- Just under two-thirds of Canadians have confidence in Dr. Tam.
- Confidence in the lead provincial health officers varies across provinces, although all receive favourable confidence levels.
July 29, 2021
Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in late winter 2020, considerable media and public attention has been devoted to the leading federal and provincial medical officers charged with steering a path through the emergency circumstances. In general, Canadians express confidence in these important individuals to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when the incidence of full vaccinations continues to climb in the country, on the one hand, while on the other hand the Delta variant remains a formidable force.
Overall, almost two-thirds of Canadians (63%) express a high level of confidence in Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam (i.e., offering a confidence rating of 7 or higher, on a 1 to 10 scale in which ‘1’ equates to ‘no confidence at all,’ and ‘10’ equates to ‘complete confidence’). Confidence in Dr. Tam ranges from a low of 57 percent in the Prairie region, to a high of 79 percent in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The lowest provincial confidence score is in Ontario, where Dr. Kieran Moore is the Chief Medical Officer of Health. It is important to understand, however, that Dr. Moore has been on the job for only the past month, succeeding Dr. David Williams in that post in late June. Accordingly, fully one-in-five Ontarians impart that they are ‘not sure’ regarding their confidence level in Dr. Moore. Dr. Janice Fitzgerald of Newfoundland and Labrador (12%) was the only other lead provincial medical officer to garner a ‘not sure’ response above 10 percent.
At the upper end of the spectrum, Dr. Fitzgerald (80%) and Dr. Bonnie Henry of British Columbia (79%) achieved comparatively elevated confidence scores. (Please note, while Dr. Heather Morrison of Prince Edward Island achieved a similarly high rating, the respondent sample size for PEI is quite small.)
Results are from an online survey conducted July 13 – 15, 2021, with 1,231 Canadians 18 years of age or older from the Logit Group’s Canadian Omnibus. Fielding every month, the Logit Group’s COVID-19 Omnibus surveys Canadians to ask their opinions and behaviours related to topical issues. Results were analyzed by Narrative Research. Data was weighted based on the 2016 Census, by gender, age, and region to reflect population characteristics in each province. As a non-probability sample (i.e., a panel sample where residents have joined a panel to share their opinions), and in accordance with CRIC Public Opinion Research Standards, a margin of error is not applied.
The question included in this press release was the following:
- To what extent do you have confidence in [INSERT DOCTOR FROM LIST BY PROVINCE] to manage the COVID-19 pandemic?
IF BC: Dr. Bonnie Henry, BC’s Provincial Health Officer
IF AB: Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health
IF SK: Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Officer of Health
IF MB: Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s Chief Provincial Public Health Officer
IF ON: Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health
IF QC: Dr. Horacio Arruda, Quebec’s National Public Health Director
IF NB: Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s Chief Medical Officer of Health
IF NS: Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health
IF PE: Dr. Heather Morrison, Prince Edward Island’s Chief Medical Officer of Health
IF NL: Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Chief Medical Officer of Health
ASK ALL: Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer
For more information, contact:
Margaret Brigley, CEO, Narrative Research – 902.493.3830, mbrigley@narrativeresearch.ca
OR
Sam Pisani, Managing Partner, Logit Group – 416.629.4116, sam.pisani@logitgroup.com
Narrative Research (www.narrativeresearch.ca), is a leading public opinion and market research company headquartered in Canada. The company is certified as a WBE (Women Business Enterprise). As a non-partisan, 100% Canadian-owned research company, Narrative Research is dedicated to providing clients with state-of-the-art research and strategic consulting services. Follow us on Twitter at @EveryNarrative
The Logit Group (https://logitgroup.com/) is a leading North American data collection and market research execution company headquartered in Toronto, conducting large-scale projects for a variety of well-known research agencies and brands. Logit employs industry-best technologies across an array of methodologies, and is independent, experienced and quality-oriented. Follow us on Twitter at @LogitGroup
