Arrest Convoy Protesters Who Won't Leave, Say A Majority Of Quebecers In A Survey
An Angus Reid survey found most Canadians polled oppose the protesters' approach, but most also think Trudeau has made things worse.
In the third week of the Ottawa trucker convoy protest, the movement is getting negative reviews from Canadians at large, a survey from the Angus Reid Institute shows.
69% of the 1,622 Canadians who responded to the online survey said they oppose protesters' "approach and behaviour." 64% opposed their "demand to end all pandemic restrictions," even as several provinces move to speed up the gradual return to "more normal lives."
With respect to the poll's accuracy, Angus Reid notes that "for comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20."
72% of survey respondents told the Angus Reid Institute that they feel protestors should "go home now." 93% are waiting for officials to "do something," either through the intervention of local or provincial police (45% support this route), the Canadian military (23%) or negotiators (26%).
A majority, 57%, of respondents opposed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's job performance. 65% thought he had a hand in worsening the "current situation."
Quebecers' opinions of the protestors and their goals largely line up with national views, the survey shows. However, a smaller share of Quebec residents (59%) than Canadians overall (62%) felt that protestors who refuse to leave should be arrested.
A subset of those Quebec respondents (48%, versus 53% of all Canadians) said there should be criminal charges if they refuse a legal order to leave, the Angus Reid Institute says. The remaining subset (11%) of Quebecers say those who ignore orders to leave should be arrested but not charged.
The survey also suggests that protesters are failing to sway Canadians opinions' of public health rules. 37% of Canadians said they were "more likely to support" vaccine passports because of the protests. 26% were "more likely to oppose" the measure.
44% were more in favour of indoor mask mandates than they were before the convoy protests, compared to 21% who became more opposed.
