Public polls tell us a lot about what is on the minds of Canadians. Or at least what media and other elites think should be on the minds of Canadians. Almost four in ten 2019 polls were about public policy (37%) and another third were about electoral, horserace issues. Not surprisingly, Q3 and Q4 contained a large number of polls that focused on the horserace.
Most Important Issues in 2019 Polls
Electoral and party competition topped the topics in 2019 followed by the general category of lifestyle. The economy (confidence; state of) and personal finance were next most polled. After these the main public policy categories are next most important, including health, democracy and governance and the environment.
Public Policy Issues
Public policy polls are interesting because of their role in the democratic conversation Canadians had in 2019. Among national polls, the top issues for 2019 were health, the environment, and democracy and governance. Health continues to be a surprise, as it was in 2018. In contrast, the focus on the environment (read climate change) is no surprise.
Two of the top issues from 2018 drugs (read marijuana) and international trade (read NAFTA) were less important in 2019. There was also a lot of polling on how the democratic system works. The SNC question and the broader issue of trust and ethics fueled some of this polling. SNC also drove horserace polling.
Summary
The Public Polls Project identified a record number of publicly released polls in 2019. Like the previous years, public policy issues and electoral and party competition (horserace) polls were most prominent.
After horserace, the economy both from a macro and personal level are the most important. At the personal level, polling on personal debt levels, retirement savings and other personall economic are well polled.
Health, the environment, how our democracy works, and international relations were the most polled national public policy topics.
The Public Polls Project was developed and is maintained by Richard Jenkins. Richard Jenkins founded Jenkins Research Inc. and PollingGuru.ca. Copyright and ownership of the data and all analysis are held by Richard Jenkins.
The database of public polls includes all public opinion releases since April 1, 2016. Each release is an independent public announcement of a question or more from a public opinion poll. For more information visit the Public Polls Project.
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