On this episode of inFocus, I’m joined by Dr. Marc Hetherington and Dr. Jonathan Weiler, authors of Prius or Pickup? How the Answers to Four Simple Questions Explain America’s Great Divide. The book was published in 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
I read the book a few years ago and it had a big impact on how think about public opinion, political behaviour, and what impacts both. In their book, Hetherington and Weiler show that the key to understanding polarization in the United States requires understanding how personality and worldviews impact opinions and behaviour.
They also show that these factors also impact what we drive, where we live, where we vacation, and not surprising how we vote.
In this episode, I share a briefing on Abacus Data's latest survey on Canadian Politics.We surveyed 2,000 Canadians from March 25 to 30, 2021.The survey finds the Liberals have opened up an 8-point lead over the Conservatives. You can find all the details on the survey here: https://abacusdata.ca/liberals-lead-by-8-otoole-negatives/ ...
Throughout the federal election, our polls consistently found that health care was a top issue for many Canadians. Canadians of all ages are concerned about the capacity of the health system, the long-term impact of the pandemic, and health worker shortage in many parts of the system. As the new federal cabinet is set to be sworn in later this month and a new Parliament is set to begin, I wonder, will healthcare be a priority for this new Parliament and government? On this episode of inFocus, I’m joined by Dr. Katharine Smart, the President of the Canadian Medical Association, and a pediatrician in Whitehorse, Yukon. Dr. Smart’s work has centred on developing collaborative partnerships with community and government services to serve marginalized children using a model of social pediatrics. She works primarily with children who have experienced trauma and adverse childhood events and is passionate about improving services for marginalized children. Dr. Smart and I spoke about how the pandemic has impacted Canada’s healthcare system, the role the federal government can play in improving healthcare, and why politics often gets in the way of meaningful change in the system. ...
On this first episode of inFocus, I’m joined by one of the founders of Canadian modern polling, Frank Graves. Frank is the founder and president of Ekos Research Associates. He has been studying Canadian public opinion for over 40 years – working with governments, non-profits, unions, and businesses to understand the dynamics of Canadian public opinion. I sat down with Frank just before the holidays to discuss his approach to public opinion research and what his experience over the past 40 years has taught him about what Canadians think and why they think what they do. ...
