Canadians are heading to the polls on Monday after a brief 36-day election campaign.
Over the past few weeks, MooseJawToday.com has been asking readers for their thoughts on several issues related to the election.
Here are the results of these polls.
Vote intention
Prior to the election being called, we asked readers which party they were most likely support. Ninety-one of 249 voters, or 36.55 per cent of respondents, said they were planning on supporting the Conservatives. The NDP garnered 16.87 per cent, followed by the Liberals at 15.66 per cent, the Maverick Party at 8.84 per cent, the People’s Party of Canada at 3.61 per cent, and the Green Party 1.61 per cent. The second-highest option, however, was for 'I don’t know/I won’t vote,' at 16.87 per cent.
Heading into the final days of the vote, we also asked readers if the election campaign swayed their vote at all. A total of 64.07 per cent of readers said their vote has not changed, while 23.81 per cent said they were planning on voting for another party. A further 6.49 per cent said they were still undecided.
The issues
When asked about the most important issue in the election, the top single issue voters identified was the deficit/government spending at 26.43 per cent. That was followed by a tie between climate change and the economy, with both earning 6.37 per cent of the vote. A further 6.05 per cent of voters selected the pandemic as the top issue, followed by health care at 5.41 per cent. An option for “something else” earned 4.46 per cent of votes. Singling out just one issue proved difficult, however, as the top choice was for “I think all of these are equally important” with 44.9 per cent of the vote.
The leaders
We also asked readers which political leader they felt was best to run the country. The top choice was for “I don’t like any of these candidates/someone else” at 25.70 per cent. The leader most readers picked was Erin O’Toole of the Conservatives, earning 36.31 per cent of the vote. Justin Trudeau of the Liberals scored 15.64 per cent, followed by Jagmeet Singh of the NDP at 13.97 per cent, Maxime Bernier of the PPC at 7.82 per cent and Annamie Paul of the Green Party at 0.56 per cent.
A majority government?
Regardless of which party wins, our readers are not expecting a majority government. When asked if any party can win a majority in the election, 69.12 per cent of readers said no. Just 16.13 per cent of readers said yes, while 10.14 per cent said it may be possible, depending on factors like vote splitting.
How will you vote?
Finally, a slight majority of readers said they planned on voting at advance polls, with 43.36 per cent stating their intent to do so. Meanwhile, 31.82 per cent of respondents said they would vote on election day, followed by 13.99 per cent saying the would vote by mail-in ballot, with another 3.15 per cent saying the would vote at an Elections Canada office.
