Most Canadians believe it's okay to protest at city hall and public buildings, but are less sure about hospitals, schools, and places of worship, a new poll finds, noting protesters themselves are more likely to call most places fair game.As administrators at McGill University this week declared a pro-Palestinian encampment on its grounds “illegal”, the vast majority of Canadians say protesting on university campuses is “acceptable” (81%) either in the absence of an exclusion zone (37%) or with one defined and in place (44%.)New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds broad acceptance of demonstrations at public buildings — such as city halls (92% acceptable) and embassies (87%) but more resistance to demonstrations at hospitals (43%) and abortion clinics (40%).And while 45% say it is never acceptable to protest at a public school, 49% disagree. Division also exists about the acceptability of protesting at or near houses of worship — 54% say it is fine, 39% disagree. Most of those who see protesting these locations to be acceptable also express a preference for a buffer zone.Majority opposition for any protest is noted for hospitals and abortion clinics. Many jurisdictions have implemented exclusion zones for both in recent years. Among those who say demonstrations at hospitals or abortion clinics are okay, more tilt towards the requirement of a buffer or exclusion zone between protesters and the institution itself. Men under 54 years of age are more likely than other Canadians to believe it's acceptable to protest in front of abortion clinics or hospitals, especially those 18-34.Older Canadians are more likely to believe more locations should be off-limits to protesters. Also, three-quarters of Canadians who have protested in the past six months say it is okay to protest in front of a hospital while one-third of those who have never protested in their lives say the same.The Angus Reid Institute asked respondents about the acceptability of protests in a number of spaces around their own and others’ communities. Choices ranged from completely acceptable, to acceptable with a so-called “exclusion or safe zone” of 50 meters, to completely unacceptable. In Canada, exclusion zones have become common in recent years to protect schools, medical clinics, and other public infrastructure from disruption due to protests.In some cases, Canadians say protest should be allowed without restriction. Four areas draw higher levels of support for this than others — city hall (51%), public squares or parks (44%), embassies 40%), and university campuses (37%). There is still, however, a sense that in each of these cases, an exclusion zone of 50 metres to remove protesters out of particularly disruptive spaces is necessary. Overall, at least four-in-five Canadians feel that each of those venues are reasonable places to protest..Past Liberal and Conservative voters find common ground in their perspectives of where protest is acceptable. With the exception of abortion clinics, responses from 2021 Liberal and CPC voters are nearly identical, with a majority saying they feel it is unacceptable to protest at hospitals, public schools, and at the residences of public figures. Past NDP and BQ voters are much more permissive in most cases..Among the more than 1,700 Canadian adults who participated in this survey, approximately 10% say they have recently taken part in a protest, themselves. Half of these individuals (46%) say that abortion clinics are off limits, but few other locations cause this group much consternation.
