Most Canadians Agree Canada Should Hold Off On Further Genetically-Modified Crops Until More Health And Environmental Safety Issues Are Addressed

Toronto, ON - According to a new Ipsos-Reid survey conducted on behalf of the Council of Canadians, the majority of Canadians (83%) agree with the statement "the Canadian government should put a moratorium on any further releases of genetically-modified crops until more health and environmental safety issues have been addressed".

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Council of Canadians poll conducted from March 30th to April 1st, 2004. For the telephone survey, a representative sample of 1000 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. 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 2001 Census data.

The majority of Canadians (83%) agree with the statement "the Canadian government should put a moratorium on any further releases of genetically-modified crops until more health and environmental safety issues have been addressed" (56% " strongly agree", 27% "somewhat agree). In comparison, one in seven Canadians (15%) disagree with this statement (5% "strongly disagree", 10% "somewhat disagree"), and 2% "don't know".

• Agreement with the statement "the Canadian government should put a moratorium on any further releases of genetically-modified crops until more health and environmental safety issues have been addressed" is highest among residents of Quebec (89%), followed by residents of Alberta (83%), Atlantic Canada (82%), British Columbia (81%), Ontario (80%), and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (79%).

• Women are more likely than men to agree with this statement (86% vs. 80%).

Please open the attached PDF to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

Darrell Bricker
President & C.O.O
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900