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Politics of drinking

Just in time for the end of summer Angus Reid has released a new poll on drinking preferences and what that could say about your politics.

New Ontario Premier Doug Ford has launched a buck-a-beer campaign and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley frequently promotes craft beers.

The Angus Reid Institute took a run at trying to determine how crowd-pleasing liquor policies really are and what your choice of alcoholic beverage might say about you.

Ask imbibers who are past New Democrat, Liberal and Conservative voters which alcohol they drink most often – and more than four-in-ten in each group say they’ll crack a beer, while close to the same number across each voting segment will instead pop a cork. However, each cohort does have its own unique palate.

Turns out Conservatives are more likely to prefer liquor, Liberals more likely to prefer wine, and New Democrats more likely to prefer beer according to the study.

NDP supporters are twice as likely as Conservatives to enjoy craft beer, while preference for domestic beer is nearly identical across each party.

There is no shortage of issues that divide Canadians in 2018. From trade, to the environment, to asylum seekers, one of the best indicators of disagreement is the political affiliation crosstab in Angus Reid Institute data tables. Alcohol however, is a rare source of unity – sort of.

To begin, Canadian drinking habits by political preference are close to identical. Yes, past Conservative voters are slightly less likely to drink regularly, but the numbers are close to indistinguishable. There’s a reason North American politicians have been enticing voters with booze since the days of George Washington.

Canada ranks 39th in the world in per capita beer consumption, well behind heavyweights such as the Czech Republic, Germany and Ireland. Meanwhile, we are now consuming twice the amount of wine as we were in 1990.

The Angus Reid Institute also asked Canadians to choose up to three types of drinks that they prefer, regardless of how often they consume each one. Wine emerges as the big winner, with domestic beer and imported beer rounding out the top three. Vodka is the top choice of spirit, with whiskey and rum close behind.



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