Ottawa on ‘Wrong Track’ Handling Inflation, Housing Issues: Internal Government Poll

Participants feel actions taken by the federal government produce 'little' impact in tangible ways, poll says

A woman leaves a grocery store in Mississauga, Ont., on Aug. 15, 2019. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

A majority of Canadians believe that Ottawa is on the wrong track when it comes to handling issues the public deems important, and its actions to address them have produced “little in the way of tangible impact thus far,” according to confidential polling conducted for the federal government.

The polling results, reported to the Privy Council Office and obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, found that most individuals surveyed thought the Liberal government has been slow to act and is not doing a good job tackling inflation and housing issues.

“Very few participants believed the Government of Canada was currently on the right track when it came to addressing the priority areas they had identified,” said the survey, titled “Continuous Qualitative Data Collection of Canadians’ Views.”

“For most it was felt while the Government of Canada had begun to take actions to address important concerns such as housing affordability and cost of living, these had produced little in the way of tangible impact thus far.”

The findings were based on focus group interviews held nationwide. The Privy Council Office commissioned the survey under a $2.4 million annual contract with the Strategic Counsel.

Some survey participants held the view that the government lacks foresight in anticipating hurdles the country would encounter.

“Speaking more generally, several expressed the opinion that actions taken by the federal government were often reactive in nature and that more needed to be done by federal officials to anticipate the challenges Canadians would face before they became major issues,” the survey said.

‘Not Currently Keeping Pace’

Inflation topped the list as a major concern, the poll indicated. “All participants felt addressing the rising cost of living to be an important priority for the Government of Canada to focus on,” it said.

Specifically on inflation, the researchers also noted “few believe” that the Trudeau government is on the right track in tackling it.

“For the larger number who thought the federal government was currently on the wrong track it was widely felt the income of most Canadians was not currently keeping pace with rising prices and that unless something was done to either raise wages or bring down essential costs this problem would likely continue to persist,” they wrote.

In December, the Liberal government implemented the Dental Care Benefit, which pays $650 per child for families with a yearly income under $70,000. The survey said participants were indifferent to the inflation relief program.

Cabinet also introduced a “one-time GST payment to support Canadians,” which provides a minimum of $234 to eligible recipients based on their family situation. The Canada Housing Benefit, which issues a $500 tax-free payment to 1.8 million low-income renters, was launched last year as well.

The poll found that some participants felt that the government only acts when pressing issues make headlines in the news.

“Several participants believed that federal actions towards addressing the cost of living should have been implemented earlier and that the Government of Canada had been too reactive in their approach, only acting once the issue had started making media headlines,” it said.