According to a new poll, more than half of Canadians think 2019 was a generally bad year for Canada.
The poll, which was conducted by Ipsos, captured the predictions and outlooks of Canadians, as well as those in 32 other countries, on topics ranging from climate change to the economy.
Among the results, 75 per cent of Canadians expect an increase in global temperatures in 2020 while over six in 10 Canadians said they believe gender wage equality won’t be reached this year.
Polling results from Ipsos’ predictions for 2020 report.
Global News
Jennifer McLeod, Ipsos vice president of public affairs, said a majority of Canadians are actually still feeling positive for this year — despite their view of 2019 as well as the negative predictions they’ve made for 2020.
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“You know, while some things that Canadians are worried about have met these negative predictions … I do think that on the whole, they are feeling positive,” said McLeod.
The poll also found that about three-quarters of Canadians feel that 2020 will be better overall year than 2019, as well as about four in 10 feel that the global economy will be better.
“Though Canada isn’t quite as optimistic about this as some other countries, you know that’s still not a bad number — we’re looking for that silver lining,” she said.
Polling results from Ipsos’ predictions for 2020 report.
Global News
Canada’s outlook on the last year was still not as negative compared to other countries around the world, the poll found.
Almost two-thirds of those polled globally thought of 2019 as a bad year for their country compared to 54 per cent of Canadians.
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When it comes to their personal experience, only 42 per cent of Canadians thought last year was bad for them and their family compared to 50 per cent of those polled everywhere on average.
McLeod said that although she wasn’t surprised by the results, what stood out the most to her were the predictions on both climate change and loneliness.
“It’s turned into the issue of our generation,” McLeod said of climate change.
Polling results from Ipsos’ predictions for 2020 report.
Global News
“We see that this is continuously an important issue for Canadians today and it has been a growing issue over the last (few) months. Environmental responsibility is important to most Canadians.”
One question on the Ipsos poll asked whether or not a person would feel lonely most of the time in 2020, a question Canadians measured 29 per cent in compared to the global average of 33 per cent.
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McLeod attributes it to the prevalence of mental health issues.
On a lighter note, Ipsos also asked how likely it would be for aliens to visit Earth in 2020 — a scenario only 1 in 10 Canadians thought was likely.
“Some might see that as a good thing, some might see that as a bad thing but it’s just a minority of Canadians that feel that way,” said McLeod.
This Ipsos poll was an online survey of 22,512 interviews conducted between Nov. 22-Dec.6, 2019. The results were weighted to balance the demographics of the adult population among the countries surveyed. The precision of the Ipsos online poll with an unweighted probability sample and 100 per cent response rate would have an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for a sample of 1,000, and an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points 19 times out 20 per country of what the results had been if the entire country’s adult population had been polled.
British Columbia’s chief electoral officer says “extremely challenging weather conditions” and a new voting system factored into human errors that saw ballots go uncounted in the provincial election — though none were large enough to change results.
Anton Boegman says the agency is investigating the mistakes to “identify key lessons learned” to improve training, change processes or make recommendations for legislative change to ensure “errors can be prevented in the future.”
Boegman says the issues will be “fully documented” in his report to the legislature on the provincial election, the first held using electronic tabulators.
He says he’s confident election officials found all “anomalies,” which included a ballot box in Prince George-Mackenzie that went uncounted, and other issues involving out-of-district votes tied to the province’s “unique” vote-anywhere model.
Boegman says the vote was administered by approximately 17,000 workers, less than half than would’ve been needed under the old paper-based system, many of whom worked long hours on a day when an atmospheric river washed over the B.C. coast.
He says results for the election will be returned in 90 of the province’s 93 ridings today, while judicial recounts will be held in Surrey-Guildford, Kelowna-Centre and Prince George-Mackenzie.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2024.
MONTREAL – The province’s police watchdog is providing some new details about a police shooting that left one man dead and a second seriously injured in a remote northern Quebec village.
The watchdog, known as the BEI, says Nunavik police received a 911 call for someone who was allegedly trying to drive while impaired at about 4:10 a.m. Monday in Salluit, an Inuit fly-in village about 1,850 kilometres north of Montreal.
A statement today from the watchdog says two officers arrived at the scene a few minutes after the call and had a physical altercation with the two men.
The BEI statement does not say whether either of the men was armed, but officers at first used an electric shock weapon and pepper spray in an unsuccessful attempt to subdue them.
An officer then opened fire and hit one of the men, the BEI says, and when the second man continued to fight, he was also shot by the officer.
Nunavik police say one man died while the second was transported by medevac to hospital, where the BEI says his condition is considered stable.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
REGINA – A woman told a jury Tuesday that a Regina chiropractor reached into her bra and grabbed her breast without her consent during an appointment.
The 47-year-old woman, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, testified she went to see chiropractor Ruben Manz in 2011 to treat pain in her neck, shoulders, lower back and hips.
Manz is accused of sexually assaulting seven women over 10 years while they were under his care.
The complainant said she was sitting on an exam table when Manz placed a hand on her shoulder, pulled her head to one side and put a hand in her shirt.
He asked if she was OK, she said, and she replied yes but was hesitant.
She told the trial that Manz then moved his hand into her bra and pulled her breast.
“He said, ‘Just relax. It’s part of the treatment,’ And I said, ‘The hell it is,’” the woman testified.
“I got up, grabbed my stuff and left the room.”
The woman told the jury what happened to her was wrong and no other chiropractor had touched her that way.
She stopped seeing Manz immediately, she said.
“I didn’t trust him. He violated me.”
The woman said she reported Manz to a chiropractors’ association the next day. In 2021, after reading a news report about criminal charges against Manz, she went to police.
“He did this to somebody else, so I was mad,” she said.
She said she regularly seeks treatment for muscle strain and adjustments to her shoulders, hips and spine.
“I have to work very hard to find the strength to trust people to put their hands on me,” she added.
Defence lawyer Kathy Hodgson-Smith questioned the complainant about what she remembered, including how many appointments she had with Manz, the clothes she was wearing and how many people she told about her allegation.
The woman said she couldn’t remember exactly how many times she saw Manz. She recalled wearing a supportive bra meant to prevent pressure to her chest.
She said she’s been open about sharing what happened with others if the topic of bad experiences comes up.
“I remember that one incident with him like it was yesterday,” the woman testified.
“I remembered it this whole time — not because it came up in a news report or because I talked about it.
“Because it wasn’t OK. And I haven’t had a chiropractor before then or since then do that to me.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
