Canadians and the Senate

Canadians' attitudes towards the Senate have hardened over the past decade. The late-April National Angus Reid Poll conducted between April 15th and 23rd among 1,500 Canadians shows that the public is now divided between reforming the Upper Chamber and abolishing it entirely; very few want to leave the Senate as it is. In the late 1980s, half or more Canadians were enthusiastic about reforming the Senate.

Canadians are also divided regarding what Prime Minister Chrйtien should do about the vacancy in the Senate resulting from the resignation of Andrew Thompson, whose poor attendance record has contributed to a renewed debate over the relevance of the Red Chamber.

With a national sample of 1,500, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results are within 1772.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Angus Reid Group
(416) 324-2900