A majority of Canadians remain concerned about COVID-19, however, their anxieties toward the virus have softened and vary depending on age, according to a new poll.
The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News between Dec. 14 and 16, 2022, found 61 per cent of the 1,004 adults surveyed indicated that COVID-19 is a concern and 70 per cent disagreed with the notion the virus “is not a big deal.”
However, a clear consensus that once existed among Canadians supporting strong public health measures and showing high levels of concern appears to have softened, says Ipsos senior vice-president Sean Simpson.
“What’s really interesting about the evolution of this disease and public opinion on the disease is two years ago, there was pretty well a consensus in Canada: COVID was a concern. There was very strong support for mandatory vaccinations, for restrictions on travel, et cetera,” he said.
“Now that we’re almost nearing the three-year mark, we have nothing close to a consensus and we can’t even necessarily agree that it is an ongoing concern.”
Two years ago, Simpson says levels of anxiety about the virus and support for public health measures all had levels of support in the 80 to 90 per cent range.
Now, with just over 60 per cent of Canadians indicating the virus as a concern and just under 40 per cent saying it isn’t, Canadians have become “increasingly divided on the issue of COVID-19,” Simpson said.
Older Canadians were more likely to indicate feelings of concern over the virus, with three-quarters of those 55 and over saying they’re worried, while 57 per cent of those 35 to 54 agreed and 50 per cent of 18- to-34-year-olds said they were concerned.
Simpson says this difference of opinion among age groups has been a consistent trend in polling on COVID-19 over the last three years, which reflects the realities of those most at risk from the virus.
“Older people are more vulnerable, younger people in general are less vulnerable to COVID-19.… The older you are, the more likely you are to believe that COVID-19 is an ongoing concern for you,” he said.
Regionally, respondents from the Prairies indicated the highest levels of concern at 68 per cent and those in Alberta had the lowest, at 52 per cent.
As concern over SARS-CoV-2 is waning in Canada, so, too, is Canadians’ drive to get COVID-19 vaccines, according to the poll.
Fifty-eight per cent of respondents said they had recently received a COVID-19 vaccine and another 14 per cent said they intended to get one.
But close to three in 10 said they do not intend to get a COVID-19 shot, which represents a reduction in the proportion of people who say they’re going to get the vaccine, Simpson said.
“Again, it was up (at) 80, 85 per cent when vaccines first came out,” he said.
“A lot of people were on board with getting it either because they felt that was the appropriate thing to do or because that was what the threshold was in order to be able to get your passport and do things without that stick or carrot, as it were.”
Federal data shows over 80 per cent of Canadians have received their initial two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, but only 50 per cent have received at least one booster dose and only 30 per cent have had a booster in the last six months.
The Ipsos polling results reflect this waning enthusiasm for COVID-19 vaccines, Simpson said.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘That’s it, that’s enough for me. I’ve done what I was required to do and I’m not going to volunteer to get any more shots.’”
However, more Canadians say they’ve been recently vaccinated against COVID-19 than have received their flu shot, according to the polling results.
This is despite a significant and early wave of influenza cases that have swept across Canada over the last several weeks, which slammed the country’s already understaffed ERs and children’s hospitals.
Only four in 10 Canadians say they’ve had a flu shot, compared with 58 per cent who say they’ve recently received a COVID-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, the same proportion of those who have had a flu vaccine this year — four in 10 — said they don’t plan to get a flu shot this year, the poll results say.
Once again, those who are older and more vulnerable to influenza are more likely to have received a jab than younger Canadians.
And while a majority of people — 64 per cent — say they are more likely to get a flu shot this year compared with last year, 14 per cent of Canadians say the opposite.
Overall, the polling numbers suggest COVID-19 and vaccination intentions have become more “divisive” as the world has entered the fourth year of the pandemic, Simpson said.
But they may also indicate Canadians are experiencing pandemic fatigue — a public attitude that is likely to guide government policy decisions away from implementing future restrictions, even as the new, highly transmissible variant XBB.1.5 has made its way to Canada, he added.
“People are just saying, ‘You know what? I’m done talking about that, dealing with it. I just want to move on,’” Simpson said.
“As a result of that sort of declining level of concern, declining level of interest, the growing apathy, it’s unlikely that governments are going to take major measures to institute any policy interventions just because the public appetite has declined.”
OTTAWA – The New Democrats confirmed Thursday they won’t help Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives topple the government next week, and intend to join the Bloc Québécois in blocking the Tories’ non-confidence motion.
The planned votes from the Bloc and the New Democrats eliminate the possibility of a snap election, buying the Liberals more time to govern after a raucous start to the fall sitting of Parliament.
