Canadians don’t want their police defunded, says a federal study.Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s department commissioned confidential research on defunding the police, Blacklock Reporter says..Contrary to the much public sentiment in the U.S., data collected through this survey said “police should get more money, not less.”.But the study of 2,590 Canadians shows they “are divided in their preferences for police funding models.”.The survey cost the Department of Public Safety $114,513, and was carried out by Environics Research..Results were very close together, 29% said police funding should be increased, 27% said current budgets should be maintained, and 28% “would prefer to see police budgets and staffing reduced with the money reallocated to social services.”.Immigrants and Canadians over the age of 60 reported the most positive views of police, while university graduates and young people under the age of 29 viewed the police least favourably..Only 1% of Canadians believe adding “social workers to assist police officers” is a priority..Across Canada, wishes to increase police budgets began at 40% in BC and dwindled to 24% in Ontario and Quebec. Alberta followed BC closely with 39%, while Saskatchewan and Manitoba each yielded 33% and 32% respectively..The main focus of the study was following Black Lives Matter rallies stemming from the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 2020 by police..In early July 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knelt outside Parliament Hill alongside protestors, resulting in counter-protests from the RCMP Veterans’ Association..The Association expressed its anger with Trudeau in a letter saying: “The Prime Minister and all members of Parliament who try to gain political points on the back of RCMP members should show some discomfort and embarrassment.”.The letter went on saying: “In fact, they should have asked for explanations and valid and dependable statistics before identifying our members as racist and, by doing so, humiliating us by kneeling down as if demanding pardon for our renowned organization that has served our country with honour, integrity, and devotion for the last 147 years.”.The survey found only three in ten Canadians significantly believed bias is an issue in Canadian law enforcement while 22% called bias in law enforcement a minor issue or no problem at all..“Only ten percent called it ‘a very big problem’.”.Environics Research said the survey was intended to “better assess the Canadian public’s understanding of bias sensitivity considerations in national security and law enforcement.”.Jackie Conroy is a reporter for the Western Standard.jconroy@westernstandardonline.com
