Majority (60%) Of Canadians Slam Door On Bernardo Press Conference Request

Toronto, ON - In the wake of Karla Homolka's release from prison, a new Ipsos-Reid national survey, provided exclusively to CanWest/Global and CFRB, reveals that the majority (60%) of Canadians believe her former husband Paul Bernardo's request to hold a news conference to speak to the media should not be allowed and Corrections Canada should continue to impose its rare ban on his speaking out. Of the opposite opinion, are the three in ten (31%) who believe Mr. Bernardo should be allowed to hold a news conference to speak to the media -- a further 9% "don't know" if he should be allowed.

Across the regions of Canada, attitudes towards this issue are relatively uniform. However, there is a significant difference in attitudes between younger adults and older adults: Those aged 18-34 are significantly more likely than those aged 35 and over to believe that Mr. Bernardo should be allowed to hold a news conference (42% vs. 27%).

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll provided exclusively to CanWest/Global conducted from June 28th to June 30th, 2005. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1003 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 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 weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid
416.324.2900
[email protected]

Ipsos-Reid
Ipsos-Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader and the country's leading provider of public opinion research. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos-Reid employs more than 300 researcher professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in Canada, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and on-line panels. Ipsos-Reid's Canadian marketing research and public affairs practices are staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, offering the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada--including the Ipsos Trend Report, the leading source of public opinion in the country--all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Ipsos-Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

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