The Power of Judges

Public Release Date: Embargoed until Monday, November 22 at 9:00pm (EDT)

This National Angus Reid Group/Globe and Mail/CTV poll is based on a national telephone survey conducted between November 4th and November 14th, 1999 among a representative cross-section of 1,500 Canadian adults. These data are statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional, age and sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to 1996 Census data.

With a national sample of 1,500, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results are within +2.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger for other sub-groupings of the survey population.

Canada's judges are faced with the privilege and responsibility of ruling over some of the most challenging issues facing Canadian society. Everything from Constitutional matters to Treaty fall under the jurisdiction of Canada's judges. Some have argued that judges have been given too much power and are legislating rather than following the rule of the Law. An Angus Reid / Globe and Mail / CTV poll released tonight indicates that 45% of Canadians agree that Canada's judges have "too much power" - half (50%) disagree.

These are the highlights gleaned from a national Angus Reid Group/Globe and Mail/CTV telephone survey of 1,500 Canadian adults. Interviews were conducted between November 4th and November 14th, 1999. A sample size of 1,500 is said to have a corresponding margin of error of +2.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Angus Reid Group
(416) 324-2900