Canadians have spoken — and almost everyone is A-OK with vilifying anti-vaxxers..A new Ipsos poll commissioned by Global News shows a majority of Canadian citizens supporting mandatory vaccination suggestions, regardless of political leanings..The poll found at least 80% of those surveyed “support mandatory vaccines for healthcare workers, teachers, and public servants.” Just more than 80% said mandatory vaccines for air or train travellers “was also a good idea.”.Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, said “there really is no debate” when it comes to dealing with COVID-19 and vaccines. “People think vaccines should be ubiquitous,” he said, “and they think they should be directed and even mandatory.”.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doubled down on his mandatory vaccine stance for federal workers and domestic travellers in a statement released prior to the election being called last weekend..Comparatively, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said he “would not require any workers to be vaccinated,” and accused Trudeau of using vaccines to drive an even deeper dividing wedge between Canadians than is already coming to fruition. Among respondents who were likely Conservative voters, “about three-quarters supported mandatory vaccinations.”.The poll found specific support for mandatory vaccines in healthcare workers and teachers, with at least 75% of Québec supporting mandatory vaccines for teachers and a stunning 90% of Atlantic provinces agreeing with vaccine requirements for healthcare workers..Support for vaccine requirements to enter public places, such as restaurants or movie theatres, hasn’t been met with the same level of enthusiasm, but still boasts 72% of citizens being accepting of the idea — including 67% of Conservative voters..“It’s pretty hard to get 72% of Canadians to agree on anything” said Bricker. “When you look at a whole series of other issues that we looked at in this survey … you see a lot of division, a lot of disagreement on the issues. But on vaccines, vaccine passports, not a lot of division.”.Ipsos’ survey virtually asked more than 1,500 Canadians throughout the nation their opinions on a range of issues pertaining to the election, including mandatory vaccines. Results reveal COVID-19 to still be an important issue for voters — over a quarter of respondents said the pandemic is the most important issue to them for the upcoming election..This COVID-19 concern is apparently up six points now from when the question was asked a month ago, before the fear of a fourth wave was seriously on the horizon..Healthcare was highlighted as the most important issue to voters in all provinces except for Alberta. In the Western province, economy was marked as the number one issue to voters followed closely by climate change and affordability..Ipsos’ poll found “Liberals lead the way with the COVID-19 pandemic and health care” in respect to how well the public believes they’re equipped to handle these issues. This reflects recent data showing the Liberals were still leading in Canadian polls..Unsurprisingly, the Green Party was chosen by Canadians as the best equipped party to deal with climate change by 32%. The L weren’t far behind in perceived climate competency at 32%..Also to no one’s surprise, the Conservatives were polled as having “the firmest grip on the economy” at 41%. The Liberals came in second at 33% for overall grasp on the economy, but the NDP was apparently thought of as the party best equipped to address affordability with 27% support..No political party other than the Liberals at a measly 32% were able to break a 20% support rate in the minds of Canadians on the subject of Canada’s best post-pandemic option..Bricker said despite how it looks, these numbers are not set in stone. “As we go through this election, we’re going to see other plans, and the question is whether the Liberal plan continues to hold up,” he said..“Right now, the incumbent party … does not have the confidence of Canadians in terms of being able to manage either the affordability questions of kitchen table-type economics or the economy overall,” Bricker said. “So this is definitely a challenge to Trudeau and the Liberals.”.Just more than half of Canadians surveyed, or 53%, agreed the Trudeau government was doing well managing the economy through the pandemic. The remaining 47% disagreed..This division in Liberal confidence “largely fell along party lines,” with 82% of Conservative voters disapproving of the Liberal’s handling of the economy and 93% of Liberal voters applauding the government’s economic management..Jackie Conroy is a reporter for the Western Standard.jconroy@westernstandardonline.com
