With apologies to Bill Clinton: 鈥淚t鈥檚 the climate change, stupid.鈥�
But not only climate change. You鈥檙e worried about your wallet, too. Also, to a lesser degree, health care, housing, the environment.
Every time there鈥檚 an election, we at the sa国际传媒 make assumptions about what voters care about. This year, instead of assuming, to tell us what matters to them. Hundreds replied.
Here鈥檚 what they said:
鈥� For about a fifth of respondents, questions associated with climate change are what keep them up at night. The issue easily outdistanced the second most-mentioned worry 鈥� a catch-all comprising government spending, the national debt and the burden of taxation 鈥� which easily outdistanced the scores of other issue readers brought up.
It seems we have a lot on our minds: inequality, seniors, immigration, addiction, the need for a pipeline, the folly of a pipeline.
But unlike the 1992 campaign in which Clinton rode a U.S. recession to unhorse George Bush, there鈥檚 no consensus on what this election is all about.
In fact, what stood out is how little respondents mentioned some traditionally dominant issues. Perhaps because Victoria enjoys the second-lowest unemployment in the country, the economy scarcely merited a mention. Crime, gangs and money-laundering barely resonated (though one person called for the return of the death penalty, and another was dismayed by the amount it costs to keep Paul聽Bernardo in prison).
While many lamented the cost of buying or renting a home, almost no one mentioned the homeless. Justin Trudeau will be relieved to know SNC-Lavalin drew little more than a yawn.
鈥� Foreign relations appeared to be a low priority for many, but not all. 鈥淚t appears that the emerging debate will largely be dominated by issues such as climate change, housing affordability and expanded health care,鈥� wrote one reader. 鈥淏ut sa国际传媒 does not function in a vacuum. Issues like international trade, national defence, the country鈥檚 relationship with China, the European Union and the U.S. deserve attention as well.鈥� China鈥檚 power induced squirming among several readers.
鈥� 鈥淚 want to know which leader will be able to handle Trump,鈥� declared another. 鈥淓verything else is irrelevant.鈥�
鈥� Where some wielded a broad brush with their questions for candidates (鈥淚n my 70-plus years I聽have yet to see any politician elected who has actually kept all their election promises. Why should I trust you?鈥�) others had narrowly specific concerns.
鈥淲hy not ban the manufacturing and sale of filtered cigarettes in sa国际传媒?鈥� wrote a Parksville reader who had just counted 39 discarded butts on one block and 62 on a second.
鈥淲ill you make the use of glyphosates for agriculture illegal?鈥� asked another correspondent.
鈥淧romise to retain door-to-door mail delivery,鈥� urged a third.
鈥� Others were wary of the messenger: 鈥淚 want the Times聽Colonist to cover the election objectively and not be a shill for the Conservative Party.鈥� (Dammit, there go my plans.)
Another asserted that Canadian politics need 鈥渓ess old male energy,鈥� a sentiment that caused me to hyperventilate into a paper bag.
鈥� Many asked for more information about local candidates. As one reader succinctly put it: 鈥淲e have no idea who these people are.鈥�
OK, the challenge isn鈥檛 as great as in a municipal election campaign when, with 91 council seats up for grabs in Greater Victoria alone (I鈥檓 not making this up), ballots become the political equivalent of the witness protection program, somewhere a candidate can hide out for years without being detected.
Still, the names of those running for Vancouver Island鈥檚 seven House of Commons seats are often just that, names, albeit with party affiliations attached. Voters want them fleshed out, want to know their qualifications and what kind of lives they lead.
鈥淗ow often do they use public transit?鈥� one person urged us to ask candidates. Another suggested asking: 鈥淒o you have a family doctor or do you have to go to a walk-in clinic?鈥� The TC will publish candidate profiles closer to the election.
Other readers asked for an easy-to-read grid comparing parties and their positions. That鈥檚 in the works, too.
Also, look to the TC鈥檚 opinion pages for more on the topics that readers say matter. For example, based on what you told us, the paper has asked the major parties to submit op-eds defending their ideas for dealing with climate change.
Thanks to all those readers who took the time to tell us what matters.
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