Compas Poll / Survey

The recent federal budget scores poorly among CEOs and business leaders. Respondents in this Financial Post/COMPAS poll sponsored by CIBC and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce show little regard for federal budgetary performance—less than for the budgetary performance of the U.S. government, the province of Ontario, and especially the province of Alberta. The federal report card score is 57% while that of Alberta is 77%--the highest performance score ever recorded in government and politics in a COMPAS poll.

Border-related spending items get good grades, notably in the case of screening for entrants and enhancing roads and security at border stations. But the budget as a whole is perceived as being somewhat profligate. CEOs and business leaders are perturbed by the absence of new tax cuts and especially by the absence of spending cuts and provisions for debt pay-down.

On the matter of defence preparedness in general, most perceive Canada as a defence “free-loader” with low international credibility and very limited military capability. But CEOs and business leaders are divided on what to do about it, i.e. whether or not to spend heavily to repair the situation. On one defence matter, a consensus governs. Almost no CEOs and business leaders agree that “the Canadian military is a lot stronger and more effective than its critics claim.”

The respondents in this weekly poll are the CEOs and very senior executives of the cross-section of large, medium, and small companies that are members of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.