Public Opinion Research

IX. The New Deal

B. Perceived Impact of the New Deal

There are broad expectations among Canadians that if governments are able to more effectively co-ordinate their actions and provide cities with stable and predictable funding, quality of life in communities will improve.

Almost 6-in-10 (57%) indicate that the New Deal would have a significant or some impact on improving the quality of life in their communities, while only 18% felt that it would have minimal impact.

Residents in Atlantic Canada and the Prairies are the most optimistic about the impact of the new deal, while Quebecers and British Columbians are slightly less optimistic than the rest of Canada.

Consistent with the rest of the survey, residents of small communities with populations less than 50,000 are less optimistic that the new deal will have much impact on the quality of life in their communities. Just over one-half (51%) say that the new deal will have significant or some impact, while residents of larger communities are much more optimistic about the impact of this new initiative. For example, about 6-in-10 residents of communities with populations between 50,000 and one million believe that this initiative would have significant or some impact on their communities. In contrast, 56% of residents of cities with a population of one million or more share this perspective.

Figure 46

Predicted Impact of the New Deal on Improving Overall Quality of Life

				National Total (n=4200) %	Region					Community Size
					Ontario (n=1444) %	Quebec (n=851) %	Atlantic (n=400) %	Prairies (n=833) %	BC/North (n=672) %	< 50K (n=800) %	50K - 100K (n=800) %	100K - 500K (n=800) %	500K - 1M (n=800) %	1M+ (n=1000) %
Total Impact (7, 6, 5)				57	57	54	62	60	55	51	61	60	59	56
Significant impact (7)				15	17	11	19	16	14	16	19	14	16	15
Some impact (6, 5)				42	40	43	43	44	41	35	42	46	43	41
Neutral (4)				20	19	23	17	20	20	21	20	18	20	20
Little impact (3, 2)				11	11	12	11	11	13	13	9	10	12	12
No impact at all (1)				7	7	8	7	6	6	11	6	6	5	7
Total Little/ No Impact (3, 2, 1)				18	18	20	18	17	19	24	15	16	17	19
No answer				5	6	3	3	3	6	4	4	6	4	5

As shown in Figure 47, Canadians who have positive perceptions about the current quality of life in their communities are, not surprisingly, optimistic (59%) about the impact of the new initiative to help cities. In contrast, those with a more neutral or poor view of the quality of life in their communities are less likely to be enthusiastic about the potential impact of the New Deal for cities. Despite this, a plurality of these two segments (Neutral: 49%; Poor: 45%) of public opinion is much more likely to believe that the initiative will have a significant or some impact on improving their communities' quality of life. About one-third (31%) of those who feel that quality of life in their community is poor believe that this initiative would have little or no impact.

Similarly, those Canadians who have a positive view of the overall performance of the federal government are much more likely to believe that the new deal initiative would have a significant or some impact (66%) on improving the quality of life in their communities. Even those Canadians who have a poor assessment of the federal government's performance are fairly likely to be optimistic (45%) that this initiative will have a positive impact. But, it is clearly evident that this group is also more likely to be sceptical (31%).

Figure 47

Predicted Impact of the New Deal on Improving Overall Quality of Life

	National Total (n=4200) %	Quality of Life: Own City			Confidence City "Has What it Takes"		Ratings of Federal Government's Overall Performance
		Good (n=3311) %	Neutral (n=635) %	Poor (n=238) %	Confident (n=3033) %	Not Confident (n=1143) %	Good (n=66) %	Neutral (n=1402) %	Poor (n=1197) %
Total Impact (7, 6, 5)	57	59	49	45	60	47	66	57	45
Significant impact (7)	15	14	18	19	16	14	18	14	13
Some impact (6, 5)	42	45	31	26	44	33	49	43	31
Neutral (4)	20	20	24	15	20	19	19	23	18
Little impact (3, 2)	11	12	10	13	11	15	8	11	17
No impact at all (1)	7	5	11	18	5	12	3	5	14
Total Little/ No Impact (3,2,1)	18	17	21	31	16	27	11	16	31
No answer	5	4	6	9	4	7	4	4	6

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