Ottawa

UPDATED: Why must you torture ITQ like this, Canadian Press/Harris-Decima?

Hey, look —  a hypertopical public opinion poll on employment insurance reform, courtesy of CP/Harris Decima:

53% of respondents favour some expansion of the system — a longer benefit period, higher payouts or shorter qualifying times. Only 29% said they were satisfied with the status quo. Asked to choose the best among the three expansion options, 52% picked a longer benefit period.

But wait — what does that actually mean? I mean, the 53/29 split is clear — by all indications, there is little support for leaving the system as it is, although it would be interesting to know where the other 18% went — and it looks like of that 53% in favour of EI reform, 52% want to extend benefits for a longer period of time. But how much longer? The five weeks proposed by the government — or more? Oh, and of the remaining 48%, how many chose “higher payouts” versus “shorter qualifying times” – and what — what, for the love of responsible reporting on poll results — were the regional breakdowns?

Honestly, didn’t we just go through this with Angus Reid and Ekos earlier this week? ITQ is fully aware that polls are expensive, and proprietary, but once the story is out there, is there any reason not to post the complete results online immediately?

UPDATE: Hurray! The PDF is now online — and thanks to Stephen Gordon for the pointer in the comments.

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