OTTAWA — Conservative political parties are the institutions the least trusted by Canadians aged 15-34, researchers told a Manning Centre Conference audience Friday.
Young people, according to a survey commissioned for the centre, trust right-wing parties less than they trust all levels of government, left-leaning parties, corporations and unions, among other institutions.
It proves a challenge for the group of conservative thinkers that has descended on Ottawa for discussions over the future of their federal party, and for a leadership debate Friday afternoon.
Some Conservative Party leadership candidates have made the millennial vote a priority. Political outsider and reality TV personality Kevin O’Leary has repeatedly promised since launching his campaign that he’d bring young people back into the fold in droves — despite youth being a traditionally tricky group for conservatives to appeal to.
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The panel Friday morning was led by Heather Scott-Marshall, president of Mission Research, who collected polling data, and Ted Kouri, the co-founder of marketing firm Incite, who collected qualitative data from Alberta youth.
They concluded that issues such as balancing the budget, fostering the shared economy and supporting entrepreneurs could offer Conservatives a chance at the millennial voting pool. But according to Scott-Marshall’s presentation, only 16 per cent of young Canadians identify as conservative and 20 per cent as right-of-centre on the political spectrum, according to data.
The numbers are based on an online survey last October of 2,000 people, aged 15-34, accurate within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The age group represents 27 per cent of Canadians and 37 per cent of the labour force.
A full two-thirds of millennials feel __canada is “on the right track,” but only 10 per cent felt “strongly” about that, according to the survey. Only 26 per cent felt the country is going in the wrong direction, and eight per cent “strongly” so.
More challenging for conservatives — and in many ways a branding issue, as Kouri noted — is that few millennials are ready to identify themselves as conservatives. One in three see themselves as liberals; another 18 per cent say they’re centrist, and only 16 per cent conservative. Rounding out the list: 14 per cent identify as progressive, 11 per cent as socialist and seven per cent as libertarian.
With the question put another way, as a spot on the political spectrum, about 32 per cent put themselves in the “centre,” 26 per cent left of centre and 20 per cent right of centre (with five per cent putting themselves on the “extreme right”).
On two issues highlighted by Scott-Marshall, millennials could find some common ground with the conservative movement. Youths overwhelmingly — at 82 per cent — feel federal budget deficits and the national debt are a “major problem,” with 40 per cent saying it should be addressed right away. And almost half, or 46 per cent, like the idea of a two-track public and private health care system rather than the status quo.
Still, trust will be a major issue for the Tories. On average, young people rated their trust in conservative political parties at 4.3 out of 10, the lowest of any group, while trusting themselves nearly twice as much (8.2 out of 10) and left-wing political parties at a level of 5.3 out of 10.
Policymakers take note: in focus groups with Albertans aged 18 to 35, Kouri said young folk felt Conservatives are “out of touch” on social issues such as minority rights and immigration.
They are also “definitely turned off” by rhetoric suggesting climate change is not an important issue, and want “a strong, clear approach or policy,” he added.
Email: mdsmith@postmedia.com | Twitter: mariedanielles
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