I May Be a Birdbrain
But Smart FReepers Donate
Monthly If Possible
Sponsoring FReepers leapfrog0202 and others will contribute $10
Each time a new monthly donor signs up!
Get more bang for your buck
Sign up today
Keep A. I. Lazamataz in Bandwidth
Posted on 05/09/2011 12:31:58 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
The Conservatives topped the polls in the May 2 election in part by winning over religious voters, particularly Protestants, but also Jews and longtime immigrants.
The New Democratic Party came in second in part by appealing to those who have no religion, as well as by holding their own among Catholics and recent immigrants.
The Liberals came in third by maintaining support among visible minorities and the moderately religious, especially Muslims but also Jews.
Those are the revealing findings of a massive Ipsos Reid federal election exit poll, which measured the effects of religion, ethnicity and immigrant status on electoral choices.
The online poll of more than 36,000 Canadians, conducted immediately after they cast their ballots, pinpoints changing political preferences that will be crucial for the parties to monitor.
The three major parties appealed to different segments of the country's expanding immigrant and visible minority populations, which are most influential in large cities such as Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.
The New Democratic Party, which won 30.6 per cent of the popular vote, scored highest among recent immigrants, taking 41 per cent of the vote of newcomers who have been in Canada less than a decade.
But the Conservatives, who seized 39.6 per cent of the overall vote, won 43 per cent of immigrants who have been in the country longer than a decade.
Prior to the election, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney openly campaigned to gain the Conservatives more votes among the religiously active and the roughly one out of five Canadians who were born outside the country.
The Calgary MP's efforts appeared to pay off. In general, the Conservatives did slightly better among those born outside Canada (42 per cent) than those born in Canada (37 per cent).
The NDP was the only one of the three major parties to score higher than their popular vote among those born in Canada, winning 36 per cent of their ballots.
The left-leaning party captured 29 per cent among those born in another country.
The Liberals -who obtained 18.9 per cent of the national vote -did slightly better among foreign-born voters (22 per cent) and slightly poorer among the Canadian-born (15 per cent).
However, the Ipsos Reid poll unveiled a large political gap between immigrants to Canada and the country's visible minority population, which includes Asians, Hispanics and blacks born inside Canada.
The NDP did well among visible minorities, attracting 38 per cent of the ballots of those who are not white.
The Conservatives obtained only 31 per cent of the visible minority vote. The Liberals appealed to 23 per cent.
The large number of Canadians who are spiritually inclined also divided up their vote, based on degrees of religious commitment and whether they are Protestant, Catholic, Jewish or Muslim.
As predicted by earlier polling by Angus Reid Strategies, the Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, an evangelical Christian, did the best among Protestants (55 per cent) and those who frequently attend a church or temple (50 per cent).
The religiously active did not entirely give up on the two major centre-left parties, however.
The NDP drew one out of four of those Canadians who are most religiously devout, while the Liberals attracted 18 per cent.
The NDP also did well among those who attend church or temple once a month or less (37 per cent). It attracted two out of five Catholic voters, which may reflect the party's breakthrough in Quebec, a province that has deep Catholic roots. The Conservatives attracted 30 per cent of all Canadian Catholics while the Liberals grabbed only 16 per cent.
Even though Jews make up only one per cent of the country's population and Muslims account for about three per cent, their voting patterns reflect contrasting loyalties.
Fifty-two per cent of Canada's Jews voted Conservative, with 24 per cent going Liberal and 16 per cent NDP.
Meanwhile, only 12 per cent of the country's Muslims cast a ballot for the Conservatives, which could reflect the party's position on conflicts involving Israel and Afghanistan.
The Liberals, meanwhile, scored an astonishing 46 per cent of the country's Muslim vote, while the NDP took 38 per cent.
Even though the Conservatives scored reasonably well among the roughly three out of four Canadians who say they have a "religious identity" (42 per cent), the party was weak among those who have no religion.
The country's growing non-religious cohort went strongly to the NDP (42 per cent). The Conservatives managed to pick up 27 per cent of this growing cohort, with the Liberals at 17 per cent.
Ipsos Reid official Sean Simpson said the election-day poll is the largest done in Canada.
Remember, we're talking Canadian voters. Here are the percentages won by party, per the article.
NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY
42% of non-religious
41% of recent immigrants, "less than a decade"
40% of Catholics
30.6% of overall voters
28% of Muslims
37% of those who attend church or temple "once a month or less"
25% of those "most religiously devout"
16% of Jews
CONSERVATIVES
55% of Protestants
52% of Jews
50% of those who attend church or temple "frequently"
43% of Canadan citizens "more than a decade"
39.6% of overall voters
30% of Catholic
27% of non-religious
12% of Muslims
LIBERALS
46% of Muslims
24% of Jews
18% of those "most religiously devout"
17% of non-religious
16% of Catholic
That was the first thing I noticed.
Wow, is this ever misleading. Unless you break this down into “practising Catholics” and “Evangelical Christians”, the numbers are meaningless. The vast majority of those supposedly Catholic voters gained by the NDP are in Quebec, which is now a largely secular province. Most are nominally Catholic, but very few practice the faith. Same as “Protestant”, which includes such pro-homosexual, pro-abortion congregations such as the United Church of Canada, Anglican/Episcopalian and Prysbyterian (the latter two of which still have some traditional adherents).
>>Why is it that 52% of Canadian Jews have the sense to vote against the state fascism party most favored by Muslims whereas only 30% of American Jews do?<<
I am not joking here — MUI it has to do with the culturally-inculcated concept of a “mitzvah.”
It is complicated, but (again MUI) the worse off you are and the more you do for those who cannot (will not but that is a separate discussion) do makes you a better person.
Working against your interests politically washes away what you do for yourself personally.
More or less — if I understood wrong, I humbly apologize to our Jewish FReepers and look forward to a more accurate answer (which I can learn from).
To a Quebecois, Catholicism is a heritage, not a faith. They cling to the identification politically because they view it as the opposite of "English."
Are they refused Communion? Do their bishops count/report their numbers as adherents? Do their dioceses receive tax revenues from the state as a result?
What is MUI?
No need to refuse them communion when they don't attend Mass in the first place.
Do their bishops count/report their numbers as adherents?
I can only assume those numbers, if counted, are from the parish lists; again a very small number these days.
Do their dioceses receive tax revenues from the state as a result?
Canadian churches get no tax money. What ever gave you the idea that they did? One of the Fundamental values of Quebec Society is Separation of State and Religion.
These election results are not about religion of any type.
Holy Moley! (Pun intended)
Catholics went 40% for the loonie left-wing?!
Wow.
Exit polls are pure hokum.
Read all the posts. The NDP picked up loads of seats in Quebec. That explains the “Catholic” vote.
There was an “Evangelical Christians” category? I only saw the ‘generic Protestants of all different churches and persuasions’ and ‘members of the Catholic church’ categories.
I'm Catholic and my Catholic mother was an immigrant.
Care to rephrase that statement?
Their schools:
Catholic board needs clean sweep [Toronto Catholic District School Board]
Catholic trustee tells court she wouldn’t have tried to influence vote [Toronto School Board]
Non-Catholics Trying to Lie Their Way into Teaching at Ontario Catholic Schools
Jobless, non-religious teachers to turn Catholicism in attempt for employment
Catholic schools want your tax dollars. Real bad.....
Great sweeping generalization there. By the way, I would bet there is a difference between Catholics that actually practice their faith and the Kennedyesque "Catholics in name only" types if the stats were so broken down.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.