Despite attempts to rein in the rancor at Canada’s House of Commons, Canadians largely hold negative views around the current state of debate in Parliament.
A new Angus Reid survey, released on Thursday, asked nearly 1,900 Canadians to choose three words out of a list of 10 that they would use to describe parliamentary proceedings given what they have seen, read or heard.
The most common responses were “posturing” at 54 per cent, “useless” at 46 per cent and “dishonest” at 38 per cent.
These were followed by “disrespectful” (37 per cent) and “uninformative” (35 per cent), meaning respondents were more likely to choose all five of the negative terms that were provided than the positive ones.
The five positive responses were “impassioned” (18 per cent), “informative” (15 per cent), “productive” (six per cent), “respectful” (five per cent) and “truthful” (three per cent).
Three per cent of respondents said they would use none of the terms.
A news release from Angus Reid said while the nation can feel divided, it seems “largely unified in its negativity regarding its political representatives.”
“Every group of partisans among past Conservative, Liberal, New Democrat and Bloc Quebecois voters are more likely to describe debate in the House as ‘posturing’ than not,” the release said.
“Some of this disenchantment may also be due to Canada’s tradition of party discipline. Three-quarters of Canadians say that MPs vote to follow the views of their leader, so any real debate about issues is largely performative.”
The survey took place between Oct. 9 and 13, before current House Speaker Greg Fergus was heckled over his decision to delay question period in order to deliver a speech to MPs on the issue of heckling.
FREQUENT WATCHERS MORE LIKELY TO SEE DEBATES NEGATIVELY
Forty-six per cent of the Canadians surveyed said they follow parliamentary proceedings occasionally, while 11 per cent said they do frequently.
Twenty-four per cent said they rarely check in and 17 per cent said they never do.
Men typically were more likely to say they watched proceedings frequently, while women were more likely to say they never tuned in.
Those who watch debates in the House frequently were more likely to respond negatively, with 58 per cent describing the proceedings as “posturing” or “dishonest.”
In other cases, frequent watcher were less likely to respond negatively – 27 per cent described proceedings as “uninformative,” for example, which was below average.
Canadians between 18 and 34, in general, were more likely to describe debates positively, although they were also more likely to offer no opinion.
Asked whether, “MPs just follow the views of their leader; there’s no real debate about the issues,” 29 per cent said they “strongly agree,” while another 44 per cent said they “agree.”
METHODOLOGY
The Angus Reid Institute (ARI) conducted an online survey from Oct. 9 to 13, 2023, among a representative randomized sample of 1,878 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum.
For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
