Half of Canadians want reduction in Tory military spending: poll

[GAP]

Uh....why not say half of Canadians do NOT want reduction in Tory military spending.......

Half of Canadians want reduction in Tory military spending: poll
STEVEN CHASE Exclusive to Globe and Mail Update September 24, 2008 at 5:34 PM EDT
Article Link

WINNIPEG — Half of Canadians want to scale back the Harper Conservatives' plan to boost military spending by $490-billion over two decades, a new poll suggests.

By comparison, 27 per cent of those surveyed favour continuing with the plan and 11.2 per cent want to enrich it further.

The findings by Nanos Research reveal an apparent undercurrent of dissatisfaction with Tory intentions to hike the defence budget – unease that has so far received scant attention during the federal election campaign.

The polling, conducted for the Rideau Institute, an advocacy group that opposes Canada's participation in the Afghanistan war, found that 51.8 per cent of Canadians surveyed agreed that the next federal government should “reduce its planned spending on purchasing new equipment and the war.”
More on link

 

[Edward Campbell]

Even though the question was somewhat “loaded” – by adding “war” and prefacing it with a very large number – I am not at all, not even a little surprised that 51%+ favour decreased military spending.

What does surprise me, mildly, and I suspect horrifies Mr. Staples, is that nearly 40% of Canadians support the proposed spending plan or want more money for DND.

Normally, when ‘neutral’ polls are done, some 10 or 15 spending categories are offered; defence is always dead last, Canadians lowest spending priority, ‘culture’ (by which most Canadians mean symphonies and the ballet) is only slightly less popular.

 

[Klinkaroo]

The polling, conducted for the Rideau Institute, an advocacy group that opposes Canada's participation in the Afghanistan war, found that 51.8 per cent of Canadians surveyed agreed that the next federal government should “reduce its planned spending on purchasing new equipment and the war.”

Doesn't what is in bold make them a little biased.

Second of all how many people actually know what our equipment looks like and what we intend to buy with the money or even how much a ship cost. I will bet anyone here 50 dollars you go to the street and ask ten 10 people, 5 will say a military ship costs about 1-2 millions dollars. Yeah right... a 60ft fishing boat costs a million so imagine a high tech naval warship.

 

[geo]

Yawn,
95% of canadians, if polled, would want Gilles Duceppe to STFU

 

[pizzathahut]

Statistics show the 98% of statistics are inaccurate.

 

[Gunnar]

What I find with these blind polls is that depending on the biases of who hired them (in my case, a pollster probably hired by the Liberals called and asked what were the important issues in the election), that you don't have options to truly answer their questions, or, their questions often amount to variations on "have you stopped beating your wife yet?", e.g.,

Do you support the immoral war for oil?

Do you believe that our war of aggression against the Afghan people is justified?

Do you support unilateral disarmament, or reduction in spending on the military?

Which of the following forms of government do you prefer:  Communism, Socialism, Nazism or Dictatorship?

Then you find that most respondents are against the immoral war for oil, that they don't believe our war of aggression is justified, want to reduce military spending and support Socialism.

*Sometimes* the bias is unintentional.  The framers of the questions really don't know there ARE other options.  Sometimes.

And no, they didn't actually ask *these* questions during the poll I got recently, but you get the point....

 

[Celticgirl]

Do you support the immoral war for oil?

Do you believe that our war of aggression against the Afghan people is justified?

Do you support unilateral disarmament, or reduction in spending on the military?

Which of the following forms of government do you prefer:  Communism, Socialism, Nazism or Dictatorship?

Then you find that most respondents are against the immoral war for oil, that they don't believe our war of aggression is justified, want to reduce military spending and support Socialism.

:rofl:

 

[GAP]

Yawn,
95% of canadians, if polled, would want Gilles Duceppe to STFU

You do realize that you are discriminating against 5% of Canadians, don't you...... :



in french yet..... ;D

 

[The_Falcon]

What I find with these blind polls is that depending on the biases of who hired them (in my case, a pollster probably hired by the Liberals called and asked what were the important issues in the election), that you don't have options to truly answer their questions, or, their questions often amount to variations on "have you stopped beating your wife yet?", e.g.,

Do you support the immoral war for oil?

Wait, its an immoral war now?  When did that change, I thought it was purely a moral war!

Do you believe that our war of aggression against the Afghan people is justified?

