A new poll on Canadian attitudes on climate change reveals some pretty stunning numbers about public desire for politicians to act.

The poll by Abacus Data found 85 per cent of Canadians are convinced the consequences of not taking action on climate change will result in “catastrophic,” “very severe” or “severe” consequences to wildlife and animal habitats, agriculture and farming, coastal cities and towns and human health and safety.

“There’s a new normal in Canada on the issue of climate change,” said Abacus chairman Bruce Anderson.  “Half of voters won’t consider politicians who don’t take the issue seriously – and most other voters also believe action is needed and inaction will result in catastrophe.”

The poll was conducted via an online survey of 1,534 Canadians, resulting in a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

A lot of Canadians also feel strongly about why action should be taken: 91 per cent of those polled said “we have a moral responsibility to those who will live on the planet after us,” while 87 per cent people think there’s plenty of evidence that emissions can be cut.

Eighty per cent also think that climate-related weather disasters will become a financial disaster, perhaps informed by the multi-billion dollars bills caused by Hurricane Harvey and Irma.

Some 47 per cent also said there is “little chance we could stop climate change at this point.” That’s in line with what climate experts conclude: there’s really no chance that we won’t suffer some consequences of climate change, but the issue now is minimizing damages.

‘There’s a New Normal’: Canadians Fear Consequences of Not Taking Action on #Climate Change in New Poll https://t.co/yq4RzMHdk8 #cdnpoli @abacusdataca @bruceanderson pic.twitter.com/5XqNgfZoLu

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) November 10, 2017

Alberta and Saskatchewan Residents See Opportunity in Climate Action

As to be expected, residents in Alberta and Saskatchewan — the two major oil and gas producers in the country — have slightly less enthusiasm about climate action.

But with that said, their views aren’t actually that far off the rest of the country. Some 79 per cent of residents in the prairie provinces think there’s lots of evidence for emissions reductions, compared to 89 per cent of the rest of Canada.

Meantime, 72 per cent of respondents in Alberta believe combating climate change could open up new economic opportunities, compared to 80 per cent in the rest of the country.

As Abacus CEO Bruce Anderson put it on Twitter: “If a politician tells you most voters in Alberta or Saskatchewan don’t want climate action, don’t count on it.”

Canadians Have Different Reasons For Wanting Climate Action

Many people also have there own particular reasons for addressing climate change.

When asked for the “best reason” to act on climate change, 45 per cent cited “moral responsibility.” Interestingly, that option was picked by more Conservative supporters than by supporters of other paries.

Another 28 per cent of Canadians opt for “catastrophe if we fail to do more.” That reason was chosen by more NDP supporters than any other party. Rounding out the reasons were weather/financial disaster (15 per cent) and economic opportunity (11 per cent).

As many climate communicators and psychologists such as George Marshall and Renee Lertzman have pointed out, levels of concern about climate change are as much about how you communicate the message of climate action as the issue itself. These numbers appear to confirm that thesis.

Far more boomers (people born between 1954 and 1964) support climate action on the grounds of moral responsibility than millennials (born between the early 1980s and early 2000s): 50 per cent versus 39 per cent.

Conversely, far more millennials (16 per cent) prefer action on the grounds of opening up new economic opportunities than boomers (only eight per cent).

Vast Majority of Canadians ‘Moderate’ Environmentalists

Most Canadians (78 per cent) see themselves as “moderate environmentalists,” while only 11 per cent see themselves as “ardent environmentalists” and another 11 per cent said they were “not really concerned about environment.”

There were some potential sticking points flagged in the poll, however.

A full three-quarters of people polled indicate they have “neutral,” “negative” or “very negative” views about the impact of climate change action on government costs and tax levels. Similarly, 61 per cent of Canadians had an uncertain or negative view on its results on jobs.

That may suggest that climate communicators need to do even more work on the economic possibilities of climate change — and the risks of not acting. As calculated by the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, climate change could cost up to $91 billion per year by 2050 if not acted upon.

Exactly 50 per cent of people polled said they would only vote for a candidate or party if they express a commitment to fighting climate change. But that also means that half of people polled don’t see that as a priority, with six per cent of people actually stating that they would prefer a party that “favoured doing nothing.”

