The Manning Centre

Barometer 2010

Presentation, Manning Centre

March 2010
 Description

Th
e Manning Centre Barometer is an annual look at Canadian’s
attitudes towards values and policies generally ascribed to
conservatives.

Th
is year, a total of 1000 telephone interviews were conducted with
adult Canadians between February 1 and February 10. The margin
of error for a sample of this size is +/-3.3 percentage points within
a 95% confidence interval.
 Outline

First part will

First
look at values typically associated with conservatives and how they are perceived by
Canadians in general.

Second part
Second
will look at specific conservative policies and how they are perceived by Canadians in
general.

Third part
Third
will examine how the political centre is becoming more conservative and the potential
fault lines associated with this ideological shift.
 Explaining Value Statements:
Level of Agreement

 “Using a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is ‘totally disagree’ and

7 is ‘totally agree,’ tell me how you feel about each of
the following statements…”

14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
totally totally agree
disagree

Less conservative More conservative

 Value Statements:
Value Statement % Strongly Agree

Nothing is more important than family 89

Marriage, by definition, is between a man and a woman 67

Abortion is morally wrong 60

Learn from what worked in the past to solve problems 54

Better to implement small changes than all at once 54

People holding different values/beliefs make society richer 47

Patriotism, strong military necessary to advance nat’l interests 44

We have a responsibility to look after those less fortunate 43

There is a right and wrong, not all about individual perception 42

Private sector before government to solve economic problems 36

Government action is best way to solve economic problems 31

Individual freedom is more important than social security 31

Private enterprise is best way to solve economic problems 26

 Value Statements:

Value Statement % Strongly Agree

The good of the community takes priority over individual rights 25

Society is on a path of inevitable progress 17

I believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth 8

People who are poor have no one to blame but themselves 8

Dealing with Moral Issues
Revealing Story 2
 Deficit Spending

 Seven in ten Canadians support the federal Conservative

government’s spending practices despite forecasts of a $56-billion
deficit this year.
 Long Gun Registry

 Six in ten Canadians support the abolition of the long gun registry.

DK
7%

Oppose
32%
Support
61%
Government Action on Climate Change

 Half of Canadians believe that the federal Conservative government

is doing “just enough” to deal with climate change.

DK Too much
7% 7%

Too little
33%
Just enough
53%
 Afghanistan

 Eight in ten Canadians think that our military should leave

Afghanistan as planned in 2011.

Stay until war is

over
14% DK
4%

Leave as
planned
82%
 Economic Recession

 A majority of Canadians believe that the federal Conservative

government is doing “just enough” to deal with the economic
recession.

DK
2%
Too much
7%

Too little
30%

Just enough
61%
 Political Ideology Scale

 The majority of Canadians identify most with the

“centre” position on the political ideology scale.
65%

10% 9%
6%
2% 1% 2%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
extreme extreme
centre
left right

Less conservative More conservative

 Commonalities (1)
Centrists Values/Policies Conservatives
84% Rely on family first 64%
5.23 When trying to find solutions to 5.97
problems, it is a good idea to learn
from what has worked in the past

4.87 Government action is the best way 4.73

to solve Canada’s economic
problems
5.59 Marriage, by definition, can only 6.05
take place between a man and a
woman
5.40 Abortion is morally wrong 5.86
5.13 Patriotism and a strong military 5.23
are necessary to advance
Canada’s national interests
5.01 Tolerance and moderation are 5.22
what its all about to be Canadian
 Commonalities (2)

Centrists Values/Policies Conservatives

74% Government should have a major 69%
role when it comes to protecting
property rights
51% Government should have a major 58%
role in promoting/preserving
Canada’s official languages

54% Government should have a major 58%

role in advancing freedom and
democracy internationally
58% Government is doing just enough 51%
to deal with climate change

84% Canada’s health care system 63%

should NOT include private
hospitals
 Commonalities (3)

Centrists Values/Policies Conservatives

81% Canadian armed forces should 86%
leave Afghanistan as planned in
2011
80% Government should do more to 72%
support embryonic stem cell
research
65% Government is doing just enough 58%
to deal with the economic
recession
 External Fault Lines

Centrists Values/Policies Conservatives

Government should play a major
42% role in preserving the moral fabric 53%
of Canadian society
Government should play a major
21% role in regulating individual 54%
behaviour and morality
The policies implemented by
29% government have a big impact on 51%
my day-to-day life
 Strategic Importance

 47% of Centrists voted

Conservative in 2008
This compares to 41% who voted
Liberal in 1997