Research results released February from Vox Pop Labs and Canadians for Clean Prosperity (CCP) found that the Conservative Party of Canada must address Canadian concerns for the environment if it wants to return to power.
The research shows that contrary to stereotypes, environmental issues are important to conservative voters, and that the number of climate conscious Canadians who voted Conservative declined dramatically since the last election. Furthermore, if the Conservative Party of Canada wants to return to power, they must address concerns for the environment.
For many conservatives, this means tackling environmental problems with practical, market-based solutions. Over half of the votes the Conservative Party lost between 2011 and 2015 were from Canadians who support action on climate change. More than 1 in every 4 Conservative voters support climate action and expect government action on the file. CCP says that is why it's “imperative” that the Conservative Party of Canada develop a strong, fiscally conservative response to climate change.
Among the findings:
• A substantial majority of the Canadian electorate (56.4%) cares about climate issues, wants to see action to reduce GHGs and supports pricing carbon emissions. Any political party would find it difficult to form a majority government without appealing to some share of these voters.
• Of this important electorate, 26% percent voted for Conservatives in 2011, but only 15% of them voted Conservative in 2015, representing a substantial loss of votes.
• While 33% of 2011 Conservative voters would be categorized today as climate voters, more than half of them (53%) voted for another party in 2015. This underscores both the massive impact of vote-switching among this demographic and the substantial segment of the Conservative voting coalition that continues to support climate action.