Respondents across the country—and in the City of Toronto—feel disgusted and ashamed after last weekend’s demonstrations.
Canadians and Torontonians think the federal government should be responsible for compensating the businesses that were negatively affected during the G20 summit in the country’s largest city, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
The online survey of representative samples of 1,003 Canadian adults and 503 adult residents of the City of Toronto finds that people hold negative views on the demonstrations that took place last weekend as the gathering of world leaders took place.
Summit and Protests
Three-in-ten Canadians (31%) and almost half of Torontonians (46%) say they followed the final communiqués from participating nations “very closely” or “moderately closely.” A majority of respondents across the country (53%) and four-in-five who reside in the G20 host city (86%) paid the same level of attention to the demonstrations.
Respondents were asked about their feelings on the demonstrations that took place in Toronto during the G20 summit. Two-thirds of Canadians (69%) are disgusted, 59 per cent are ashamed, 57 per cent are angry, and 54 per cent are sad. In Toronto, the proportion of respondents who reported negative feelings was higher (Disgust 81%, Anger 74%, Sadness 65%, Shame 61%).
Police Reaction and Compensation
When asked about the reaction of the police in Toronto to the demonstrations, two-thirds of Canadians (66%) and three-in-four Torontonians (73%) believe it was justified. In addition, 57 per cent of respondents across the country think it was a mistake to hold the G20 summit in Toronto—a view shared by 73 per cent of Toronto residents.
Toronto Mayor David Miller has said he will be asking the federal government to compensate businesses that suffered damages or had to close during the G20 summit in Toronto. An overwhelming proportion of Canadians (80%) and Torontonians (90%) agree with this course of action.
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)
CONTACT:
Jodi Shanoff, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs
+416 712 5498
jodi.shanoff@angus-reid.com
From June 28 to June 29, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,003 randomly selected Canadian adults and 503 City of Toronto adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1% for the Canadian sample, and 4.4 per cent for the Toronto sample, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult populations of Canada and the City of Toronto. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
I cannot believe the angst being shown by Toronto. If you feel you should not be a victim, then perhaps, you should have shown more responsibility. I am glad I left Toronto as it is now a city of whiners and criers. Perhaps, YOU SHOULD TRY CUBA!!
Not only does there need to be an enquiry to police conduct, but the Media needs to be held accountable for their misleading reports. Yes… there were over 2000 protesters, as CBC says, but reporting less than 10% is NOT the truth.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/07/01/toronto-g20-protest.html
@Ron. Get on-line (beyond the mainstream media) and see some of the disgusting tactics used by the police against legitimate protestors. This is not just about the few Black Bloc who caused minor problems. It is about the erosion of democratic rights by the Police: fear and intimidation to keep people quiet and to discourage legitimate protest.
There is much about this that stinks to high heaven and an enquiry is fully warranted. This Prime Minister has a lot to answer for with his failed $1.2 billion boondoggle security exercise. The police failed to respond to the Black Bloc even though they knew what they were up to, and then strong-armed and detained legitimate protestors. This is Canada, not China or the old Soviet Union. If we do not resist this we will soon become a police state under this government.