While pro-Palestinian encampments have been popping up at university campuses across the country this spring, fewer than one-third of Canadians support the demonstrations, according to a national poll.
Forty-eight percent of Canadians polled by Leger this month said they are opposed to the encampments erected in support of Palestine, compared to the 31 percent who support them. Another 21 percent of those surveyed were unsure or had no opinion.
Forty-four percent of respondents said the encampments should be dismantled because they could pose a threat to campus and student safety, while 33 percent said they should only be dismantled if protestors voice anti-Semitic views or encourage hate speech. The remaining 23 percent said the campus camps should be “tolerated and accepted as a form of free speech and freedom,” according to the poll.
Opinions were divided by age, with young Canadians aged 18 to 34 least likely to oppose the encampments. Only 28 percent of the youngest age group polled were against the encampments compared to 66 percent of those aged 55 and older.
Opposition to the camps was highest in Manitoba and Saskatchewan at 56 percent, followed by British Columbia at 54 percent, and Quebec at 51 percent. The province with the highest level of support was Alberta at 34 percent.
When questioned about anti-Semitic speech, only 17 percent of respondents said they had heard such comments either publicly or from colleagues or acquaintances compared to 73 percent who had not. The remaining 9 percent were unsure.
Demonstrators in Canada have erected encampments at universities in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Calgary, where police forcibly removed participants from campus on the evening of May 9.
The protestors have vowed to stay put until the universities meet their demands. One of the most common demands is the disclosure of the schools’ investments in companies profiting from Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Several of the schools are taking legal action against the protesters.
