Over Three-Quarters (78%) Agree (22% Strongly/56% Somewhat) Military Has Systemic Problem of Sexual Harassment

Toronto, ON, April 13, 2021 – While Canadians may be shocked to hear the details of allegations of sexual misconduct against some high-ranking officials of the country’s military forces, it seems that a majority may not necessarily be surprised. A recent Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News has found that more than three-quarters of Canadians believe that the country’s military has a systemic problem of sexual harassment and that these underlying issues still need to be addressed by both the federal government and military leaders in a meaningful way. Nearly 8 in 10 (78%) agree (22% strongly/56% somewhat) that the country’s military has a systemic problem of sexual harassment, including its senior leaders. Women are more likely to agree with this statement (83%), though men are not far behind (72%) in acknowledging this issue.

The recent vote to shut down a defence committee probe into allegations of high-level misconduct in the nation’s military may not help change the perception that the federal government and military leaders are ‘all talk and no action’ when it comes to dealing with sexual harassment. As it stands, three-quarters (75%) agree (24% strongly/50% somewhat) with this statement. No gender or age group is more likely than another to believe that this problem is not being adequately addressed, speaking to how widespread this sentiment is among the general population.

Finally, Canadians largely believe that those in power could still do more to address this troubling issue. Just over four in ten (42%) agree that the federal government has done its best to change the culture in the Canadian Forces, with only 6% saying they ‘strongly agree’, leaving the remaining 37% saying that they ‘somewhat agree’. While there are no major difference by gender or age, there is a political difference; those who say they intend to vote Liberal in the next federal election are more likely to cut Trudeau and the Liberals some slack; over half (55%) of Liberal voters agree that the federal government has done its best.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between April 7-9, 2021, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 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
[email protected]

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