This July 1 to be day of `reflection,' says PM
Most support flag too, despite recent news
While recent events have brought some of Canada's worst historical crimes into international focus, a clear majority of Canadians do not support calls to “cancel Canada Day,” according to a new Leger poll commissioned by Postmedia.
Across virtually every age, region and political affiliation polled, most Canadians intended to celebrate the July 1 national holiday, are cheered by the sight of the Maple Leaf and — all things considered — saw Canadian history as something worth celebrating.
The previous month has seen the discovery of hundreds of unmarked children's graves at the site of former residential schools; 215 at Kamloops Indian Residential School and 751 at Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan. At each discovery the phrase “Cancel Canada Day” soon trended on social media. Nevertheless, a mere 14 per cent of Canadians polled favoured an abolition of the July 1 holiday, which marks Canada's 1867 confederation as an independent country.
“Honestly, that doesn't surprise me that much,” said Andrew Enns, executive vice-president with Leger. “I do often see in these surveys that the general public is occasionally out of step with what you might often see is the groundswell on social media.”
The poll surveyed 1,542 Canadians between June 18 and 20. Among respondents, fervent support also came for the Canadian flag. Sixtynine per cent said they wanted to see the Canadian flag displayed “more often and in more places.”
Conversely, a mere 11 per cent said they worried about displays of the flag lest it “offend … marginalized groups.”
Pro-flag sentiment was actually strongest among nonwhite Canadians, 70 per cent of whom wanted to see Canadian cities and neighbourhoods more bedecked with the maple leaf.
Said Enns, “some of that non-white population are people who have deliberately made a choice to start a new life in Canada.” He added that these new Canadians may also have come from lands where overt display of the national standard is a bit more commonplace.
Oddly, while Canadians seemed to like the look of a flapping maple leaf, they were less enthused about doing the flag-hoisting themselves. A mere 38 per cent said they intended to fly a Canadian flag on Canada Day, with that number dropping to 14 per cent in Quebec.
More than two-thirds of respondents (67 per cent) also agreed with the sentiment that Canadian history is “something to celebrate.”
While support for the notion was strongest among Conservative voters and older Canadians, even 56 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds reported being ready to defend Canadian history.
This month, a poll released by the Environics Institute
for Survey Research found that up to 40 per cent of Canadians reported little to no knowledge of the Indian Residential School system — with that figure rising to 47 per cent among Canadians in their 30s and 40s.
Nevertheless, the discoveries at Kamloops and Marieval have focused attention on the harms wrought by a system that was planned, funded and supported by many of the same figures who were instrumental to Canada's founding and early development.
While Canadian history has rarely played to the benefit of Canada's First Nations, many Indigenous peoples nevertheless maintain a complex relationship with modern Canada.
That same Environics Institute for Survey Research found that 58 per cent of Indigenous Canadians reported some attachment to Canada — a slightly higher rate than the 52 per cent of non-indigenous who said the same thing.
The Leger poll also found one-third of Canadians reporting feeling less patriotic that they did five years ago — although not necessarily because of any new revelations at the country's historical wrongdoings.
The largest single category of Canadians who reported feeling diminished pride in Canada were Albertans. For Albertans, the last five years have yielded a poor economy, a federal government often seen as oppositional to Albertan interests and a sharp rise in separatist sentiments.
In February, a Research Company poll found that up to 25 per cent of Albertans backed some form of secession from Canada.
Albertans also stood out in a poll question that asked where they would live if not Canada. While a plurality of Canadians opted for the United States, Albertans were most cold on the prospect of living under the Stars and Stripes.
SOME OF THAT NON-WHITE POPULATION ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE DELIBERATELY MADE A CHOICE TO START A NEW LIFE IN CANADA.