Canadians Have ‘Considerable Cynicism’ Toward Federal Budget Day Promises: Report

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland responds to questions from the opposition after delivering the federal budget in the House of Commons on April 7, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

A Department of Finance survey says most Canadians have “considerable cynicism” about the cabinet’s annual ritual of Budget Day promises, with pollsters observing an “estrangement from the budget” for some taxpayers.

“There was considerable cynicism and doubt among participants about the government’s willingness to fulfil its promises and move forward with these measures,” says the research report, titled “Budget Day Focus Groups,” obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“Many participants in all the groups struggled to see how the measures presented will impact them or their family members,” it added. “This perception the budget will not have a direct impact on their lives seems to be fuelling the observed estrangement from the budget for some.”

The Department of Finance commissioned Léger Marketing Inc. to conduct the $59,192 research.

Participants in the survey said Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s April 7 budget announcement was “limited to more general statements as opposed to clearly outlined initiatives” that would have obvious impacts.

“The general feeling among participants was that the budget speech contained a lot of promises, and whether those promises would be kept was left to see,” the survey said. “Most participants thought that what was said in the budget speech will not have an impact on them or their household.”

Freeland’s budget made repeated promises of federal aid for electric cars, which some participants said was “not Canada’s biggest issue right now.” Some participants also complained about the budget placing “too much focus” on the war in Ukraine, to which Freeland also made several references.

“The current state of the economy was rated as poor by half the participants and none gave a rating higher than ‘good,’” the survey said. “The majority of participants described the state of their finances as fair or poor.”

The survey was based on questionnaires with focus groups across the country, with participants giving real-time responses after listening to Freeland’s budget speech. Respondents were asked to turn a handheld dial based on whether they felt positive or negative, according to the survey.

Similar research in past years drew mixed results, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

An A.C. Nielsen Co. study, based on the March 2017 budget, found Canadians were irritated by then-Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s repeated use of buzzwords.

“There were concerns the speech used too many buzz words such as ‘middle class’ without providing enough details and figures about exactly what this would mean,” the study said. Morneau used the term “middle class” over a dozen times in Parliament when delivering the budget on March 22.

Taxpayers had a “lukewarm reaction” to references to climate change, said the A.C. Nielson Co. study, while phrases like “spending over ten years” scored badly, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.