Vote Compass: Make corporations pay more tax, many say
Many Sask. Party supporters support the status quo, however
Many people in Saskatchewan would be happy to see corporations pay more tax, a CBC's Vote Compass report says.
The latest report from Vote Compass, which is CBC's citizen engagement application, found that when people were asked "How much tax should corporations pay?" 54 per cent answered more.
Only 8 per cent said companies should pay less tax. Meanwhile, about 36 per cent think current corporation taxation levels are about right.
The remaining 2 per cent said they didn't know.
There's a split in the results depending on whether or not people support the Saskatchewan Party, according to Gregory Kerr, research manager for Vox Pop Labs, which created Vote Compass for CBC.
"While a majority — 54 per cent — of the people of Saskatchewan supported a higher corporate tax rate, an almost equal percentage — 53 per cent — of Sask. Party voters say they are happy with the current level," Kerr said.
"This contrasts markedly with support among Green, Liberal and NDP supporters, over 80 per cent of whom would like to see corporations pay more.
While a majority — 54 per cent — of the people of Saskatchewan supported a higher corporate tax rate, an almost equal percentage — 53 per cent — of Saskatchewan Party voters say they are happy with the current level. Gregory Kerr,. Vox Pop Labs
The findings are based on 11,829 respondents who participated in Vote Compass March 7 to 30.
The online tool lets people find out where they fit in on the political landscape in relation to the Saskatchewan Party, the New Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and the Green Party.
It also lets the public weigh in on issues that could come up during the campaign. The economy and health care have proven to be the two issues the public cares about the most.
The latest report from Vox Pop Labs asked the public about corporate taxation, about about the film tax credit program and whether cutting taxes would boost the economy.
Do tax cuts create jobs?
Vote Compass presented people with this statement: "Cutting taxes is the best way to create jobs in Saskatchewan."
The overall results were all over the map: 38 per cent said they agree, 36 per cent said they disagreed, 23 per cent were neutral and the rest (3 per cent) said they didn't know.
When examined through a party support filter, however, the results were more polarized.
"Forty-eight per cent of Saskatchewan Party supporters indicated they believe that tax cuts are the most effective engine of job creation, against only 16 per cent of NDP, 23 per cent of Green, and 21 per cent of Liberal supporters," Kerr said.
Finally, Vote Compass asked a question that referenced the old film tax credit program, which the NDP government introduced and the Sask. Party government killed.
Confronted with the statement: "Film production companies should receive special tax breaks in Saskatchewan", 32 per cent disagreed and 48 per cent agreed.
Not surprisingly, Sask. Party supporters were most likely to say (24 per cent) they "strongly disagreed" with the film tax breaks, while New Democrat supporters (with 41 per cent support) that they "strongly agreed" with that statement.
Saskatchewan voters go to the polls on April 4.
About Vote Compass
Developed by a team of social and statistical scientists from Vox Pop Labs, Vote Compass is a civic engagement application offered in Canada exclusively by CBC News. The findings are based on 11,829 respondents who participated in Vote Compass from March 7 to March 30, 2016. Unlike online opinion polls, respondents to Vote Compass are not pre-selected.
Similar to opinion polls, however, the data are a non-random sample from the population and have been weighted in order to approximate a representative sample. Vote Compass data have been weighted by geography, gender, age, educational attainment, occupation, and religion to ensure the sample's composition reflects that of the actual population of Saskatchewan according to census data and other population estimates.