Canadians hold largely negative views of parliamentary debate, many see it as ‘posturing’: Angus Reid

Despite attempts to rein in the rancor at Canada’s House of Commons, Canadians largely hold negative views around the current state of debate in Parliament.

A new Angus Reid survey, released on Thursday, asked nearly 1,900 Canadians to choose three words out of a list of 10 that they would use to describe parliamentary proceedings given what they have seen, read or heard.

The most common responses were “posturing” at 54 per cent, “useless” at 46 per cent and “dishonest” at 38 per cent.

These were followed by “disrespectful” (37 per cent) and “uninformative” (35 per cent), meaning respondents were more likely to choose all five of the negative terms that were provided than the positive ones.

The five positive responses were “impassioned” (18 per cent), “informative” (15 per cent), “productive” (six per cent), “respectful” (five per cent) and “truthful” (three per cent).

Three per cent of respondents said they would use none of the terms.

A news release from Angus Reid said while the nation can feel divided, it seems “largely unified in its negativity regarding its political representatives.”

“Every group of partisans among past Conservative, Liberal, New Democrat and Bloc Quebecois voters are more likely to describe debate in the House as ‘posturing’ than not,” the release said.

“Some of this disenchantment may also be due to Canada’s tradition of party discipline. Three-quarters of Canadians say that MPs vote to follow the views of their leader, so any real debate about issues is largely performative.”

The survey took place between Oct. 9 and 13, before current House Speaker Greg Fergus was heckled over his decision to delay question period in order to deliver a speech to MPs on the issue of heckling.

FREQUENT WATCHERS MORE LIKELY TO SEE DEBATES NEGATIVELY

Forty-six per cent of the Canadians surveyed said they follow parliamentary proceedings occasionally, while 11 per cent said they do frequently.

Twenty-four per cent said they rarely check in and 17 per cent said they never do.

Men typically were more likely to say they watched proceedings frequently, while women were more likely to say they never tuned in.

Those who watch debates in the House frequently were more likely to respond negatively, with 58 per cent describing the proceedings as “posturing” or “dishonest.”

In other cases, frequent watcher were less likely to respond negatively – 27 per cent described proceedings as “uninformative,” for example, which was below average.

Canadians between 18 and 34, in general, were more likely to describe debates positively, although they were also more likely to offer no opinion.

Asked whether, “MPs just follow the views of their leader; there’s no real debate about the issues,” 29 per cent said they “strongly agree,” while another 44 per cent said they “agree.”

METHODOLOGY

The Angus Reid Institute (ARI) conducted an online survey from Oct. 9 to 13, 2023, among a representative randomized sample of 1,878 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum.

For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI.