Health concerns our No. 1 priority, poll shows
But researchers say leaders are giving issue short shrift in the election campaign
A new public opinion poll by Ekos shows that health is the most important issue to Canadians — but researchers involved in the survey say that isn’t reflected in the attention party leaders in the federal election are devoting to it.
“Our poll results clearly show that any politician brave enough to campaign on health right now would be campaigning on clearly the most important issue to Canadians. Lamentably, none of the political parties have done this,” Amir Attaran, a professor with the faculty of medicine and the faculty of law at the University of Ottawa, said in an interview.
Funding for the Sept. 14-22 poll came from Attaran’s academic research budget at Ottawa U, and he devised the survey questions with input from his academic colleagues at the university, the Canadian Public Health Association, Canadian Doctors for Medicare, and Ekos.
“Simply put, the stuff that politicians talk about during an election is exactly the opposite of what Canadians prioritize for themselves. You could say that syringes matter more than Syria,” says Attaran, referring to the Syrian refugees and the bombing of Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. A Star series on important issues that are getting short shrift in the federal election recently highlighted health-care related matters such as seniors’ care, physician-assisted suicide, and prescription drug coverage.
One of the questions in the Ekos survey asked respondents how, if they were prime minister for a day, they would spend $1 billion over the next 10 years. Five of the health-related answers were among the top 10 choices for respondents, including the top-ranked answer — investments in improving public health. This choice won out against all of the other 19 choices 68 per cent of the time, the Ekos survey found.
Other top-10 answers included improving health care, improving endof-life care, improving access to mental-health services, and creating a new universal home-care program.
Combating terrorist threats such as Islamic State and purchasing military hardware ranked among the two least popular choices respectively, in the poll. The 2,011 participants in the poll were given 20 choices, six of them relating to health. Included on the list of choices was child care, workplace training, and “across the board tax cuts.”
Respondents had to choose how to invest the $1 billion in initiatives aimed at “the public’s best interest.’’
The margin of error for the statistically weighted national survey is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
Responding to claims the federal leaders are ignoring health issues in the election campaign, Conservative campaign spokesman Stephen Lecce said the topic remains an ongoing priority for the party.
“A strong economy allows government to keep taxes low and increasingly invest in important social programs like health care. That is why since 2006, our Conservative government has significantly increased health transfers to the provinces by almost 70 per cent to improve quality of life of all Canadians,” he said.
NDP campaign adviser Brad Lavigne said health care has been the No. 1 issue the party has dedicated itself to during the election campaign. He pointed out the party devoted a health-care week during the campaign to highlight areas that “desperately need improvement after 10 years of Stephen Harper, including access to more doctors, lower prescription drug costs, and mental health.”
Jane Philpott, a physician and Liberal candidate running in Markham-Stouffville, said her party has the “strongest” position on health.
“The strongest part of the health care part of our platform is the fact we are committed to negotiating a new health accord,’’ she said, adding the Liberals will hold a first ministers meeting in the first 100 days of forming government, and negotiating a new health accord will be a priority for working with provinces, she said.
The Ekos poll found that overall, 55 per cent of respondents believe public health care in Canada has worsened since 2006 when Conservative Leader Stephen Harper’s government took over. Twenty-five per cent said the quality has stayed the same, 17 per cent said improved and 3 per cent don’t know.