[ridenrain]

Quote:

[MONTREAL – Aug. 10, 2009] – An Angus Reid Strategies survey conducted as German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber was about to be deported from Canada shows that Canadians did not pay much attention to the public inquiry into Schreiber's dealings with former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, and finds that the population became more irritated with the case and its details as the process went along.
In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,005 Canadians, only 31 per cent of respondents say they followed stories related to the so-called Oliphant Commission very or moderately closely over the past few months.
Seven-in-ten Canadians either paid little attention to the proceedings (32%) or none at all (38%). Almost half of respondents in both Alberta and Quebec say they did not follow the inquiry closely at all.
When this survey's findings are compared to those of an Angus Reid Strategies poll conducted in May 2008, it becomes clear that Canadians were turned off by the affair.
Four-in-five respondents (80%) believe that we'll never get to the bottom of what happened between Mulroney and Schreiber, up six points since May 2008. Also, almost two-thirds of Canadians (64%) say they are tired of hearing about the Mulroney-Schreiber controversy, a five-point increase since last year.
Also, 66 per cent of respondents believe the public inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber controversy was a waste of money, while 24 per cent disagree with this statement. In May 2008, as the terms of the inquiry were being defined, 58 per cent of Canadians believed the process would be a waste of money.
In testimony provided to a House of Commons ethics committee and to the Oliphant Inquiry, Mulroney and Schreiber have offered differing accounts on the amount of money that exchanged hands. About one-in-four Canadians (23%) believe Schreiber is telling the truth when he claims to have paid Mulroney $300,000, while one-in-ten Canadians (10%) think the former prime minister is being honest when he says he received $225,000 from Schreiber. Still, a large proportion of the population (44%) finds neither man credible.

http://www.angusreidstrategies.com/uplo ... iphant.pdf

[poquas]

Until the report is released, how can anyone say it was a waste?

[ridenrain]

It looks like Angus Reid and the Canadian taxpayers just did.

[Curtman]

ridenrain wrote:

It looks like Angus Reid and the Canadian taxpayers just did.

I don't think asking people if they were following the inquiry necessarily represents their opinion of whether it was worthwhile or not.

It's my opinion that people spend entirely too much time following sporting events, and celebrity gossip, and not enough time on current events.

[ridenrain]

I'm a political junkee too but the study is clear:

Quote:

Also, 66 per cent of respondents believe the public inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber controversy was a waste of money

[Lemmy]

poquas wrote:

Until the report is released, how can anyone say it was a waste?

I can say it was a waste because I ALREADY knew Schreiber and Mulroney were dirty, thieving douchebags. This inquiry was like spending tax dollars to discover whether water is wet.

[ASLplease]

well, it does mean that everything the Liberals have done since Mulroney is fair game for criticism. And, that is a lot of criticism that Iggy has no defense for.