Support for Saskatchewan’s separation remains ‘overwhelmingly low’
REGINA – Support for Saskatchewan leaving Canada and forming an independent country remains overwhelmingly low, according to a recent survey conducted by a team at the University of Saskatchewan.
In a telephone survey of 402 adults conducted by the University of Saskatchewan’s Social Sciences Research Laboratories (SSRL) earlier this month, just 37 — or 9.3 per cent — responded in favour of Saskatchewan leaving Confederation and forming an independent country. Just under 85 per cent of respondents, or 341 people, said Saskatchewan should not separate. The remaining 24 people either refused to answer or said they didn’t know if Saskatchewan should separate.
Despite the issue generating national attention during and following the recent federal election campaign, and movements such as Wexit generating at least moderate attention, the recent survey results are similar to a
September survey in which the same question was posed. In September, 35 respondents (or 8.7 per cent) said Saskatchewan should separate and form an independent country, while 346 people (86.4 per cent) said Saskatchewan should remain in the Confederation. Of the remaining 19 people surveyed in September, 18 said they didn’t know and one refused to answer the question.
The October 2019 federal election, which occurred between the Omnibus surveys taken in September and December, did not seem to have generated any appreciable shift in proseparation sentiment. “When compared to the results from the September 2019 Omnibus survey, comparable percentages of respondents that indicated that Saskatchewan should separate from Canada and form an independent country were found,” the SSRL said in a statement.