(08/27/11) -

Canadians Remember Layton Fondly, Support State Funeral to Honour Him

Two thirds of Canadians think the NDP will not be able to find a new leader as strong as Layton.

A large majority of Canadians agree with the idea of holding a state funeral to honour Jack Layton, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,002 Canadian adults, two thirds of respondents (67%) say Layton will be remembered for his role in the NDP becoming the Official Opposition earlier this year.

A majority of Canadians (55%) think Layton showed that politicians can have the common touch, and almost half (48%) think he will be lauded for his ability to engage with young Canadians.

Across the country, one-in-five Canadians (20%) think the NDP will be able to find a new leader as strong as Jack Layton, while two thirds (66%) disagree. However, 34 per cent of Quebecers—and 25 per cent of NDP voters–do expect the party to find a leader as strong as Layton.

Four-in-five Canadians (81%) think holding a state funeral for Layton is justified, including a majority of respondents in every region. At least seven-in-ten Canadians who voted for parties other than the NDP in the last federal election believe Layton deserves this honour.

Layton was the only federal leader to post an approval rating of 50 per cent during the last federal electoral campaign, and the effect his leadership had on his party’s fortunes cannot be underestimated.

Respondents who voted in the 2011 federal election were asked how much of a role did three factors play in their decision to support one party over another by allocating a percentage to each factor.

NDP voters were far more likely to say that the party’s leader played a role in their decision (43.7%), considerably more than those who voted for the Bloc Québécois (32.4%), the Conservative Party (32.4%) or the Liberal Party (28.9%).

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Jaideep Mukerji, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+514 409 0462
jaideep.mukerji@angus-reid.com

Methodology: From August 25 to August 26, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,005 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.