This is The Week in Polling, your Saturday dose of interesting numbers from top pollsters in Canada and around the world, curated by The Hub. Here’s what we’re looking at this week.
A majority of Canadians ages 18-54 live paycheque to paycheque
Canadians are facing a cost-of-living crisis. According to this recent Leger poll, more than 50 percent of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 54 say they are living paycheque to paycheque to stay afloat.
About 37 percent of Canadian households report borrowing money from banks and lenders to pay for daily expenses like food. Additionally, the majority of Canadian households, 56 percent, report having trouble meeting and fulfilling their financial commitments due to monetary constraints.
More than a quarter of Canadians oppose defensive support for Israel from Iran-backed terrorist threats
Canadian support for Israel’s defence against Iranian-backed terrorist threats is low (47 percent), relative to its support for Ukraine against Russia (71 percent), South Korea against North Korea (65 percent), and Taiwan against China (62 percent). These terrorist groups, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would describe them, are the three H’s: the Gaza-based Hamas, the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, and the Yemen-based Houthis, all of which have received funding, training, or other support from Iran.
Last week, Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets at the Druze community of Majdal Shams, a town in Israel’s Golan Heights. The attack killed 12 children as they were playing soccer. Israel retaliated by killing Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s top military commander, who the Israeli Defence Forces identified as a key perpetrator of the Majdal Shams attack. Shukr was taken out by the Israeli Air Force on Tuesday.
The Houthis launched a deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv on July 19. The drones somehow penetrated Israel’s world-class air defence system, the Iron Dome. The strike killed one and injured at least 10. Israel then sought vengeance by attacking the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, killing at least six people.
Israel confirmed this Thursday it was responsible for killing Hamas’ military chief, Muhammad Deif, in July. He is believed to be the primary planner of the October 7th attacks. Also this week, Hamas’ top political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in his guesthouse in Tehran, Iran. It is unclear whether Israel carried out the attack on Haniyeh. The IDF has denied any involvement.
Some of the Canadians who do not approve of Canada and its allies supporting Israel’s defence may disagree with the Netanyahu government’s actions during the war in Gaza, which the Israeli publication Haaretz contributor Yuval Noah Harari wrote are “endangering Israel’s survival.” Others may not approve of defending Israel because of their staunch anti-Zionism manifest in their rejection of statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland of Israel. The majority of the audience at a recent Munk Debate found that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.
Many Americans believe VP Kamala Harris was responsible for covering up President Joe Biden’s poor health
Of the 54 percent of Americans who think President Joe Biden’s poor health was covered up, 92 percent of them believe that Vice President Kamala Harris was at least “a little” responsible for the alleged cover-up. The majority, 68 percent, believe she had “a great deal” to do with it.
Joe Biden stepped away from the presidential race after a brutal debate performance against former President and 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Since he left, all eyes have been on Vice President Harris to step into his place.
Vice President Harris has already secured the support of enough delegates to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for the 2024 presidential election. She recently said that she is “honoured to be the presumptive Democratic nominee,” which will most likely be made official at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month.
Most Americans want the “mass deportation” of migrants who came across the U.S.-Mexico border
A slim majority of Americans, 52 percent, want a “mass deportation” of illegal migrants who came to the U.S. through their southern border with Mexico.
In 2022, it was reported that about 4 million illegal Mexican migrants had reached the U.S. by crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. More than 100,000 migrants have been stopped at the southern border every month in 2024.
Former President Donald Trump has advocated for a mass deportation of all illegal migrants on American soil, regardless of how they arrived in the country. About 11 million unauthorized immigrants reside in the U.S. today, according to liberal Migration Policy Institute. Former President Trump says the number is closer to 18 million.
Aiden Muscovitch is a student at the University of Toronto studying Ethics, Society and Law. He has served as The Hub's Assistant…
