Voters worried about public service cuts: PSAC poll
ottawacitizen.com
Oct. 15, 2015
By Kathryn May
A large majority of Canadians want the federal government to restore funding for the country’s military veterans and re-open nine veterans’ services offices that the Conservatives closed to cut costs, according to a new poll.
The survey by EKOS Research Associates for the Public Service Alliance of Canada on Canadians’ views of government spending cuts - either made or planned - suggests a majority are heading to the polls Monday concerned about cuts to public services, especially for veterans, food inspection, border services and environmental monitoring.
With its current planned cuts, the Conservative government expects to save $14.5 billion in spending by 2015-16.
PSAC and other unions have launched campaigns against cuts and the impact they say these could have on delivery of public services to Canadians. EKOS President Frank Graves said the survey shows cuts have emerged as a concern in this election but won’t be “the issue” at the ballot box.
The survey didn’t ask respondents directly if cuts to public services would affect their own vote Monday. But nearly 80 per cent of respondents felt the cuts would affect the overall election result. About 55 per cent thought it would be a “strong” effect and 23 per cent felt the effect would be “moderate.”
Graves said the findings are consistent with other EKOS surveys that show Canadians feel government has been cut too much.
“What we see right now is that sympathy for the minimal government approach and the mantra that lower taxes/less government equals prosperity is not selling very well and has been selling increasingly less well over the past 10 years, in both Canada and the United States,” he said.
The poll was conducted from Oct. 2 to 11, and drew on a sample of 5,064 adult Canadians. A sample this size has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.38 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Respondents were able to do the survey online or by telephone.
Cuts to veterans’ services were a big concern to those surveyed, with two-thirds backing the reopening of the closed veterans’ offices. Only 17 per cent opposed reopening them. Support for the offices varied by region - lower in Quebec where only 53 per cent wanted them re-opened, but 78 per cent in Atlantic Canada.
The big divide was party allegiance. Less than half of Conservative voters surveyed wanted to reopen the offices, which EKOS called a “puzzle” because the Conservatives rely so heavily on “evocations of militarism and patriotism as a tie to their voting base.”
“It...reflects the overwhelming support among Conservative voters for reductions in program spending over any other policy direction,” said the report.
On food inspection, 77 per cent of those surveyed agreed cuts to food inspection posed health risks for Canadians. About 40 per cent felt such cuts create a very strong risk.
The question was about general inspection cuts and didn’t specify the nature or type of reductions. PSAC has long argued the government is undermining food safety by leaving hundreds of food inspector positions vacant and cutting back on sanitation and per-operation inspections.
The public is “generally saying this is an area that shouldn’t be cut,” said Graves.
Nearly 70 per cent of respondents think cuts to programs that monitor the environment, as well as scientific research into climate change, are an “immediate threat to the environment.”
About 60 per cent agreed that defending Canada’s borders is too important for border services to be cut while about 21 per cent felt reducing government spending mattered more. Albertans were the big outliers with only 49 per cent saying border security was too important to cut staffing.
The Canada Border Services Agency’s plans and priorities reports show about 1,100 positions at the Canada Border Services Agency will be cut by 2017, including border workers, intelligence officers and dog detector teams.
PSAC has a large advertising campaign underway built around the image of a bleeding Maple Leaf, with the caption “Conservatives are Bleeding Our Public Services.” It’s aimed at getting Canadians to vote against the Conservatives.
PSAC represents the workers who felt the cuts the most.
“Food inspection, border security and services to veterans were slashed under the Harper government,” said PSAC President Robyn Benson. “We hope that Canadians will elect a new government on Monday, so we can begin to restore the services that all citizens rely on.”
The full report can be obtained through PSAC’s Jonathan Choquette at choquej@psac-afpc.com.
The Survey Questions
- The federal government has closed nine Veterans Affairs offices across the country and reduced other program spending that supports Canadian veterans. On a scale of 1 to 7 (where 1 represents not at all and 7 represents very supportive) how supportive are you of restoring funding and re-opening Veterans Affairs offices?
- On a scale of one to seven (where one represents no risk and 7 represents a great deal of risk) to what degree do you think that cuts to food inspection put Canadians’ health at risk?
- The federal government recently announced plans to cut positions at the Canada Border Services Agency, the agency responsible for border security. Which of the following statements comes closest to your own views with regards to these cuts?
- These cuts are a necessary component of reducing government spending
- Defending our borders is too important to allow reductions in border security staff
- Cuts to a variety of environmental monitoring and assessment programs across the country have already been announced. These cuts will see the closure of research programs related to climate change, protection of species at risk and curtail some environment assessments. Which of the following statements best describes your attitudes towards cuts to environmental programs?
- These cuts represent an immediate danger to the health of the environment
- These cuts represent a necessary decision needed to reign in government expenditures
- Thinking about the current election campaign, to what degree do you think that proposed spending cuts across a variety of public services could have an effect on the current governments’ re-election prospects?
