Canadians who voted for Justin Trudeau in the last election are most supportive of reinstating mask mandates and vaccine passports, a new poll has found.
The Angus Reid Institute asked Canadians questions related to the pandemic amid experts claiming that Canada is in a seventh wave fuelled by more transmissible subvariants of Omicron.
Results were broken down by several demographic factors, including who respondents voted for in the 2021 federal election.
The poll found Liberal voters are the most worried about Covid, compared to other voters. 72% of Trudeau voters surveyed said they are moderately or very concerned about getting sick from the virus.
The high level of worry comes despite 99% of the Liberal voters surveyed saying they’d been vaccinated.
Meanwhile, 69% of those who voted for the New Democratic Party (NDP), 68% of those who voted Green and 64 % of those who voted Bloc Quebecois (BQ) said they were concerned about getting Covid.
The percentage was lower for those who voted for right of centre parties. 33% of Conservative voters and 4% of People’s Party of Canada (PPC) voters expressed moderate to major concern over being sick from Covid.
Respondents were also asked about pandemic precautions.
66% of Liberal voters said they still wear masks indoors either all the time, most of the time, or sometimes. 63% of NDP and Green voters said yes to the latter.
Less than half of BQ voters (41%), Conservative voters (27%) and PPC voters (5%) said they mask up on an occasional to constant basis.
Those surveyed were also asked about the reintroduction of public health restrictions.
73% of Liberal voters said they would support reimposing mandatory masking, while 69% of NDP voters, 67% of Green voters and 54% of BQ voters showed support for the latter.
Only 28% of Conservative voters and 3% of PPC voters would support reinstating mask mandates to fight a surge in Covid infections.
Reinstating vaccine passports had low support levels among all voter groups; however, Liberal voters were still the most supportive.
38% of those who voted Liberal would support reimposing vaccine passports, while 37% of NDP voters as well as 29% of Green and BQ voters would support reinstating the controversial measure.
Only 12% of Conservative voters and 1% of PPC voters expressed support for a return to vaccine passports.
The vast majority of Liberal voters (72%) also said it would help them “feel better” if provinces reported Covid case counts, despite the fact that many health experts have stated that Covid case counts are less relevant amid changes to testing availability as well as vaccinations, therapeutics and more transmissible variants.
Hospitalization rates are now seen as a more relevant factor.
68% of NDP voters, 53% of Green voters, 43% of Bloc Quebecois voters, 25% of Conservative voters and 7% of PPC voters agreed with the latter.
The latest Angus Reid poll echoes similar findings which reveal how Liberal voters are still taking the pandemic very seriously. Earlier this month, another poll conducted by Angus Reid found that 85% of Liberal voters would get a yearly booster shot indefinitely if it was recommended by public health officials.
Meanwhile, 79% of NDP voters, 67% of Green voters, 62% of BQ voters, 41% of Conservative voters and 5% of PPC voters said they are willing to receive a yearly Covid shot.
Canada’s vaccine passport system was a highly controversial and divisive public health measure, as Canadians who had chosen to not take the Covid vaccine were barred from much of public life for months, which included boarding planes or trains from Oct. 30, 2021 to June 20, 2022.
Despite many provinces lifting their public health restrictions in recent months, the Trudeau government is continuing to require that people wear masks on planes and trains. Further, federal vaccine mandates are also still in place at the Canadian border, along with the requirement to use the ArriveCAN app.
