontario, but not in his own backyard.

Hillary Clinton?

Like Trump, the Democratic contender for the U.S. presidency is one of the least popular candidates for the job in decades.

But she’s still a rock star compared to Ontario’s premier.

Wynne’s personal popularity has hit an all-time low, according to a new Forum Research poll obtained exclusively by the Toronto Sun.

Her approval rating, once as high as 40%, now sits at 18%. It’s the lowest Forum has ever measured for an Ontario Liberal premier since it began polling in 2001.

In fact, if a provincial election was held tomorrow, Patrick Brown’s Progressive Conservative Party would capture a minority government, according to a the survey.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Friday June 11, 2004 Dalton's Approval Rating A poll released this week by SES Research shows that the provincial Liberals have dropped precipitously and are now in second place, with the support of 34 per cent of decided voters - down 15 points from the previous poll - compared with 41 per cent for the Conservatives. (Some 500 randomly chosen Ontarians were surveyed May 29 and 30 for this poll. A sample of this size is accurate within 4.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.) Even worse news in the poll for the provincial Liberals is what it says about McGuinty. He has slipped below lame-duck Conservative Leader Ernie Eves, for goodness' sake, as the voters' top choice for the job of premier. Indeed, McGuinty is running behind even "don't know" in this category, although he is still ahead of NDP Leader Howard Hampton. And only 9 per cent of voters rate McGuinty's performance to date as "good" or "very good" compared with 54 per cent who think it has been "poor" or "very poor.Ó This 9 per cent figure has been misrepresented by other media and by the opposition parties as an "approval rating, " which would represent a historic low for a politician in Canada. (Brian Mulroney's approval rating as prime minister once dropped to just 12 per cent.) But voters were not asked by SES Research whether they "approved" or "disapproved" of McGuinty's performance. Rather, the question posed was: "Based on his performance to date, would you describe the job he has done as very good, good, average, poor or very poor?" Some 32 per cent rated it as "average." It is a big stretch to interpret their answer as "disapproval." Still, the numbers for McGuinty in the SES Research poll are bad enough. (Source: Toronto Star) Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, poll, support, popularity, Liberal, pollster

Friday June 11, 2004
Dalton McGuinty received a similar disapproval rating shortly after he formed his first government. Despite this, he reigned as Premier for another 9 years and won two more elections

“There is no question the Progressive Conservatives would win an election held tomorrow, but it appears they wouldn’t be able to seal the deal with a majority,” Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said. “Patrick Brown needs to become more of a familiar face to Ontarians before that happens”

The Forum survey projects the Tories would take a 51-seat minority, three seats short of the 54 needed for a majority government in Ontario’s 107-seat legislature. The Liberals would take 36 seats while the NDP would capture 20.

And while Wynne’s personal popularity is low, Brown’s approval doesn’t sit much higher, at 22%, the poll says. Over half of respondents, 53%, said they didn’t know enough about Brown to have an opinion of him.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath remains the most popular of the three main party leaders, with a 33% approval rating. (Source: Toronto Sun)

Tuesday November 13, 2012

November 13, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday November 13, 2012

Some Light Reading

Canadians are slowly losing trust in Parliament and political parties, and share some of the toughest views in the American hemisphere about their national leader, according to a new 26-country survey.

The survey by The Environics Institute, part of an investigation into political attitudes in 26 countries in the Americas, found that Canadians have been shedding some of their optimistic and positive views on politics and government

The survey found only 16 per cent of Canadians place “a lot of trust” in their Prime Minister, putting Stephen Harper near the bottom among all leaders in the Americas.

“In an international context, Harper has a lower level of trust than almost every other national leader in the hemisphere,” Mr. Neuman said.

The levels of trust are also low for the Canadian Parliament (17 per cent), political parties (10 per cent) and mass media (6 per cent). The findings come after Canada lived under a series of minority governments from 2004 to 2011, fuelling a sense of growing partisan bickering in Ottawa. (Source: Globe & Mail)

Meanwhile, less than two years after lovelorn fans were first forced to accept that young pop superstars Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez were a romantic couple, their followers are reeling at news the pair are no more.

After weeks of rumours the couple was on the outs, E! News reported Friday that the teen pop stars broke up in recent days. The Associated Press confirmed the split on Saturday, citing an anonymous source not officially authorized to speak about the couple’s relationship status.(Source: CTV News)

Friday June 11, 2004

June 11, 2004 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 11, 2004

Dalton’s Approval Rating

A poll released this week by SES Research shows that the provincial Liberals have dropped precipitously and are now in second place, with the support of 34 per cent of decided voters – down 15 points from the previous poll – compared with 41 per cent for the Conservatives.

(Some 500 randomly chosen Ontarians were surveyed May 29 and 30 for this poll. A sample of this size is accurate within 4.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.)

Even worse news in the poll for the provincial Liberals is what it says about McGuinty.

He has slipped below lame-duck Conservative Leader Ernie Eves, for goodness’ sake, as the voters’ top choice for the job of premier. Indeed, McGuinty is running behind even “don’t know” in this category, although he is still ahead of NDP Leader Howard Hampton.

And only 9 per cent of voters rate McGuinty’s performance to date as “good” or “very good” compared with 54 per cent who think it has been “poor” or “very poor.”

This 9 per cent figure has been misrepresented by other media and by the opposition parties as an “approval rating, ” which would represent a historic low for a politician in Canada. (Brian Mulroney’s approval rating as prime minister once dropped to just 12 per cent.)

But voters were not asked by SES Research whether they “approved” or “disapproved” of McGuinty’s performance. Rather, the question posed was: “Based on his performance to date, would you describe the job he has done as very good, good, average, poor or very poor?” Some 32 per cent rated it as “average.” It is a big stretch to interpret their answer as “disapproval.”

Still, the numbers for McGuinty in the SES Research poll are bad enough. (Source: Toronto Star)