Perspectives on Climate Change = Complicated

This same tension is also apparent in previous polls conducted by Abacus.

In a 2016 poll, it was found that 82 per cent of Canadians “strongly support” or “support” the continued development of conventional oil wells in Alberta and Saskatchewan, with 70 per cent backing oilsands production. In addition, only 21 per cent opposed the building of new pipeline capacity.

As reported by Environmental Commissioner Julie Gelfand, the country is currently facing a 44 megatonne “emissions gap” to meet its Paris Agreement targets even if all policies from the Pan-Canadian Framework are fully implemented.

It’s unclear from this poll if Canadians would be supportive of more aggressive climate policies to meet the Paris Agreement targets.

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A public opinion survey commissioned by Environment Canada suggests that many Canadians are unhappy with the way the Harper government is balancing environmental issues and economic priorities.

Two in five, or 40 per cent, of Canadians who took the telephone survey "disagreed or strongly disagreed that the government is striking the right balance between addressing environmental and economic concerns," reports Postmedia News.

26 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement.

The survey was conducted by Harris-Decima from May 23 to June 6, 2013, and included 3,001 Canadians from across the country. It was carried out to help Environment Canada gauge the mood of Canadians, and develop "communications products and policy" accordingly.

The survey also found that residents of British Columbia and the territories were most likely to strongly disagree that Canada was striking the right balance between environment and economy — 17 per cent as opposed to 12 per cent nationally.

Residents of Quebec were most likely to to strongly agree with the statement — nine per cent as opposed to six per cent nationally.

Most Canadians who took the survey did, however, prioritize economy over environment. When asked what the government's top priority should be, the economy was the top answer, given by 15 per cent of respondents.

11 per cent answered healthcare, and environmental issues came in third with 10 per cent of the respondents. Following environmental issues was job creation, and government accountability and leadership.

Respondents who wanted the government to focus on the environment indicated that water quality, oilsands, greenhouse gases and pollution were the most pressing environmental concerns.

Should the survey be repeated, results would be expected to fall within 1.8 percent of the current results 95 out of 100 times.

Image Credit: Prime Minister's Office / Flickr

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There are few Canadians who can claim to have their finger on the pulse of the country's politics like public opinion researcher Allan Gregg. Founder of Decima Research and The Strategic Council, Gregg is keenly aware of how Canadians feel about contemporary political life and how our political reality in a very real way shapes our social existence.

And what Gregg is concerned about expressing these days is his unshakeable belief that something has gone terribly awry in Canada, and that Canadians don't seem to care. 

Gregg says he's spent his life as a researcher, "dedicated to understanding the relationship between cause and effect." From that, he says, "I've come to a fairly singular belief: namely, that more than anything else, societal progress is advanced when enlightened public policy marshals our collective public resources towards a larger public good."

"Evidence, facts and reasons…form the sine qua non of not just good public policy but good government," he says. "And lately I have to tell you there have been some troubling trends that threaten that fundamental belief. It seems as though our government's use of evidence and facts as the basis of policy has been declining and in their place dogma, whim, and political expediency are on the rise."

"In government and through collective action we have the capacity to do both immense good but also the possibility of infinite harm to our community and each other depending on how collective action and government is used," he says. 

Gregg spoke these words in a recent speech he delivered to the Alberta Federation of Labour. 

Gregg's concerns first arose when the government needlessly cut the long form census back in 2010. Gregg asks, how can we make good public policy absent this information? As a professional pollster, Gregg says the loss of access to this data was "a little canary in the coalmine."

But as Canadians would see, these cuts were just the beginning of a new trend that would eventually see massive cuts to CBC, of science positions for Parks Canada, the elimination of the National Roundtable on Environment and the Economy, the First Nations Statistical Institute, the National Council on Welfare, the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science. These were, as Gregg says in Orwellian terms, "vaporized," for a savings of a mere $7.5 million.

Gregg's list goes on as he catalogues the ongoing 'assualt on reason' Canada is currently experiencing. 

When reason ceases to be at play, says Gregg, "prejudice, fear, and indeed wishful thinking takes its place." Which should give cause for us all to consider ourselves defenders of reason.

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