Canadians Find TV Debates Annoying

When asked to pick a winner, those polled groaned: "Do we have to?"

A new poll says watching Canada’s political leaders debate on television was, well, annoying. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday that many Canadians find politics “off-putting” and it looks like he was right. When those polled were asked to pick the winner of the debates, Harper came in first with 43 per cent, followed by Jack Layton at 24 per cent—but these opinions were coerced out of frustration and aggravation. “I’ve never seen this level of annoyance in any other kind of content testing we’ve done with this tool,” said Jaideep Mukerji, a vice-president with the Angus Reid firm, which conducted the poll.