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**The Landscape Public Opinion on Aboriginal and Northern Issues**
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Section I: Where do we stand?

A – Most Important Issue

Canadians were asked to think about the issues facing them and indicate which one should receive the greatest attention from Canada’s leaders. In this open-ended question, health care remains the most important issue among Canadians and in fact, has gained in importance between 2002 and 2004.
Aboriginal issues do not figure on Canadians’ list of priorities; in June 2004, only one percent of Canadians see this as a priority.

Views among Canadians living in the North are quite different from those in the rest of Canada. Unemployment (12%) and the economy (11%) are the two top of mind issues for those Canadians living North of the 60^th parallel, with only seven percent citing heath care as the most important issue.
Although health care is the over-riding concern for Canadians south of 60^o it does not have the same significance for Northerners, but it does register as a concern in all Territories.
Views on the most important issue facing the North vary widely by Territory. Residents of Yukon are most concerned with issues concerning the economy and unemployment and are less concerned with the more social issues that concern the other Territories.
Residents in Nunavut are primarily concerned with housing and education, while those in the Northwest Territories are focused on alcoholism and drug abuse.

When asked to consider what the most important priority for the new federal government should be, First Nations people living on-reserve see health care (18%), education (10%), and Aboriginal treaty rights (10%) as the foremost issues of importance.
The views of First Nations people living on-reserve regarding health care and education are virtually identical to those found among Aboriginal people living off-reserve. Aboriginal treaty rights and issues are somewhat more important to the off-reserve population than to First Nations people on-reserve (13% versus 10% of those on-reserve), whereas land claims are not seen as an important issue for federal government focus by those living off-reserve.

In an effort to determine what Northern residents feel are the immediate priorities in their lives, Northern Canadians were asked to identify the most important issue facing their community. Alcoholism and drug abuse (15%) were mentioned as the most important local issue, followed closely by unemployment (12%).
Although health care is the dominant priority issue for southern Canadians, only three percent of Northerners see this as a concern at the local level.

First Nations people living on- and off-reserve are equally likely (48%) to see education as the main priority issue for Aboriginal youth today.
Recreation programs/facilities and drug/alcohol abuse are both seen as significantly higher priorities for Aboriginal youth by those who live on-reserve than by those who live off-reserve.

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