E.R. Campbell said:
Few political parties poll as assiduously as does the Conservative Party of Canada and fewer still are as ruthless in their analysis. The CPC is, rightly, taken to task for "slicing and dicing" Canadian opinion so that they can micro-target their policies for their own, partisan, political ends. But, all that polling tells them some BIG things, too:
1. Canadians don't really care about science ~ they want the benefits, but they aren't really interested in whether Canadian government scientists are "muzzled" or not until some freakish illness comes in from abroad or large scale food poisoning occurs;
2. Canadian do "care' about the North even though they have no idea what the North is or have even been there. It is a basic, emotional thing, not, again, about policy, not about economics, not even about sovereignty, unless the USA is involved; and
3. Canadians do not like spending money on national defenceunless…wait, there is no unless on this one.
Those BIG things are pretty common knowledge in the political science world ~ all the polls, by all the parties and all the media outlets tell everyone the same things. They also drive the partisan PR wars. It's why Prime Minister Harper's PR professionals are spinning this story as they are, and it's why Judy Rebick et al are responding the way they do.