Two Things to Take Away From the Recent Poll Failure? in Alberta

There will be much hand wringing, considerable hyperbole, and lots of pseudo theories/ explanations for why the polls did not foresee the Conservative majority coming in the 2012 Alberta provincial election. Some attention will inevitably be placed on the methodological rigour of the polling methods but the size of the difference between the polls and the outcome is stunning. [...]

Is Harper Re-making Canada in his own Image?

With several months of the Conservative majority in place, we can safely identify the direction on issues which clearly touch on Canadian values and culture. Most prominently, is the “law and order” agenda, much of which seems at odds with expert opinions and science. On other issues (foreign policy; pension reform) he has also staked [...]

The Sustainability of Public Services: Matching Revenue and Expenses

A couple of years into the decade and it seems possible that the decade will be defined in terms of its impact on the size and nature of public services/ benefits? Backlash against austerity are already occurring in Greece and there is considerable uncertainty about the willingness of politicians and publics to accept a “right-sizing” [...]

Expectations=Present Evaluations…Its 2004 all over again

In 2004, TNS Canada produced its first Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) and it is interesting that its recent results mirror those from its first surveys. What, if anything, can this tell us about the state of the economy? Canadians, while deeply affected by the recession, regained a lot of their confidence in the economy in [...]

A review of POR on Nuclear Energy in Canada

A review of publicly available data indicates that Canadians have been quite resilient in their support for nuclear and the most recent issues are unlikely to seriously dampen long-term support. We speculate that despite the potential for public opposition, an elite consensus around nuclear power may be reducing the mobilization of the underlying “safety” induced [...]