Canadians less angry compared to summer; finances still a main topic of concern

A new survey finds Canadians are less angry than they were in the summer but there are still some topics that are a thorn in people’s sides.

Pollara Strategic Insights released its latest Rage Index for Canada, showing the rage index score is down by four points compared to the summer.

Six categories make up the Rage Index; the federal government, the provincial government, the Canadian economy, Canadians’ personal finances, changes happening in Canada, and the latest news stories.

Every category dropped in the latest index compared to the previous month, except personal finances, which was up slightly.

Taking a closer look at the drops throughout the country, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, along with Ontario, both had anger drops of six points, which was the highest in the country.

Alberta was the only province that didn’t see a change on the index.

Breaking down the province’s scores for each category, Manitoba and Saskatchewan were the most annoyed or angry with the latest news at 60 per cent and 17 per cent are very angry, which is also the highest number in that category.

The two provinces combined also scored highly with changes happening in Canada at 53 and 15 per cent respectively, and anger towards the federal and provincial governments.

The index showed 46 per cent were annoyed or angry with the federal government and 15 per cent were very angry, while 48 per cent were angry or annoyed with the provincial government and 13 per cent are very angry.

Countrywide, women tend to be angrier than men right now by five points, mainly driven by financial concerns.

The index also found that seniors appear to be the least angry when asked about these topics, while people between the ages of 35 and 49 are the angriest.

Political affiliation in Canada also seemed to dictate people’s anger, as those who vote for the Conservative Party or People’s Party were much angrier in most categories compared to other parties.

Those who are not vaccinated were also the angriest in every category according to the index.

Pollara randomly polled 3,105 Canadians 18 and older between Sept. 2 and 12.

The probability sample has a margin of error of 1.8 per cent, 19 times out of 20.