We analyzed and weighted the responses of 302,876 Voter Compass users (New window), created by Vox Pop Labs.
The issue of a guaranteed minimum income for all Canadians, whether employed or not, divides Compass users. Almost 50% say they agree with this idea, but 43% disagree and 11% say they are neutral.
In contrast, over 70% of respondents who are considering voting for the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) and the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) disagree with a guaranteed minimum income (and over 50% strongly disagree) .
More women (49%) who participated in the Compass would like to see the creation of a guaranteed minimum income for all, compared to men (41%).
When asked by Compass users if the federal minimum wage should be higher, 63% say yes, including 22% who believe it should be much higher. More Atlantic respondents (75%) want a higher federal minimum wage.
Almost half of those considering voting for the CCP want the status quo on the federal minimum wage, but a third of them still want to raise it. Less than 10% of the Conservatives want it reduced.
As with the guaranteed minimum income, it is more women (70%) who believe that the federal minimum income should be higher. Respondents aged 40 to 49 were less likely (57%) to believe the federal minimum wage should be increased, compared to those aged 65 and over (almost 70%).
Aid in times of pandemic: no more, say participants
Furthermore, it appears that the majority of Compass users (45%) believe that the federal government should neither increase nor reduce financial assistance given to Canadians whose jobs have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. A little more than a quarter believe that we should give less, the other quarter, give more.
The exception is in Quebec, where 40% of respondents believe that financial assistance should be reduced and only 17% wish to increase it.
Those who think about voting for the CPC (51%), the PPC (50%) and the Bloc (43%) are much more likely to believe that the money given should be reduced.
Twice as many participants aged 18 to 39 as those over 65 responded that the federal government should give more money to those whose jobs were disrupted during the pandemic.
Who should pay more?
Some parties, such as the Liberal Party of Canada (PLC), the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Green Party, propose to tax the rich and big businesses more to finance certain social programs, such as the Guaranteed Income Supplement, a better health system and a national child care program.
And the strong majority of Canadians who responded to the Compass (78%) strongly agree with the idea of taxing the rich more. This proposition is a little more popular in the Atlantic (83%) and Quebec (81%).
When comparing by party, only those who think they vote for the PPC (38%) are more likely to say that the rich should not be taxed more. Among respondents who think they vote for the PPC, 38% believe that they should be taxed no more and no less and 59% believe that they should be taxed more.
Among respondents to the Compass, 83% of them want the rich to be taxed more, compared to 73% of men. Among respondents over 65, 85% want the rich to be taxed more.
The Canadians who participated in the Compass not only want the government to tax the rich more, but to make big business pay more taxes.
More than 80% of participants – across the country – say large companies should pay more taxes. The idea is a little more popular in Quebec and the Atlantic. It is less so in men (75%) and participants aged 40 to 49 (77%).
Almost 100% of those who think they vote for the NDP answered that large companies should be taxed more, much more than those who think they vote for the Conservatives (62%).
Methodology :
Data is based on responses to Electoral Compass, a project by Vox Pop Labs, in partnership with Radio-Canada (New window). Vox Pop Labs is a non-partisan team that brings together political scientists and statisticians.
The Voter Compass is not a poll. The users are not preselected. The data, collected from September 14 to August 7, 2021, has been weighted to approximate that of a representative sample of the actual population, according to census data and other demographic estimates.
