Released on May 1, 2002
The provincial government's quarterly polling results were released today.The summary of questions and results relates to polling undertaken in
January, 2002 and budget-related questions that were asked during November,
2001.
As the year began, 31 per cent of Saskatchewan residents said health care
was the most important issue facing the province. Agriculture was named by
15 per cent of the population, followed by jobs at 11 per cent and taxes at
nine per cent.
The government's Action Plan on Health Care released in December received a
positive response from residents familiar with the plan. Sixty per cent
indicated they had a favourable impression of the plan. The main focus of
the report was most often described as recruitment, retention and training
of health care providers.
Other public opinion topics measured by the January poll related to the
2005 provincial centennial, tourism attractions in the province and welfare
dependence. Although data released by the government today reveals the
provincial social assistance caseload has declined steadily for the past
seven years, in January, 59 per cent of the population believed the number
of people receiving welfare had either stayed the same or increased.
The polling was conducted by Fast Consulting of Saskatoon at a cost of
$22,500. The results yield a statistical level of confidence of 95 per
cent within an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage
points.
-30-
For more information, contact:
James Millar
Director, Media Services
Regina
Phone: (306) 787-6349