While Seven in Ten (71%) Canadians Agree Parliament, Not Courts, Should Make Laws in Canada. . .

Toronto, ONTARIO - In the wake of court decisions on gay marriage and the Federal Government's reference to the Supreme Court regarding their proposed new marriage law a new Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll indicates that while seven in ten (71%) Canadians agree that it should be up to Parliament and Provincial Legislatures, not the courts, to make laws in Canada, eight in ten (78%) express agreement with the statement that `since the Canadian Constitution is the ultimate law and that laws passed by Parliament and Provincial Legislatures must conform to the Constitution, Canadian courts are within their right to issue decisions, that are based on constitutional grounds, that become legally binding.'

While a large number of Canadians in total agree with this position, the intensity is not as strong as for the belief that the creation of laws is the sole jurisdiction of elected representatives. In fact, just one in four (23%) express strong agreement for the later viewpoint, compared to 34% for the view that legislatures, not the courts, should make the laws in Canada.

Looking further at the role of courts and judges in Canada, a majority (54% - 22% strongly) feel that judges in Canada have too much power.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted between July 22nd and July 24th, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,060 adult Canadians. 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.

Seven in ten (71%) Canadians agree with the view that `it should be up to Parliament and Provincial Legislatures, not the courts, to make laws in Canada.' One-quarter (27%) disagrees with this position.

• Men (74%) are significantly more likely to agree with this position than are women (67%).

• Canadians from the lowest income households (74%) are significantly more likely to agree than are those from middle-income households (66%).

Eight in ten (78% - 23% strongly) agree with the view that `since the Canadian Constitution is the ultimate law and that laws passed by Parliament and Provincial Legislatures must conform to the Constitution, Canadian courts are within their right to issue decisions, that are based on constitutional grounds, that become legally binding.' In total, one in five (19%) disagree.

• Young adult (85%) Canadians are significantly more likely to agree with this view than are their middle-aged (76%) or older (73%) counterparts.

Further the belief that judges in Canada have too much power is held by a majority (54% - 22% strongly) of Canadians. Four in ten (44%) Canadians disagree with this view.

• Middle-aged (59%) and older (57%) Canadians are significantly more likely to agree with this position than are young adults (45%).

Please open the attached PDF files to view the release and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900