Politics
Monday March 20, 2006
Canadian Business CEOs Show Strong Liberal Bias on Social Issues, Says Survey
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By Gudrun Schultz
OTTAWA, Ontario, March 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A recent survey of Canada’s top executives revealed a growing trend toward liberalism on social issues among members of the business community.
The poll, conducted by the Gandalf Group in Ottawa, questioned150 C-Suite executives on the importance of public policy issues under consideration by the new Conservative government.
The survey found Canadian business leaders show a strong liberal bias on social issues such as same-sex marriage and child-care spending. Questions on the environment and the military also elicited liberal-leaning responses.
“Executives placed a low priority on introducing legislation to ban same-sex marriages, cancelling the Goodale personal tax cuts, withdrawing from the Kyoto Accord, cancelling the existing child care agreements with the provinces,” reported CNW Group this morning.
Louis Pontbriand, CEO of insurer Optimum General Inc. in Montreal, told the Globe and Mail he did not rank social issues high among his listing of government priorities.
“When it gets to social issues such as same-sex marriage or abortion, let the people decide,” he said in an interview. “We’re a free country; let them decide what they want to do. It’s not our concern, and it definitely shouldn’t be the government’s concern.”
Pollster David Herle, a partner at Gandalf Group in Ottawa, told the Globe and Mail it shouldn’t be surprising to see socially liberal trends among business leaders, who tend to be urban, wealthy, well-educated and well-travelled.
“Attitudes on things like same-sex marriage, even among the general population, become more supportive the higher the socio-economic status you’ve achieved,” Mr. Herle said.
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