WELLINGTON COUNTY – One of the benefits history offers is perspective. In Canada, that history is unfolding day by day, year over year, and one of the stories being penned as the calendar pages turn is the stark and growing dissatisfaction with government services since 2020.
After the COVID-19 pandemic altered the course of millions, if not billions of lives, Canadians looked to their governments for answers and guidance.
The latest data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians are growing weary of the response.
As the nation collectively explores the pandemic blast radius, levels of contentment across key issues – health care, education, housing affordability, addictions policy and others – are sliding further downward.
Currently, when considering both two top issues in nearly every region of the country – health care and the cost of living – respondents in every province canvassed voice less than 36 per cent satisfaction with their respective governments on each. Dissatisfaction on each issue exceeds seven-in-10 nationwide.
With respect to health care – a core issue coming out of the largest public health crisis in generations – the proportion saying their government has done well on this file has dropped in half as a national average over the past four years, from 49% in early 2020 to 24% now.
This includes a fall from 63 to 27% in British Columbia and 47 to 19% in Ontario.
Overall, there are zero provinces in this study that have seen their average approval ratings for the year on any of four key measures – health care, housing affordability, education, or drug and addiction policy – improve from 2020 through 2023.
The one bright spot for provincial governance is in overall economic management.
While each government is largely panned on its inflation and cost of living response, an average of half in Alberta (51%), Saskatchewan (56%), and Quebec (48%) said their government was doing a good job in economic stewardship throughout 2023.
The spotlight will be on a few provincial governments this year, as British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick are all scheduled to hold elections in the next 12 months.
Whether any provincial government can break this trend and turn the views of their constituents around, however, remains to be seen.
More key findings
2024 provincial priorities are not difficult to discern. Cost of living is the top provincial issue in every region canvassed other than Nova Scotia, where it ranks second. Health care is the number two issue in every region other than Nova Scotia, where is ranks first.
Satisfaction with provincial governments in handling education has dropped from an average of 45 per cent in 2020 to 32 per cent in 2023. This includes a fall from 50 to 26 per cent in Quebec and 46 to 24 per cent in New Brunswick.
Link to the poll here: angusreid.org/.
