Views voiced on subjects ranging from the monarchy to the name of Vancouver’s Stanley Park
The Queen’s visit has improved support for the monarchy, a recent Angus Reid poll has found. In the survey of 1,022 Canadian adults, 36 per cent (up three per cent from a similar poll in May) are in favour of remaining a monarchy, while 30 per cent (down six per cent) would like to have an elected head of state.
Despite all the hype leading up to last month’s G8 and G20 summits, few Canadians, Americans and Britons paid attention to what their respective countries have promised as a result. A recent Angus Reid poll has found that only 23 per cent of Canadians followed the results “very closely” or “moderately closely”, along with 20 per cent of Americans and 19 per cent of Britons. It’s interesting to note, however, that over half of Canadians (52 per cent) followed the stories relating to the G8/G20 demonstrations in Toronto, along with 21 per cent of Americans and 16 per cent of Britons.
Meanwhile, another poll has found that Canadians want the federal government to pay for the damage made during the G20 demonstrations. An Angus Reid poll of 1,003 Canadian adults reported that 80 per cent of Canadians (and 90 per cent of Torontonians) feel the Canadian government should compensate businesses that were damaged or forced to close during the G20 summit. Additionally, 66 per cent of Canadians (and 73 per cent of Torontonians) believe that the police were justified in responding the way they did during the demonstrations.
When it comes to the origin of the human race, Canadians and Britons tend to have differing opinions than Americans, a recent Angus Reid poll has found. The majority of Canadians (61 per cent) and Britons (68 per cent) believe in evolution, while 47 per cent of Americans believe that God created human beings in their present form.
The majority of Canadians are resistant to the recent proposal to change or amend the name of Stanley Park in Vancouver, an Angus Reid poll has revealed. It has been proposed that the name of the park be changed to Xwayxway (pronounced “kwhy-kway”), which was the name of an Aboriginal village that was located inside what is now Stanley Park. Of the 1,009 Canadian adults polled, 61 per cent (and 73 per cent of British Columbians) believe that Stanley Park should keep its name, 23 per cent think the two names should be paired together and six per cent believe the name should be changed to Xwayxway.
Canadians want the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to release the names of politicians who are supposedly influenced by foreign governments, an Angus Reid poll has found. Over two-thirds of the 1,009 Canadians surveyed (67 per cent) feel that the names should be made public, after claims made by CSIS Director Richard Fadden that at least two provincial cabinet ministers and several BC municipal politicians “are under at leas tthe general influence of a foreign government.”
Optimism in the Canadian economy has gone down recently, a Nanos poll has found. When asked whether they think the economy will become stronger, weaker or have no change in the next six months, 39.4 per cent (down 4.5 per cent from a recent poll) of the 1,008 Canadian adults surveyed responded that they felt it would get stronger, 15.5 per cent (up 1.5 per cent) felt it would get weaker and 40.9 per cent (up 2.8 per cent) felt that there would be no change.
The Conservative Party is still holding on to the top spot in federal politics, according to Angus Reid’s recent poll on voting intentions. Of the 2,031 Canadian adults polled, 36 per cent give their support to the Conservatives, while 27 per cent support the Liberal Party. Third place goes to the New Democratic Party (20 per cent support), followed by the Bloc Québécois (10 per cent) and the Green Party (seven per cent).
