Canadians cynical toward all political parties, according to poll

Canadians have a significant level of cynicism toward all federal political parties, according to a recent Nanos poll.

Through the survey, Canadians were asked to pretend that each federal political party was a person and to describe the personality of each using one word. Looking at these numbers, realistically none of the parties hold the image high ground.

More than one in 10 used the words “untrustworthy” (14.4 per cent) and “conservative” (12.9 per cent) to describe the Tories. Positive words used to describe the Conservatives included “good/good choice” (9.1 per cent), “trustworthy” (6.4 per cent), “strong/powerful” (5.3 per cent)
and “intelligent” (four per cent).

The NDP was described as “socialist” by a noticeable proportion of Canadians (13.3 per cent). One in 10 believed the party is “caring” (10.2 per cent) and “good” (10 per cent) while others said it was “bad/incompetent” (10.1 per cent). A number of Canadians also saw the NDP as a “new” party (10 per cent).

Nearly two in 10 Canadians used the words “bad/incompetent” (18.4 per cent) and “untrustworthy” (16.2 per cent) to describe the Liberals, while one in 10 said the Party was “good” (11.5 per cent). Other attributes associated with the Liberals included “competent” (6.8 per cent), “progressive” (5.8 per cent) and “strong/powerful” (5.1 per cent).

Nearly two in 10 Canadians associated the Green party with the words “environment/eco-friendly/green” (16.7 per cent). The party was also thought to be “unrealistic/naive” (14.7 per cent) and many believed it was “not well known” (11.1 per cent).

When Quebecers were asked the word they would use to describe the personality of the Bloc, more than one in 10 said the party is “useless” (15.4 per cent) as well as “narrow-minded/one-sided” (13 per cent). Many Quebecers also described it as a “separatist/independent” party (11.7 per cent) while others felt it was “aggressive” (10.7 per cent). A few believed the party is “good” (four per cent).

Posted by Arron Pickard