Saskatchewan’s quality of life strong – new poll suggests....

May 22nd, 2008 (Saskatoon, SK). A recent independent poll conducted by Insightrix Research indicates nearly nine in ten Saskatchewan residents (87.8%) believe their quality of life is either excellent, very good or good. A further two-thirds (67.8%) believe the provincial economy will 'get better' over the next six months.

The poll, conducted by Insightrix Research, Inc. of Saskatoon was administered by telephone to a random and representative selection of 800 Saskatchewan residents between May 2nd and May 11th, 2008. The results are considered accurate to within ±3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Overall, two in ten Saskatchewanians (21.1%) report their quality of life is ‘excellent’, while 37.1% claim it is ‘very good’ and 29.6% comment it is ‘good’. Only 11.9% believe their quality  of life in Saskatchewan is ‘fair’ or ‘poor’. This finding is on par with another poll conducted with 900 Albertans during the same dates, where 89.1% of Albertans believe their quality of life is either ‘excellent’, ‘very good’ or ‘good’. Quality of life assessments increase with household income and educational achievements in both provinces.

Further supporting this, 33.7% of Saskatchewan residents believe their quality of life has improved a lot (8.5%) or improved somewhat (25.2%) over the past year. On the opposite side of the equation, 12.6% indicate their quality of life has gotten a little bit worse (9.5%) or a lot worse (3.1%) since this time last year. The remaining 53.3% report their quality of life has remained the same as 12 months ago. Those aged 18-54 are more likely to report their quality of life has improved, as are those with children under the age of 18 in the household. Key contributors to improved quality of life within the province include: increased household income (28.0%), improved employment situations (24.9%) and perceptions of a strong provincial economy and job opportunities (16.3%). Those reporting a decline in their quality of life cite issues including increased costs of living (32.8%), wages not keeping up with inflation (19.5%) and specific mentions of the rising costs of gasoline (14.6%).

The poll also highlights a very strong majority (67.8%) of Saskatchewan residents believe the provincial economy will “get better” over the next six months. Two in ten (20.8%) expect the
Saskatchewan economy to “stay the same” while only 9.3% predict it will “get worse”. This is notably more positive than Saskatchewan residents’ assessments of the Alberta economy (27.7% predict it will “get worse”), the Canadian economy (22.6% estimate it will “get worse”) and the United States economy (56.3% estimate it will “get worse”). Even within Alberta,
20.4% believe their local economy will “get worse” over the next six months.

With respect to managing Saskatchewan’s growth, most are cautious about Alberta’s approach. Specifically, just over one half of Saskatchewan residents (53.2%) believe Alberta has done an ‘excellent’ (10.8%) or ‘good’ (42.4%) job in managing its growth. Four in ten (41.5%) feel Alberta has done a ‘fair’ (31.5%) or ‘poor’ (10.0%) job in this area, while 5.3% are unsure. The report card from within Alberta is even lower. Only 42.5% of Albertans report the province has done an excellent or good job in managing growth. In fact, 56.7% offer a failing grade, saying the province has done a ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ job in managing its economic growth.

Moving on to the topic of how Saskatchewan should manage its growth, a majority of Saskatchewan residents (55.6%) believe the province should follow some of the same policies and practices seen in Alberta. Three in ten (30.5%) believe Saskatchewan shouldn’t bother looking to Alberta as it manages provincial growth and 11.1% feel the province should follow many Alberta practices. Fully 2.8% are unsure. Those more likely to say Saskatchewan should follow some of the same policies and practices as Alberta include individuals under the age of 55 years, those with post-secondary education (versus those without) and respondents with children in the house. Individuals earning less than $30,000 in annual household income are more likely to believe the province should not look to Alberta at all in developing growth plans.

Specific Alberta practices Saskatchewan residents feel the province should follow include: development of natural resources such as oil and natural gas (23.1%), creating employment
opportunities and business development (19.1%), lowering taxes (11.9%) and various forms of government spending (10.3%). Key areas Saskatchewan residents believe the province
should avoid Alberta’s approach on include: their management of affordable housing (17.6%), environmental practices (17.4%), exploitation of natural resources (14.5%), and how
they have addressed health care issues (12.9%).

Attachments
Press Release Quality of Life.pdf