Interesting article in Faith Today that breaks down the findings of an Ispo Reid poll on Canadian voters that factor religion into their lives.

The fact that Quebec is still part of Canada is in large part thanks to churchgoing Catholics in Quebec. In the last referendum, it was their vote that stopped the separatist Bloc. The fact that they have now fled the Liberal party in droves is shocking—and potentially worrisome for Canadian nationalists, since Québécois without any religious identity continue to mark their ballots for the separatist option, as well as 51 percent of infrequently attending Catholics. 

The rapid steep decline in vote for the Liberals among Catholics who attend regularly is an important indicator of intense discomfort. Committed Catholics clearly have felt pangs of conscience over social transgressions like corruption and moral issues such as same-sex marriage, and have swallowed hard and switched their vote.

The article breaks down French/English church going votes and voters, and points out that the Conservative minority government win was an across the board choice. Moral issues, corruption and health care topped the list of concerns in the religious demographics. Interestingly the environment came in last. The survey only looked at the two groups - Catholic and Protestant, but it will be looked at by stratagists already planning for the next election.

This survey is federal voting only, and does not address provincial concerns. The survey was conducted online January 23/06 and is a sampling of about 36 thousand responses. Faith Today is a publication of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. I did a very quick search of the polling site to see if this was commissioned by the EFC - I can understand the anger of the corruption issue, and health care has always been a primary concern.  I’m a bit suspicious of the top findings, given the EFC agenda, and the fact it is an online poll. However, if it’s there it’s premimun content, and I’m not going to keep digging.

via Ales Rarus