Intolerable then, accepted today

Study shows many of our attitudes have changed markedly since 1967 Centennial

A study that compares Canadian attitudes today to those held 50 years ago suggests our country is less patriarchal, less religious and vastly more tolerant of gay people, intermarriage — and tight pants.

Yet Canadians celebrating the centennial in 1967 also displayed more optimism than those marking this year’s sesquicentennial.

“It’s interesting to recollect what the country was like at the centennial and compare it to where things are today: to understand how we’ve changed,” said Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies, which conducted the analysis.

The association examined national Gallup polls conducted in 1967, then hired Montreal’s Léger Marketing to ask similar questions of 1,700 Canadians earlier this year.

Not surprisingly, researchers found social mores in Canada have changed dramatically. In fact, Jedwab said he had to eliminate some of the questions asked by pollsters 50 years ago simply because they were offensive in today’s context.

In 1967, for instance, a Gallup poll reported that half of Canadians agreed that gay sex, conducted in private, should not be criminalized. It found that 58 per cent of respondents agreed it was in bad taste for women to wear stretch pants in public. Even more (70 per cent) said it was in bad taste for women to smoke while driving or walking.

“I think it shakes us of our nostalgia when we look back at that particular period in comparison with where things stand today,” said Jedwab. “Things that we found intolerable in those days are, thankfully, things that are accepted today.”

Curiously, however, the study also revealed that on a few issues — such as tax and immigration policy — the country continues to reflect divides that existed half a century ago.

Among areas explored are:

ECONOMIC ISSUES

Fifty years ago, Canadians worried most about the cost of food (48 per cent) and medical bills (11 per cent). Few Canadians (13 per cent) told pollsters they considered themselves poor, while a sizable majority (84 per cent) thought their economic condition was average or above average.

Today, Canadians are worried about the cost of utilities (25 per cent), food (20 per cent) and gasoline (18 per cent). One in five Canadians described themselves as poor, while a majority (78 per cent) said their economic condition was average or above average.

In 1967, half of those polled said their tax levels were unfair; this year, slightly more (57 per cent) said that was the case.

Jedwab says there has been “revolutionary change” in Canadian society during the past half century as reflected in our attitudes toward women, minorities and the church.

In 1967, 65 per cent of Gallup poll respondents agreed with the notion that fathers should be the head of their families — a figure that plummeted to 19 per cent in 2017.

Similarly, 60 per cent of Canadians told pollsters in 1967 they disapproved of marriages between “whites and non-whites.” In 2017, just six per cent of people said they disagreed with interracial marriages.

Half a century ago, church leaders were cited as the most esteemed members of Canadian society by more respondents (28 per cent) than chief executives (19 per cent) or cabinet ministers (16 per cent). This year, CEOs (20 per cent) and university professors (20 per cent) were much more likely to be held in high regard than church leaders (four per cent) or cabinet ministers (six per cent).

IMMIGRATION

Canada’s main sources of immigration have changed dramatically during the past 50 years, but attitudes have remained remarkably stable.

In 1967, 36 per cent of Canadians disapproved of the country’s immigration policy at a time when the Top 10 source countries were Britain, Italy, Germany, Greece, France, Portugal, China, the Netherlands, India and Switzerland. Today, an almost equal number of people (38 per cent) disapprove when the Top 10 sources are the Philippines, India, China, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, U.S., France, Britain and Nigeria.

In 1967, Canadians were an optimistic bunch, and many believed in the improving state of health (66 per cent), education (66 per cent) and overall happiness (23 per cent). Today, fewer respondents believe the general state of health (28 per cent), education (41 per cent) or happiness (17 per cent) is on the rise.

The study’s 2017 findings were based on a survey of 1,700 Canadians who completed an online questionnaire in mid-June. In theory, in 19 cases out of 20, the poll results would not differ by more than 3.9 percentage points from results obtained by interviewing every adult Canadian. The 1967 Gallup polls were conducted through phone interviews with 700 Canadians, but a margin of error estimate was not available. aduffy@postmedia.com