46% of Canadians support use of Emergencies Act: Poll

Jane Stevenson - Yesterday 
Toronto Sun

Much like everything else in life right now, Canadians are divided over whether the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa could have been dispersed without Prime Minister using the Emergencies Act.

According to a new Angus Reid poll, 46% say use of the Act was necessary to give police the manpower necessary to break up the protest while others preferred an alternative.

Along party lines, 79% of past Liberal voters and 58% of past New Democrats supporters agreed with the use of the act.

But 34% of Canadians and 51% of past CPC voters felt it was unnecessary while 15% say that they don’t think any action was necessary.

Another 45% said the Emergency Act was a good example of how other governments should do it while 44% said it set a bad precedent for future governments.

In terms of provinces, 50% of Ontario residents, 49% of B.C. residents and 49% of Atlantic Canada said the Emergencies Act was necessary while 21% of Alberta residents and 23% of Saskatchewan residents said no action was necessary.

Along gender lines, 53% of men say the use of the act is a precedent-setting concern, compared to 34% of women who thought the same while 52% of the women said it was a good example of how the Act can be effectively used, compared to 38% of men.

Angus Reid conducted an online survey from May 4-6 of 1,992 Canadian adults with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.