FUCK THE POLICE
911 EVERY DAY
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/f....html?id=c90483d2-d489-4aa3-8681-a8e25fba134d
Few Canadians watched election debates
OTTAWA - Canadians have declared Stephen Harper the winner of this week's leaders' debates, but few of those who watched the debates were convinced to change their vote, according to a new poll.
Gilles Duceppe takes part in the English leaders' debate with Stephane Dion, Stephen Harper and Jack Layton on October 2.
View Large
Gilles Duceppe takes part in the English leaders' debate with Stephane Dion, Stephen Harper and Jack Layton on October 2.
Photograph by : Reuters
ARTICLE TOOLS
* Printer friendly
* E-mail
Font:
* *
* *
* *
* *
AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Among Canadians who watched at least one of the two debates, 37 per cent believe the prime minister won the debates on the whole, according to the Ipsos Reid poll, commissioned by Canwest News Service and Global National.
NDP Leader Jack Layton came in second, at 20 per cent, followed by Liberal Stephane Dion, at 17 per cent, Elizabeth May of the Greens, at 13 per cent, and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, at five per cent.
However, most Canadians weren't even watching.
Fifty-eight per cent of respondents didn't watch either the French-language debate on Wednesday or the English version the following night. Viewership of the French debate, in particular, appeared to have been low, with only 12 per cent of respondents overall, and only 27 per cent in Quebec, tuning in.
Preliminary ratings suggest about three million people, or less than a tenth of the Canadian population, watched the English debates on Thursday. By comparison, the U.S. vice-presidential debate on the same night between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin was watched by nearly 70 million people, nearly a quarter of that country's population.
"One of the questions this raises is whether we're going to see weaker-than-average turnout" in the federal election Oct. 14, said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Reid Public Affairs.
Election turnout edged up to 64.7 per cent of registered voters in 2006, compared with 60.9 per cent in 2004. Turnout approached 80 per cent in the mid-1950s and early-60s.
Among Canadians who did watch, few were swayed by the leaders' arguments. Only 13 per cent of respondents said they would change their vote as a result of what they saw, according to the poll.
As a result, the net impact of the debates appears to have been minimal. Once respondents who didn't watch the debates are factored in, only five per cent of Canadians changed their minds as a result of the debate.
Bricker said the results appear to confirm the view that debates have little impact on the campaign.
Overall support levels for the parties haven't changed much, the poll suggests. The Conservatives have slipped in the overall party standings but still have a healthy lead over the Liberals.
The Conservatives are supported by 36 per cent of decided voters, followed by the Liberals, at 22 per cent, the NDP at 20 per cent and the Greens at 10 per cent, according to the poll.
"The only place we've really seen movement in this campaign is down the ballot, between the Liberals and the NDP," said Bricker.
Few Canadians watched election debates
OTTAWA - Canadians have declared Stephen Harper the winner of this week's leaders' debates, but few of those who watched the debates were convinced to change their vote, according to a new poll.
Gilles Duceppe takes part in the English leaders' debate with Stephane Dion, Stephen Harper and Jack Layton on October 2.
View Large
Gilles Duceppe takes part in the English leaders' debate with Stephane Dion, Stephen Harper and Jack Layton on October 2.
Photograph by : Reuters
ARTICLE TOOLS
* Printer friendly
Font:
* *
* *
* *
* *
AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Among Canadians who watched at least one of the two debates, 37 per cent believe the prime minister won the debates on the whole, according to the Ipsos Reid poll, commissioned by Canwest News Service and Global National.
NDP Leader Jack Layton came in second, at 20 per cent, followed by Liberal Stephane Dion, at 17 per cent, Elizabeth May of the Greens, at 13 per cent, and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, at five per cent.
However, most Canadians weren't even watching.
Fifty-eight per cent of respondents didn't watch either the French-language debate on Wednesday or the English version the following night. Viewership of the French debate, in particular, appeared to have been low, with only 12 per cent of respondents overall, and only 27 per cent in Quebec, tuning in.
Preliminary ratings suggest about three million people, or less than a tenth of the Canadian population, watched the English debates on Thursday. By comparison, the U.S. vice-presidential debate on the same night between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin was watched by nearly 70 million people, nearly a quarter of that country's population.
"One of the questions this raises is whether we're going to see weaker-than-average turnout" in the federal election Oct. 14, said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Reid Public Affairs.
Election turnout edged up to 64.7 per cent of registered voters in 2006, compared with 60.9 per cent in 2004. Turnout approached 80 per cent in the mid-1950s and early-60s.
Among Canadians who did watch, few were swayed by the leaders' arguments. Only 13 per cent of respondents said they would change their vote as a result of what they saw, according to the poll.
As a result, the net impact of the debates appears to have been minimal. Once respondents who didn't watch the debates are factored in, only five per cent of Canadians changed their minds as a result of the debate.
Bricker said the results appear to confirm the view that debates have little impact on the campaign.
Overall support levels for the parties haven't changed much, the poll suggests. The Conservatives have slipped in the overall party standings but still have a healthy lead over the Liberals.
The Conservatives are supported by 36 per cent of decided voters, followed by the Liberals, at 22 per cent, the NDP at 20 per cent and the Greens at 10 per cent, according to the poll.
"The only place we've really seen movement in this campaign is down the ballot, between the Liberals and the NDP," said Bricker.