Poilievre issued a challenge to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh earlier this week when he announced he will put forward a motion that simply states that the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
If it were to pass, it would likely mean Canadians would be heading to the polls, but Singh said Thursday he’s not going to let Poilievre tell him what to do.
Voting against the Conservative motion doesn’t mean the NDP support the Liberals, said Singh, who pulled out of his political pact with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few weeks ago.
“I stand by my words, Trudeau has let you down,” Singh said in the foyer outside of the House of Commons Thursday.
“Trudeau has let you down and does not deserve another chance.”
Canadians will have to make that choice at the ballot box, Singh said, but he will make a decision about whether to help trigger that election on a vote-by-vote basis in the House.
The Conservatives mocked the NDP during Question Period for saying they had “ripped up” the deal to support the Liberals, despite plans to vote to keep them in power.
Poilievre accused Singh of pretending to pull out of the deal to sway voters in a federal byelection in Winnipeg, where the NDP was defending its long-held seat against the Conservatives.
“Once the votes were counted, he betrayed them again. He’s a fake, a phoney and fraud. How can anyone ever believe what the sellout NDP leader says in the future?” Poilievre said during Question Period Thursday afternoon.
At some point after those comments, Singh stepped out from behind his desk in the House and a two-minute shouting match ensued between the two leaders and their MPs before the Speaker intervened.
Outside the House, Poilievre said he plans to put forward another non-confidence motion at the next opportunity.
“We want a carbon-tax election as soon as possible, so that we can axe Trudeau’s tax before he quadruples it to 61 cents a litre,” he said.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould says there is much work the government still needs to do, and that Singh has realized the consequences of potentially bringing down the government. She refused to take questions about whether her government will negotiate with opposition parties to ensure their support in future confidence motions.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet hasn’t ruled out voting no-confidence in the government the next time a motion is tabled.
“I never support Liberals. Help me God, I go against the Conservatives on a vote that is only about Pierre Poilievre and his huge ambition for himself,” Blanchet said Thursday.
“I support the interests of Quebecers, if those interests are also good for Canadians.”
A Bloc bill to increase pension cheques for seniors aged 65 to 74 is now at “the very centre of the survival of this government,” he said.
The Bloc needs a recommendation from a government minister to OK the cost and get the bill through the House.
The Bloc also wants to see more protections for supply management in the food sector in Canada and Quebec.
If the Liberals can’t deliver on those two things, they will fall, Blanchet said.
“This is what we call power,” he said.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand wouldn’t say whether the government would be willing to swallow the financial implications of the Bloc’s demands.
“We are focused at Treasury Board on ensuring prudent fiscal management,” she said Thursday.
“And at this time, our immediate focus is implementing the measures in budget 2024 that were announced earlier this year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been sworn in as federal transport minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, taking over a portfolio left vacant after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus on Thursday.
Anand thanked Rodriguez for his contributions to the government and the country, saying she’s grateful for his guidance and friendship.
She sidestepped a question about the message it sends to have him leave the federal Liberal fold.
“That is a decision that he made independently, and I wish him well,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present for the swearing-in ceremony, nor were any other members of the Liberal government.
The shakeup in cabinet comes just days after the Liberals lost a key seat in a Montreal byelection to the Bloc Québécois and amid renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down and make way for a new leader.
Anand said she is not actively seeking leadership of the party, saying she is focused on her roles as minister and as MP.
“My view is that we are a team, and we are a team that has to keep delivering for our country,” she said.
The minority Liberal government is in a more challenging position in the House of Commons after the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence deal that provided parliamentary stability for more than two years.
Non-confidence votes are guaranteed to come from the Opposition Conservatives, who are eager to bring the government down.
On Thursday morning, Rodriguez made a symbolic walk over the Alexandra Bridge from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Que., where he formally announced his plans to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.
He said he will now sit as an Independent member of Parliament, which will allow him to focus on his own priorities.
“I was defending the priorities of the government, and I did it in a very loyal way,” he said.
“It’s normal and it’s what I had to do. But now it’s more about my vision, the vision of the team that I’m building.”
Rodriguez said he will stay on as an MP until the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign officially launches in January.
He said that will “avoid a costly byelection a few weeks, or months, before a general election.”
The next federal election must be held by October 2025.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will try to topple the government sooner than that, beginning with a non-confidence motion that is set to be debated Sept. 24 and voted on Sept. 25.
Poilievre has called on the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to support him, but both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have said they will not support the Conservatives.
Rodriguez said he doesn’t want a federal election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion.
As for how he would vote on other matters before the House of Commons, “it would depend on the votes.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, a non-cabinet role Rodriguez held since 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees and Dylan Robertson
