August 3, 1995 For Immediate Release
ENVIRONICS POLL SHOWS INCREASING OPPOSITION TO BILL C-68
"Quebec and Ontario are the only provinces where support for Bill C-68 exceeds 50 percent."
Yorkton - Today, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, released results of a national poll on gun control conducted by the Environics Research Group Limited. The poll shows support for the Liberal's gun control bill has dropped to a new all-time low of 60 percent nationally and opposition increasing in the west and now even in Atlantic Canada. Quebec and Ontario are the only provinces where support for Bill C-68 exceeds 50 percent, mainly because of the strong support in the large urban centres. "If people in Toronto and Montreal want more gun control they should try it there first and not force it on law-abiding citizens in the rest of the country," suggested Breitkreuz.
Environics Research asked the following question as a part of their Focus Canada Survey (No.1995-2) - "As you may be aware, the federal government has proposed new gun control legislation. Based on what you have heard, seen or read about this, do you support or oppose the proposed new federal legislation?" Environics conducted personal interviews with 2,037 respondents between June 13 and July 9 and the national results are considered accurate to plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Here are some of the more interesting results:
- Only 44% of respondents in Atlantic Canada support Bill C-68;
- Support for the bill has dropped to 42% in Western Canada and 33% in the Prairie provinces;
- Support in Saskatchewan is the lowest of any province in Canada at 28%;
- If Quebec is excluded, support for Bill C-68 drops to just 54% in the rest of Canada;
- In communities with less than 5,000 residents only 46% support Bill C-68;
- Only 67% of Liberals support Rock's bill while 65% of Reformers oppose it;
For those concerned about the validity of the regional results because of the sample size, they should know that Angus Reid conducted a more extensive survey for CBC Saskatchewan in May asking exactly the same question and found 73% of the respondents opposed to Bill C-68 (56% were strongly opposed).
"These poll results show that public support for Bill C-68 is dropping fast as people find out more about the bill's many flaws," said Breitkreuz. "The Senate hearings are crucial to this public education process. Once Canadians are knowledgeable about the effects this costly, intrusive and ineffective piece of legislation will have on their lives, they will know that every MP and Senator who voted for Bill C-68 did so for partisan political reasons rather than represent their constituents' wishes," concluded Breitkreuz.
For a copy of the complete poll results please call: