While the focus last week was on how Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s budget will affect Canadians’ pocketbooks, the top issues “keeping them up at night” involve deep concerns about the country’s future, according to Frank Graves, founder and president of Ekos Research Associates Inc., based on the results of a recent Ekos poll.
In the late October survey involving 1,581 respondents presented with a set of 10 choices, 70 per cent identified “growing political and ideological polarization” as their top issue of concern. Next, at 67 per cent, was the “acute decline of our democratic and public institutions.” The poll results were released on Oct. 29.
