Despite Violence At Genoa G-8 And Protests At Quebec Summit of the Americas, Majority (67%) of Canadians Say We Should Host Next Summer's G-8 Meeting in Kananaskis

Toronto, ON - A CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid shows that a majority of Canadians (67%) think Canada should host the meeting of the G-8 leaders in Kananaskis, Alberta next summer.

The poll comes on the heels of violent protests at the G-8 Summit in Genoa, Italy and the declaration by Prime Minister Jean Chretien that next summer's meeting would be held in the secluded tourist venue in Kananaskis, Alberta. A number of world leader summits have been marred by protests and violence recently including the G-8 Summit in Genoa, the Quebec Summit of the Americas, and the World Trade Meeting in Seattle.

The poll was conducted between July 24th and July 26th, 2001.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,002 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, 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. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data.

Despite full majority support across the country, there are some regional and demographic differences worth noting.

The closest to "G-8 ground zero", Albertans are least likely to support hosting next summer's meeting with only a slim majority (51%) on side. A remaining 43 percent are opposed and 6 percent undecided.

The other three provinces which are least likely to support the meeting are Quebec (60% in favour versus 35% who are opposed) which hosted the Summit of the Americas, and Saskatchewan/Manitoba which clock in next door to the host province at 61 percent approval and 32 percent opposition.

The largest levels of support come from Ontario (75% versus 20%) followed by Atlantic Canada (75% versus 22%) and BC (67% versus 30%). Younger Canadians (73%) are more likely to support the meeting being held in Kananaskis compared to those who are middle-aged (65%) and older (62%).

Men (68%) are only slightly more likely to voice approval than women (65%).

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Public Affairs
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900