There are no polling numbers on how Jews – or any other religious or ethnic group - vote in Canada.
"In the U.S., they profile people that way, but it's not a common practice in Canada to ask people their race or religion," said pollster Nik Nanos.
The only hard statistics are these: In four out of the five ridings where Jewish voters make up a sizeable minority of the electorate, the Liberal vote declined significantly between the 2006 and 2008 elections –- at more than double the rate in the rest of the country.
The Tory vote in those ridings shot up anywhere from six to twelve times the national average -- enough for Thornhill to go Conservative.
Riding |
% Jewish voters |
Change in share of popular vote: Liberals |
Change in share of popular vote: Conservatives |
Thornhill |
36.6 % |
-13.7 |
+15.3 |
Mont Royal |
36.3% |
-9.9% |
+9.43 |
York Centre |
23.7% |
-9.2 |
+7.9 |
Eglinton-Lawrence |
18.6% |
-8.9% |
+9 |
St. Paul's |
18.3% |
-.4% |
+1.1% |
Canada-wide change in popular vote
Liberals: -4%
Conservatives: +1.3%