The number of Canadians who want to see more done by the federal government to defend the Canadian dairy sector during NAFTA negotiations is very high.
The large majority of Canadians (75%) believe the Canadian dairy sector should be defended and that the federal government should make more effort to do so at the NAFTA negotiating table, according to an Ipsos poll conducted between April 26 and 27, 2018. Three Canadians out of 4 agree that the Canadian dairy sector should be defended in the context of the NAFTA renegotiation, with almost half of all Canadians (46%) in total agreement with this statement, and this sentiment is stronger in Quebec and Ontario. Additionally, 8 Canadians out of 10 share Canadian dairy farmers’ concerns with regard to the NAFTA renegotiation and the potential concessions that could result from this renegotiation.
Interestingly, the ability of the government to protect the Canadian dairy industry is likely to impact Canadians’ votes in the upcoming election: 6 Canadians out of 10 declare that the extent to which the federal government will protect the interests of Canada’s dairy industry will have an impact on their vote in the upcoming election. A quarter of respondents state that it will affect their vote a lot.
Further to this, 9 Canadians out of 10 believe U.S dairy products should be subject to the same standards as Canadian products and that this should be part of the terms of the new NAFTA agreement. Seven Canadians out of 10 totally agree with this opinion.
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between April 26 and 27, 2018, on behalf of Dairy Farmers of Canada. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online via the Ipsos I-Say panel and non-panel sources. Quota sampling and weighting were employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population.
Source: Ipsos