Vote Compass found that women are much more likely to support environmental protection and regulation than men. This is demonstrated by the fact that 32% of women oppose the carbon tax compared to 43% of men.

British Columbia should scrap the carbon tax

On matters of fiscal policy, men have a much greater aversion to deficit spending than women. When asked whether “The provincial budget deficit should be reduced, even if it means fewer public services,” a near majority of men (48%) agree compared to 34% of women.

The provincial budget deficit should be reduced, even if it means fewer public services

Finally, when it comes to the rights and interests of minority groups, women are far more sympathetic than men. For instance, 38% of women and only 28% of men believe that First Nations groups should have more say over how BC’s natural resources are used.

How much say should First Nations have over how BC’s natural resources are used?

The findings are based on 127,342 respondents to Vote Compass from April 12 to May 15. A margin of error does not apply and the data was weighted using the latest population estimates to approximate a representative sample from the B.C. population at the time of the field.

Liberal voters are largely supportive of spending cuts, while NDP voters are predictably opposed. As our data reveals, most Liberal voters (68%) share Christy Clark’s commitment to fiscal discipline and are prepared to sacrifice some public services to balance the budget. Interestingly, only 42% of the total B.C. population is in favour of spending cuts. While Liberal voters approve of this fiscal discipline, they might not necessarily feel the same way about any accompanying tax increases. Vote Compass asked B.C. voters how much tax corporations should pay. Our findings are displayed in the graph below:

According to our data, only half of B.C. Liberal voters support a tax increase on corporations. Evidently, spending cuts are their preferred method of reducing the deficit.

Support for the legalization of marijuana is fairly unanimous among different socio-demographic groups. As expected, young people express a greater level of support (66%) than older British Columbians (62%). Men are also more supportive (68%) than women (60%). There is also a significant divergence of opinion between Canadian-born British Columbians and immigrants. Whereas most Canadian-born residents are strong proponents of legalization (66%), immigrants are not (57%). East Asian immigrants in particular show the weakest support for the legalization of marijuana, although a majority (52%) still favour it.

The findings are based on 127,342 respondents to Vote Compass from April 12 to May 15. A margin of error does not apply and the data was weighted using the latest population estimates to approximate a representative sample from the B.C. population at the time of the field.

One of the first major policy announcements by Ms. Clark since her re-election last month, the move may come a surprise to Liberal partisans in British Columbia, the majority of whom support the Northern Gateway pipeline according to Vote Compass data.

While a slight majority (51%) of overall Vote Compass respondents indicated opposition to the Northern Gateway pipeline, most of those respondents who indicated a Liberal vote intention were in favour of the project.

The following graph illustrates responses to the question “The Northern Gateway pipeline should be built.”

The findings are based on 127,342 respondents to Vote Compass from April 12 to May 15. A margin of error does not apply and the data was weighted using the latest population estimates to approximate a representative sample from the B.C. population at the time of the field.

Vote Compass has issued a new release in its ongoing series of Twitter influence maps. A follow-up to its recent infographic of influential political Tweeters released in the lead-up to the British Columbia election campaign, this infographic also maps the relationships among several hundred of the most retweeted Tweeters drawn from the pool of Tweets that use hashtags related to B.C. politics and the upcoming provincial election. However, the new infographic demonstrates how influence has manifested in the B.C. Twittersphere since the official launch of the campaign on April 14 up until the midway point of the campaign on May 1. 

Click here for zoomable version on CBCNews.ca | Click here for high resolution version

The mid-campaign infographic shows the NDP gaining influence since the start of the campaign, but this does not necessarily translate into vote share.

“People who regularly Tweet about politics are by and large quite partisan,” said Yannick Dufresne (@yannickdufresne), director of communications for Vote Compass. “So I doubt that the increase in NDP influence in the Twittersphere is a result of vote conversions. It more likely speaks to the NDP’s successful strategy in getting their message out via social media. It may simply be that B.C. NDP supporters are a more active community on Twitter than are supporters for the other parties in the province.”

Think you’re one of the most influential Tweeters in #bcpoli?  See if you can find your Twitter ID by viewing the zoomable infographic  at @CBCNewsBC :  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/bcvotes2013/features/twittersphere/ or download the high resolution image file here.

More interesting facts about how B.C. is engaging with Twitter in this election campaign can be found below.

Top Retweeted Tweets from the official party accounts (using an election-related hashtag)

@BCNDP: “I support the decriminalization of marijuana, and I have for some time” @AdrianDix #bcdebate2013 #bcpoli

@BCLiberals: INFOGRAPHIC: How the BC Liberals shrunk the size of  government over the last decade. #BCDebate2013 http://t.co/CGBpupssC8

@ElectBCCP: BC Conservatives announce nine new candidates – https://t.co/bgempR2vvO  #bccp #bcpoli #WeBelieveinBC

@BCGreens: Jane Sterk: Green MLAs will keep an NDP majority government in check | Georgia Straight http://t.co/b9MYDxvoaa Check this out #bcpoli

Most Retweeted Tweeters in #bcpoli

A team of academics have developed an online educational tool designed to help British Columbians better understand how different voting systems can produce different electoral results. The tool uses the actual British Columbia electoral divisions and the official list of election candidates. Try it at http://votesbc.org.