Canadian attitudes to culture war topics lean about two to one against the cultural socialism position and mirror those in the United States and United Kingdom, according to a poll conducted by Maru Voice Canada on behalf of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI). “This said, the structure of Canadian public opinion indicates that there is considerable potential for right-of-centre parties to increase the salience of culture wars issues and a concomitant electoral risk that liberal and left-of-centre parties must manage,” said MLI researcher Eric Kaufmann in a blog post. When it comes to culture war issues, Kaufmann said Canadian opinions are almost identical to those in the US and UK. However, he said Canadians were less likely to call their country racist than Americans and Britons. Canadians opposed the idea of separating students in schools by race into privileged and oppressed by a margin of 92 to eight. They opposed teaching children biological sex is not real by 85 to 15. By a four to one margin, he acknowledged Canadians oppose attempts to cancel British gender critical feminists such as JK Rowling and Kathleen Stock. In a similar ratio, he said they oppose gender transitions in minors. By a 78 to 22 margin, Canadians agreed political correctness has gone too far. By a seven to three margin, they opposed the idea Canada is a racist country and do not want this idea taught in school. Seven-tenths of Canadians preferred a colour-blind rather than a colour-conscious approach to issues in society. Two-thirds of Canadians opposed removing statutes of former prime minister John A. Macdonald. By a two to one margin, Canadians said race is talked about too much. The same ratio said parents should be informed when minors change pronouns at school. When it comes to transgender women in women’s sports, two-thirds wanted them banned. More Canadians approved than disapproved of people displaying their pronouns. While younger Canadians were more woke than older ones, the generation gap was not as large as in the US or UK. Young Canadians were less likely than young Americans or Britons to describe their country as racist. People who have taken diversity training were more fearful of losing their jobs or reputations than those who have not. Those who have taken diversity training were more woke than those who have not.Heavy social media users were more woke. This is because they control for ideology, age and other factors. Kaufmann concluded by saying Canadians were three times more trusting of journalists than Britons and more than 50% more trusting than Americans. “These results suggest that conservative parties can gain electoral support by defending historical figures and symbols and resisting trans activist policies,” he said. “Parties on the left are advised to deflect or defuse such issues, as they may prove electorally costly.”This poll comes after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on January 31 changing genders is a decision that should be reserved for adults. READ MORE: WATCH: Smith says Alberta government to restrict gender transitions in minors“Making permanent and irreversible decisions regarding one’s biological sex while still a youth can severely limit that child’s choices in the future,” said Smith. “Prematurely encouraging or enabling children to alter their very biology or natural growth no matter how well-intentioned or sincere poses as a risk to that child’s future that I, as premier, am not comfortable with permitting in our province.”.The poll was conducted online among a representative randomized sample of 1,503 Canadian adults between September 18 and 20. It has a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
