Canadians are feeling more positive about the federal government’s performance as well as the direction of the country compared to last year, but remain fairly negative about both, according to a new poll from Nanos Research and the Institute for Research on Public Policy.
According to the findings, 45 per cent of Canadians rate the Stephen Harper government’s performance as “poor or very poor,” while 37 per cent rate its performance as “good or very good.” That marks an 11-point improvement in the past year.
Meanwhile, 48 per cent of Canadians say they believe that “the country is moving in the wrong direction,” while 37 per cent feel it is “moving in the right direction.” That marks a six-point improvement in the past year.
The latest poll marks the eighth year for the Nanos IRRP “Mood of Canada” survey.
While the numbers are showing some improvement, they are down considerably from the survey’s first year in 2007, when 66 per cent of Canadians felt that the country was moving in the right direction, pollster Nik Nanos told CTV’s Power Play on Wednesday evening.
The drop to 37 per cent “speaks to the anxiety” among Canadians now, coming off the recession, he said.
“At the beginning of the Harper mandate…the numbers were much stronger for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives pretty well right across the board, and the mood of Canada was a little more buoyant than it is right now,” Nanos said.
As for the federal government’s relationship with the provinces, 52 per cent of Canadians said that relations have either “not improved or somewhat not improved,” while 16 per cent said relations have “improved or somewhat improved.” That’s a six-point improvement.
However, Ontarians in particular “are more likely to think that things aren’t great,” Nanos said. About 58 per cent of Ontarians said relations have “not improved or somewhat not improved” between their government and Ottawa.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has been in power for a year and has yet to have a meeting with the prime minister. She recently wrote two letters requesting a sit-down, correspondence that has so far not yielded a result.
Ontario residents may not blame either Wynne or Harper for the impasse, Nanos said.
“It just means that they recognize there’s a disconnect right now between the federal government and the province of Ontario.”
Finally, about half of Canadians said that Canada’s reputation “has somewhat not improved or not improved,” while 35 per cent said it “has improved or somewhat improved.” That’s a 17-point increase in the past year.
For the poll, Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,000 Canadians between Nov. 15 and 18. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
