The level of anger felt by Canadians towards the government, economy, and current events is increasing, reaching record levels, according to Pollara’s Rage Index.
The index asks Canadians about their levels of pleasure with the federal and provincial government, the national economy, Canadians’ personal finance situation, the types of changes happening in Canada, and the latest stories in the news.
The average percentage of Canadians annoyed or angry about the six topics in the Rage Index was 58%, a 5% rise since January. The number of Canadians who were very angry about the six topics saw a 4% rise to 21%.
“The Rage Index hit a new high in April, with record levels of anger about the Canadian economy, and both federal and provincial governments,” said the report.
The highest levels of anger or annoyance came towards the Canadian economy, followed by the latest stories in the news, with 67% and 63% having an overall annoyed or angry sentiment towards the two.
While anger towards the provincial government was highest in Ontario, at 60%, B.C. saw the biggest increase. Anger towards the provincial government in B.C. jumped from 38% in January to 54% in Apr., an increase of 16%.
While Alberta and Ontario saw 9% and 8% increases, respectively, anger towards the provincial government in Quebec fell by 1% between January and April.
Gen X (44-59 years old) was the angriest generation, with the highest level of people who were annoyed/angry towards the federal government, the Canadian economy, and the types of changes happening in Canada. Political affiliations also influenced Rage Index levels. Conservative voters were more annoyed/angry and very angry in almost every category. Liberal voters were the most content, with NDP and Bloc Québecois supporters being nearly tied in their anger index levels.
The poll also found that only 31% of polled Canadians were familiar with the details of the 2024 federal budget.
Liberal voters had the most positive and least negative reviews of the budget. 78% of Conservatives had a negative view of the budget, while only 1% of Conservative voters had a positive view; the rest were neutral. Bloc Québecois supporters were also very critical of the budget, with 66% having a negative view.
Only 9% of Canadians had a positive feeling towards the budget, while 53% felt negativity. The rest were neutral or had no emotion towards the budget. This is worse than previous polls, which showed 21% of Canadians supported the federal budget.
Canadians were asked about which specific measures in the budget they were familiar with.
The measure that was most familiar to Canadians was the increase in the capital gains tax, with 71% of respondents hearing about it or being familiar with some details. This was followed by the Liberals running a $40 billion deficit and allowing a 30-year mortgage for first-time home buyers, both at 64%.
Those aged 60 and older were most familiar with specific budgetary measures.
The least supported budgetary measure was the Liberals’ $40 billion deficit, which had 58% of Canadians with a negative outlook. This was followed by the capital gains tax, at 35%.
The most supported measures in the budget were mental health care and school food programs, with 60% and 59% support, respectively.
Mental health care was the most popular budgetary measure in every region except B.C. and Atlantic Canada, where school food programs took first place.
When looking at support for specific budgetary measures based on who respondents support federally, the most supportive voters of specific measures within the budget were NDP voters, who had the most positive emotions towards specific measures in eight of 14 instances.
The data were gathered from a survey conducted between Apr. 22-26 and featured 1,507 randomly selected Canadian adults.
