Canadians are no less divided now than they were just after the election, according to a new Ipsos poll exclusively for Global News.
And while clear majorities of respondents in the Prairie provinces say they “have good reason to be mad about how they are treated by the federal government,” only about half of Canadians say they agree.
More than 80 per cent of respondents in Alberta and 70 per cent in Saskatchewan and Manitoba said their provinces have legitimate beef with Ottawa.
In contrast, 47 per cent of respondents nationwide said the same.
That number is unchanged since polling done at the tail end of a divisive election campaign that saw anger and separatism spike in the West and remain despite repeated acknowledgements by the Liberals, including in the throne speech, of the legitimacy of those sentiments.
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The discrepancy in the poll could suggest the concerns of those in the Prairies just aren’t resonating with Canadians elsewhere.
“Unfortunately, Canadians don’t want to hear about the problems of other Canadians because they have their own,” said Sean Simpson, vice president of public affairs at Ipsos.
“In British Columbia, they’re struggling with housing prices; in Ontario, manufacturing jobs are being lost; in Eastern Canada, they’re struggling to keep their employees in Atlantic Canada and not moving to other parts of Canada or the United States.
“Everybody’s got their own problems and they’re not feeling too sympathetic towards the Albertans and those from Saskatchewan who are crying foul.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was reduced from a majority to minority mandate in the federal election in October but his Liberals were entirely locked out of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
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Since then, he has met repeatedly with Western leaders and shuffled Chrystia Freeland from the foreign affairs portfolio to become deputy prime minister and minister of intergovernmental affairs.
As part of that role, she was tasked with working directly with the provinces and, in particular, those in the West, to try to resolve differences and divisions.
We need to ‘really listen hard’ when it comes to the west: Freeland
Conservative critics have voiced skepticism about whether the federal government will be able to do that and the Ipsos polling suggests many Canadians feel the same.
Respondents were asked to indicate whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement that “the new federal government will do a good job uniting the country.”
Just 39 per cent said they agree, while 43 per cent disagreed.
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Those views were strongest – but opposite – in Alberta and Quebec.
Fifty-four per cent of Quebecers said they believe the current Liberal government will unite the country, while 65 per cent of Albertans said it would not.
But despite those numbers, sentiments in support of separatism remain low.
A total of 71 per cent of respondents rejected the statement that “my province would be better off if it separated from Canada.”
Only 19 per cent agreed.
Of those who agreed, the sentiment was stronger in Alberta (31 per cent) than in Quebec.
Just 26 per cent of respondents from la belle province said the same.
Exclusive Global News Ipsos polls are protected by copyright. The information and/or data may only be rebroadcast or republished with full and proper credit and attribution to “Global News Ipsos.” This poll was conducted between Dec. 3 and 5. For this survey, in total a sample of n = 1,002 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed using the Ipsos I-Say Panel. Quotas and weighting were employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians been polled.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Transportation Safety Board says a mistake by a Canadian Pacific Railway supervisor set off a crash between a freight train and a railway work vehicle in Cache Creek, B.C.
The board’s report says the supervisor was inspecting the main tracks on Dec. 29, 2022, in a vehicle that can operate on both roads and rail when he noticed a defect that needed repair.
It says that while the man was repairing the track, an eastbound freight train crashed into the unoccupied vehicle, but no one was hurt.
The board says that its investigation found when the supervisor noticed the problem, he requested a second permit allowing him to be on the tracks, but he cancelled the wrong permission, leaving the track he was working on unprotected.
The board says it issued a safety advisory to CP Rail, saying its verification procedures for cancelling electronic track occupancy permits were “less rigorous” than using their radio to cancel a permit.
The board says the railway has confirmed it had implemented safety changes, including enhancing its electronic application for such permits.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
REGINA – Scott Moe says his Saskatchewan Party would issue a directive banning “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls” if it forms government again on Oct. 28.
Moe says the move is in response to a recent complaint that some biological males changed for gym class with girls at a school in southeast Saskatchewan.
He says school divisions should already have change room policies, but a provincial policy would ensure all have the rule in place.
The Saskatchewan Party government passed legislation last year that requires parents consent to children under 16 using different names or pronouns at school.
The law has faced backlash from some LGBTQ+ advocates who argue it violates Charter rights and could cause teachers to out or misgender children.
NDP Leader Carla Beck has said if elected her party would repeal the legislation, and she says Moe’s proposed locker room policy would make already vulnerable kids more vulnerable.
Moe said a directive would come from his education minister.
“If we are re-elected, I’ll be very clear, there will be a directive that would come from the Minister of Education that would say that biological boys will not be in the change room with biological girls,” Moe said Thursday at an election campaign news conference in Regina.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
MONTREAL – Passengers riding on Via Rail’s most heavily travelled corridor may endure a slower trip after Canadian National Railway Co. imposed restrictions on Via’s new trains.
CN last Friday said that Via’s recently arrived Siemens trainsets running between Montreal and Windsor, Ont., must lower their speed at public crossings.
Via says the rule — previously in effect only between Montreal and Quebec City — is causing delays of about 30 minutes per train on average.
It says no incidents at level crossings have been reported since the 16 Venture trains now operating first hit the rails two years ago.
CN, which owns most of the tracks used by Via in Central Canada, says it made the decision when it learned the new trains were traversing routes they had previously steered clear of.
The company says that in order to maintain higher speeds through crossings, Via would need to add cars to the new trainsets in order to raise their axle count for reasons tied to signalling and speed detection.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
