Only One Quarter (26%) of Canadians Support Protestors Removing or Defacing Statues of Historical Figures Accused of Perpetuating Racism
Toronto, ON, September 26, 2020 – Despite strong support for the Black Lives Matter movement more broadly, only one quarter (26%) of Canadians agree (7% strongly/18% somewhat) they support protestors who are removing or defacing statues of historical figures who they deem to have perpetuated racism, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News. A majority (74%) of Canadians disagree (49% strongly/26% somewhat) with these tactics. Support for the protestors is by far the highest among Gen Z (61%), but significantly lower among Millennials (36%), Gen X (23%) and Boomers (9%).
Canadians appear to have more issue with how these statues are being removed than with the actual removal of the statues. In fact, four in ten (39%) Canadians agree (14% strongly/25% somewhat) that Canada should remove all statues of historical figures who are deemed to have perpetuated racism. Conversely, a majority (61%) of Canadians disagree (32% strongly/29% somewhat) that Canada should remove all of these statutes. Once again, age is the primary determinant of support: 81% of Gen Z believe all of these statutes should be removed, while fewer Millennials (49%), Gen X (33%) and Boomers (24%) believe they should.
Meanwhile, support for the Black Lives Matter movement is widespread in Canada. Seven in ten (68%) Canadians agree (31% strongly/37% somewhat) that they support the Black Lives Matter movement, while three in ten (32%) disagree (12% strongly/19% somewhat) with the movement. Support is significantly higher among Gen Z (86%) than Millennials (71%), Gen X (65%) or Boomers (63%) – but a majority of every demographic group studied supports the movement. Support is also higher among women (73%) than men (63%). Regionally, the BLM movement has more support in Atlantic Canada (80%) and British Columbia (74%) than it does in Ontario (70%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (68%) Quebec (65%) and Alberta (58%).
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between September 11 and 14, 2020, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Darrell Bricker
CEO, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2001
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