Canadians on the right and left want nature protected

Canadians want political parties to commit to protecting nature in their upcoming federal election platforms. 

That’s a key finding of a new nation-wide poll conducted by EKOS Research.

Nearly seven in 10 respondents say they are less likely to vote for a party whose platform lacks commitment to nature. 

Two-thirds of respondents want parties to commit to fund new national parks and marine conservation areas, and to phase out government subsidies to companies that cause harm to wildlife or nature, for example, through overfishing or overlogging. 

Even Conservative Party supporters — sometimes assumed to be less concerned about nature — are twice as likely to support, rather than oppose, these platform planks.

The poll’s findings offer hope: even with rampant disinformation and political polarization on many issues, Canadians are united in their desire to see nature protected. 

The poll contains other key messages.

First, a strong majority of Canadians from all regions and political leanings want stronger protection of forests. 

More than four in five Canadians (84 per cent), and three in four Conservative supporters, want the federal government to do more to protect forests and wildlife. And three in four Canadians want the government to better protect the boreal forest, even if that means limiting logging.

Second, Canadians want companies operating in Canada to be held accountable for harm they cause to nature. Nine in 10 Canadians — and 86 per cent of Conservative supporters — want transparency about the environmental impacts of the logging industry. 

(Last year, the Office of the Auditor General criticized the federal government for not clearly and separately reporting the greenhouse gas emissions from logging). 

Two in three Canadians are very concerned that logging companies with foreign links are profiting from public forests. Recent reports indicate that the owner of Paper Excellence, which controls tens of millions of hectares of Canadian forest, now leads the international conglomerate Asia Pulp & Paper, a company with a track record of environmental destruction.  

Third, where the views of Canadians diverge, disinformation is at play. For example, while the vast majority of Liberal, NDP, Bloc Québecois and Green Party supporters believe — as evidence supports — that climate change is a major driver of increased wildfires, only one in five Conservative supporters consider this to be the case. In contrast, half of Conservative supporters think arson is a major cause of fires, despite the fact that 93 per cent of the forest area burned in 2023 was from fires ignited by lightning. 

There is also a wide difference across party lines on other climate change issues. While two in three Canadians want transparent reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, only one in four Tory supporters consider this important. And while over half of Canadians are more likely to vote for a party with a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, that is the case for only one in seven Conservative supporters. (One in three Tory supporters are actually more likely to vote for a party if it has no commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions!)

Fourth, the poll shows a range of levels of support for different public infrastructure investments. There is very strong support, with almost two in three respondents in favour, for rail and bus infrastructure improvements, new electricity lines and energy efficiency retrofits. In contrast, investments in new pipelines were not popular, garnering the support of only one in three respondents. 

The EKOS poll findings align with a recent survey on biodiversity carried out by EcoAnalytics, which also found strong support for nature protection across political lines, regions, age and gender. Specifically, nine in 10 respondents believe that Canada needs better forestry practices, support strong regulations to protect water, and want more protected areas. 

Protecting nature is popular, overall, with Canadians for good reason. 

With thousands of species at risk in Canada, including the iconic Woodland caribou, protecting nature is critical to halting biodiversity loss. Nature is also crucial to fighting climate change: a major study found that “nature-based solutions” could take Canada one-third of the way to its 2030 GHG reduction commitment.

Finally, with half the global GDP dependent on nature, its protection is critical to jobs and economic success.

Canada has made significant investments in recent years to advance its commitment to protect 30 per cent of land and water by 2030. 

This poll shows that Canadians want all parties to follow suit.

As home to more intact forest landscape than any other country, Canada has a particular responsibility to protect this irreplaceable ecosystem in ways that respect Indigenous knowledge and sovereignty. 

Parties should heed the voice of Canadians and commit to protecting nature — for their own electoral success and, more importantly, to safeguard our collective future. 

Michael Polanyi is policy and campaign manager for nature-based climate solutions at Nature Canada.