The COVID-19 pandemic has caused Canadians to have an “increased distrust of government and science,” according to a report by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
The report, based on questionnaires with 2,088 Canadians and 16 focus groups nationwide, noted that less than one quarter (22 percent) of those surveyed said they were more likely to trust federal agencies since the pandemic.
“In discussion around how their trust in information sources had been affected by their pandemic experience, there were few who indicated their trust in any source had increased and many who indicated having lost trust,” said the PHAC report, titled “The Impact of the Pandemic Experience on Future Vaccine-Related Intentions And Behaviour.”
Reviewed by Blacklock’s Reporter, the study said the “increased distrust” toward government spanned across federal, provincial and municipal levels.
“Some non-health care professionals felt less trust in one level of government or another,” researchers wrote.
‘Admit Your Mistakes’
Asked what remedy might be needed to restore their trust in governments, the respondents suggested “being honest and admit your mistakes.”“People want factual, balanced, unbiased and politically neutral information that includes source attribution,” the report said.
The study indicated that about a fifth of Canadians (17 percent) said they were less likely to trust the Canadian government than prior to the pandemic.
“A recurring theme in conversations was trust in various levels of government, in particular among non-health care professionals,” it said.
The findings followed a 2022 research study by the Privy Council Office (PCO) which found that less than half of Canadians (42 percent) had a high degree of trust in federal institutions.
Canadians were more likely to trust their family, friends, and social media, according to the study, titled “Misinformation And Disinformation,” obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
The PCO research had sought to study the question of “who believes and spreads misinformation in the first place and why.” It also wanted to know if interventions by the federal government “work similarly for different sub-groups of people.”
The research found that on average the respondents who trust institutions are those who “are significantly older, more educated and have higher income.”
However, there were 35 percent who were defined as “high social media trusting”—meaning they had more faith “in social media, family and friends” than government announcements.
The PCO report said that solely relying on “traditional top-down approaches” to regulate content is no longer sufficient to limit “the immediate dangers of misinformation.”
“Innovative policy-making tools such as behavioural science can help provide immediate and long term solutions to misinformation,” it said.
