Ottawa

Brand management

Angus Reid surveys a thousand Canadians and finds that “almost two thirds … think the Guelph occurrence is ‘probably’ or ‘definitely’ one of many that took place in the last federal campaign,” including 47% of Conservative supporters. Respondents were then asked how likely each of the federal parties was to “provide false and misleading information to voters through telephone calls with pre-recorded messages during a political campaign.”

Only a third of respondents in Canada think the Green Party (32%) and the New Democratic Party (NDP) (33%) are “very likely” or “moderately likely” to rely on this tactic. In Quebec, 32 per cent of respondents think the Bloc Québécois is likely to use robocalls with misleading information.

A majority of Canadians believe the Liberal Party (55%) and the Conservative Party (63%) are likely to provide false and misleading information to voters through telephone calls with pre-recorded messages during a political campaign. In fact, two-in-five Canadians (39%) think the Tories are “very likely” to rely on this tactic.

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.