Election 2011: Respecting Parliament

From the Canadian Election Study data, responses to the statement, “The Conservatives have been disrespectful towards Parliament.”

Strongly agree 30.2%
Somewhat agree 25.9%
Somewhat disagree 20.6%
Strongly disagree 12.0%
Don’t know 10.2%

The 2011 election, of course, was precipitated after the House voted to find the Harper government in contempt of Parliament. On the one hand, a majority of respondents either strongly or somewhat agreed that the Conservatives had been disrespectful of Parliament. On the other hand, 42.8% is a large enough share of the vote to form a majority government. (The Conservatives won 39.6% of the vote in 2011.)