Canadians remain satisfied with government’s handling of COVID-19 pandemic

Just over six years after the first cases were reported, the majority of Canadians say that they are satisfied with how the federal government handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a new survey from Research Co., 56 per cent would agree that Ottawa’s overall response to the outbreak and its consequences on public life can be described as “a success.”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!

The public opinion polling firm says that this amounts to a four per cent increase compared to a similar poll one year ago.

Mario Canseco, president of Research Co., says that this trend is predominantly caused by one age group whose perception of how the pandemic was handled has increased significantly.

“It’s the 18- to 34-year-olds that are driving that change,” he told 1130 NewsRadio.

In one year, this age group’s satisfaction has jumped from 50 per cent to 58 per cent.

“Satisfaction with the way the federal government managed the COVID-19 pandemic is lowest among Canadians aged 35 to 54 (45 per cent)”, Canseco added.
“The proportions are higher among Canadians aged 55 and over (59 per cent).”

Compared to last year’s poll, these numbers have declined by one per cent and six per cent respectively, and Canseco explains that the drop is countered by the increase among the 18- to 34-year-olds.

Canadians’ satisfaction with their respective provincial (56 per cent) and municipal (55 per cent) governments’ response to the pandemic is also at a new high, increasing slightly by two and three per cent.

Survey results surprised pollster

Canseco says that the overall satisfaction has remained the same, which is a little bit surprising.

“We have seen a significant level of criticism towards decisions taken by the federal government after Justin Trudeau left office, Mark Carney was elected, and then we started to see a lot of criticism about immigration guidelines or about the need for justice system reform. We thought it was a good opportunity to see whether Canadians were looking back at the pandemic and being more upset with the federal government than they used to be,” he said.

“And the reality is there’s no significant change!”

Another survey result also underlines this trend:

Although the majority is still in favour of it, there has been no increase in Canadians calling for a public inquiry into how the pandemic was managed by authorities.

The number has virtually remained the same as last year’s – in fact, it has dropped by 2 per cent to 62 per cent.