BURST
There has been much ballyhoo about this week’s Royal visit and, more importantly, King Charles III’s throne speech, heralded by many as a defining moment in Canada’s constitutional history that reinforces our sovereignty.
However, an Angus Reid Institute online poll last week discovered that Canadians are largely indifferent about the monarch’s speech to open Canada’s 45th Parliament. Asked if they were excited or didn’t care, 83 per cent of respondents chose the latter.
Throne speech full text: Read what King Charles III said about Canada’s sovereignty
Regionally, more people were chuffed about the King’s speech in Ontario (21 per cent) and Atlantic Canada (20 per cent) while Quebecers, unsurprisingly, were the least excited (10 per cent).
Even though Canadians would appear to be largely uninterested in the goings-on in Ottawa, 37 per cent see the first speech delivered by a monarch since Queen Elizabeth II in 1977 as a “good thing” (37 per cent) and not a “bad thing” (23 per cent).
But even among that positive cohort, 58 per cent conceded indifference to what would occur in the Canadian Senate on Tuesday.
“It should be noted, however, that a plurality (40 per cent) say they ‘aren’t sure’ quite what to make of the whole endeavour,” Angus Reid reported.
Broken down by sex and age group, women in the 55-plus demographic led the way in judging it to be good (45 per cent), followed by their male counterparts, who, along with men aged 35-54, led the way in deeming it bad (32 per cent).
Meanwhile, a majority (62 per cent) of 18- to 34-year-old women were unsure or couldn’t say one way or another.
The poll of 1,685 adults between May 20 and 23 also probed them on their views of the sovereign and the monarchy’s relationship to Canada now and in the future, noting that views “have been steadily declining over time.”
King Charles praises Canada’s ‘renewed sense of national pride’ in throne speech
The King’s own favourability has changed little in the years since his coronation, currently sitting at 29 per cent, though his unfavourability has declined from 54 per cent in April 2022 to 43 per cent in this round of polling.
Data also suggest that despite Charles being King of both Canada and the U.K., only 19 per cent view him as such and more women than men, across all age groups, regard him as solely British royalty.
Angus Reid also explored the King’s favourability and Canada’s future as a constitutional monarchy through a political lens and found that more Liberals than Conservatives had a positive opinion (39 per cent to 28 per cent) and think Canada’s connection to the Crown should be maintained “for generations to come” (39 per cent to 30 per cent).
“Under Carney, Liberal support for Canada’s system of constitutional monarchy has rebounded,” the firm wrote, highlighting the prime minister’s recent trip to Buckingham Palace where he extended the official invite.
Political affiliations aside, more Canadians (40 per cent) disagree with maintaining the status quo than don’t (30 per cent), while a quarter were on the fence.
Save for a brief bump upon the late Queen’s passing and her son’s coronation, support for a long-term constitutional monarchy has been continually declining since 2000, when it sat at 46 per cent. In 1978, according to Environics, support was gauged at 55 per cent.
As an online poll, there is no margin of error.