So it is still a war of aggression, I was getting confused for second.  Sure, Balls to the wall BABY!!

Do you support unilateral disarmament, or reduction in spending on the military?

Whoa !!! My arms are staying firmly attached to my torso thank you very much!

Which of the following forms of government do you prefer:  Communism, Socialism, Nazism or Dictatorship?

Umm, Xenuism!!! No wait thats dictatorship, damn it!  Can I use a lifeline?

 

[geo]

You do realize that you are discriminating against 5% of Canadians, don't you...... :
in french yet..... ;D

Bonjour,
Comment ça va ?
Bienvenu au Québec
M. Duceppe - non merci !

 

[helpup]

Hmmm one out of every two Canadians wont respond to poll's but will read them.


I just pulled that out of my A#@ can we get it published on the MSM?
Mind you I would bet that would be a understatement about how many people were called to get the actual numbers for the poll, and what were the calling criteria, then of course as pointed out how were the questions worded.  Who preformed the Poll, at least that was clearly identified.

Hey 7 out of 10 Canadians only read the poll results not who actually commissioned it nor what they questions were.

Statistics are soooooooooooo MEANingbull  errr. Typo

 

[Klinkaroo]

Hmmm one out of every two Canadians wont respond to poll's but will read them.


I just pulled that out of my A#@ can we get it published on the MSM?
Mind you I would bet that would be a understatement about how many people were called to get the actual numbers for the poll, and what were the calling criteria, then of course as pointed out how were the questions worded.  Who preformed the Poll, at least that was clearly identified.

Hey 7 out of 10 Canadians only read the poll results not who actually commissioned it nor what they questions were.

Statistics are soooooooooooo MEANingbull  errr. Typo

Exactely why we will have to wait for the elections to find out who will win.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Exactely why we will have to wait for the elections to find out who will win.

The only survey that REALLY counts...

 

[tomahawk6]

62% polled want their cake and eat it too.

 

[OldSolduer]

Rant time! Listen Up!

Where do they ask these questions and who do they ask? Polls such as this are so much crap it makes me want to puke.
My son DIED so these jacka$$es could spew this garbage. Its time the government countered these useful fools.
Ask the questions in Alberta for a change.

 

[HDE]

Hmmm...

    So before they actually asked the questions they hit folks up with a very leading statement?  I'm certainly no expert on how polls are supposed to be done, however that looks like it'd drive people toward what you want them to say.

How about:

Do you believe the Government of Canada has a moral obligation to provide the military with the resources required to do the mission it sends them on?
Do you believe everything possible should be done to ensure the safety of Canadian soldiers sent on dangerous assignments?
Do you believe Canada should commit a comparable level of funding to the military as do our NATO allies?  (That's a little ambiguous however I am doing a poll, right?)

Look at me; I'm a pollster 

 

[helpup]

Another brilliant idea, we hold a referendum on Poll's with all the various caveats we would like ( the entire population here not just the left , right or the extreme.) to be added before a Poll could actually be done.  Then we add a couple of rules for the publishing or release of any pole:
-All poles must print  in its whole pole spiel leading up to the actual questions, with the release of the actual pole
-All poles must print the whole questions asked to each person.
-All poles must divulge how many did not answer or hung up
-All poles must have a rebuttal space in all media every time this pole is released.

 

[Gunnar]

I think you're missing the point of polls as a method of ascertaining aggregate public opinion.  The point is not to allow people to qualify your statements, the point is to evaluate a broad-based response to neutral i.e., unloaded questions to see what people think.

What is your opinion on the funding currently given to the Canadian military?

a) Too much b) about right c) not enough

Note how that question doesn't preface it with "Do you think we should support our soldiers?", thus setting the tone for a positive response?  Granted, you are limited to these three choices, but there isn't much that falls outside of these options, unless you wanted to shout "Bleen!"

An opinion poll should offer positive and negative options to an objectively neutral question.  It is very rare that you can't come up with one.  Polls I have recently participated in included a fair number of these questions, but miss out on others.

E.g., What are the main issues for you in this election?

Taxes
Welfare
Employment

Without an "other" category, you're forced into choosing one of the options they think is important, which allows them to push a particular agenda.  Sometimes the question framer won't have a catch-all, sometimes they will deliberately avoid it to force a choice between limited options, (like when your boss offers to buy lunch--you'll note that when you are given options, Surf & Turf isn't usually there), but that should be the exception, not the standard.