Quebec Referendum

The vast majority of Toronto residents believe that the "no" side will win the Quebec referendum. If Quebecers do vote "yes" for sovereignty, most Metro Toronto residents believe there should be no formal economic and political association between Canada and Quebec.

The main findings of the poll were:

• An overwhelming proportion of Torontonians (91%) believe the "no" side will win the referendum.
• Three out of five Torontonians (62%) believe that if Quebecers vote "yes" for sovereignty, Canada should maintain no formal economic and political association with a sovereign Quebec.
• Toronto residents over the age of 34 were more likely to say that there should be no formal economic or political ties.
• If Quebec were to become a sovereign country, most Toronto residents would oppose Quebec maintaining several of the benefits if presently enjoys with Canada, including:
  • 69% of those surveyed would oppose a common currency with Canada;
  • 81% would oppose Canadian crown corporations maintaining head offices in Quebec;
  • 76% would oppose Quebecers being able to have a Canadian passport; and
  • 57% would oppose a free flow of labour between Quebec and Canada.
• A slim majority of those surveyed (53%) believe that if the "yes" side loses the referendum, Lucien Bouchard should step aside and allow Preston Manning and the Reform Party to form the official opposition.
• Most Canadians (57%) believe that a national referendum would not be necessary to get Canadians' consent on what and how to negotiate, should Quebec become a sovereign country, because Jean Chretien and the Liberals already have a mandate to govern Canada and therefore can negotiate as required.
• A large majority of Toronto resident (70%) do not believe that if the "no" side wins the Quebec referendum, the federal government should reward Quebecers with another round of constitutional negotiations.

This CFRB-Angus Reid Poll was conducted by telephone between October 10th and 11th, 1995 among 400 randomly-selected adult residents of the Metro Toronto area. Results from a survey sample of this size are considered statistically accurate (95% confidence) within ± 5%, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error will be larger within sub-groupings of this survey population.

For further information, contact:

Angus Reid
Chairman & CEO
Angus Reid Group
(604) 257-3200

Darrel Bricker
Senior Vice-President
Angus Reid Group
(613) 241-5802

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