March 26, 2011: Minister for Seniors Julian Fantino was shown the results of the CARP Poll on the recent federal budget which showed that although two thirds of the over 2,000 respondents agreed with the GIS top up for the poorest seniors, they preferred a comprehensive strategy to meet anti-poverty benchmarks and other measures over targeted but limited aid.

Overall, respondents to the March 22nd poll:

Panned the Budget:

• 62% say it is NOT a budget which benefits older Canadians
• 58% say they do NOT agree with the budget overall
• 54% say the Opposition Parties should vote against the Budget

The Minister’s response was that the CARP Poll was merely an online poll which only captures the opinions of the most computer literate and did not reflect the opinion of those he has met in his own one-on-one poll. You can watch the full program here. The segment in question begins at the 19 minutes and 30 second mark.

Other findings of our Budget Poll –

Weakened Support for Government:

• 47% say Budget makes them less likely to vote for the government
• 71% say Budget did NOT improve their opinion of the government since last week’s Speaker’s rulings

Ready for an Election:

37% say Canada needs an Election – up steadily from 27% six weeks ago

• 65% say the election will be about ethics and respecting democracy rather than the budget
• 71% say opposition parties will offer them at least as much as the Government did in this Budget

Not only are older Canadians the most politically engaged, but also CARP members have shown consistent support for the governing Conservatives. However, that support fell precipitously over the government’s dismissive response to the Speaker’s rulings and the question was whether these budget measures are sufficient to recover their support. Apparently not.
So now we’re into an election and voters go to the polls on May 2nd, 2011.

The CARP Poll will be conducted a least twice more during the election.

Keywords: seniors, election