Why class wars will rule the next election

WATCH: Tom Clark takes a look at how Canadians define the middle class and why many worry the group is shrinking and becoming increasingly pessimistic.

There is a reason few political parties define middle class by a set of numbers: to most people it’s a state of mind. According to EKOS Research the middle class dream is turning in to a bit of a nightmare.

The polling firm found Canadians say being middle class means having a good, stable job, having enough money for the things you want and need, and having a secure retirement income. It’s the feeling you are doing better than your parents, and trusting your kids will have an even better life than you.

They are finding a perception that the growing, optimistic middle class of the past is shrinking and becoming increasingly pessimistic.

A healthy majority of Canadians believe if things don’t change we could be headed towards violent class conflict.

“The idea of who can restart progress in the sense that it was familiar to Canadians in the last century is, I think, the one who is going to win this election,” Frank Graves, president of EKOS, told Tom Clark in an interview for The West Block.

Watch The West Block Sunday, May 24 for the full interview with Frank Graves, and analysis of which federal party has the best strategy for courting the middle class from Elly Alboim, a principal with Earnscliffe Strategy Group.