Compas Poll / Survey

COMPAS asked business leaders a series of questions about the Chretien government’s future spending plans outlined in the Throne Speech. The Throne Speech earns bare passing grades for healthcare and infrastructure along with failing grades in five other policy areas, especially defence.

For the architects of the Throne Speech, the preceding findings are probably the worst news. Other bad news is that most members of the business panel participating in the weekly survey see the Speech as a personal legacy document for the Prime Minister rather than as a spending document or statement of principle. Other bad news is that respondents express strong, pervasive concern about the possibility of over-spending.

Nonetheless, there is a possibility that the panel responses over-estimate the magnitude of true business concern. We draw this conclusion from the fact that non-respondents in this week’s study tended not to follow or care much about the Throne Speech, as explained in the body of this report. Just as non-respondents appear to care less than respondents about the Speech, they may also be less likely to perceive or fear the possibility of reckless government spending in the future.

These are the key findings from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce/CIBC Small Business-sponsored weekly survey of business leaders.