It isn't even close, a clear majority of Canadians think the governement is wrong and that the long-census form (you know, the incredible intrusive one as rcently discovered by all the Libertarians out there who NEVER mentionned it before...) should remain mandatory! This option has the majority in every province and, more surprisingly, in every party! Yes, even Conservatives voters think so by a margin of 53% versus 31%!
But let me guess, the data were badly collected I guess! lol
By the way, you may have heard of this other poll, by Ipsos-Reid. Why? Well, because this one showed that a majority of Canadians actually were split on the issue (49% support, 51% against). In order to be objective, I had to mention it.
So who is right? Well, two things: The poll from Angus-Reid had a very detailed question. But we don't know the question asked by Ipsos-Reid cause this pollster doesn't release its detailed methodology. My understandings is that the question from Ipsos was something along the lines "Do you support the decision of the federal governement?". If you look at question 1 of the Angus' poll, you see a very similar question and you can see that people are indeed split on this issue. So why the discrepancy between the two questions? I'm guessing the wording of the questions and answers did influence the respondents. In particular, one question asks if you support the government, while the other mentions the benefits of the census data. What is interesting though is to see that 52% (versus 27%) of people think the government should back off.
But let me guess, the data were badly collected I guess! lol
By the way, you may have heard of this other poll, by Ipsos-Reid. Why? Well, because this one showed that a majority of Canadians actually were split on the issue (49% support, 51% against). In order to be objective, I had to mention it.
So who is right? Well, two things: The poll from Angus-Reid had a very detailed question. But we don't know the question asked by Ipsos-Reid cause this pollster doesn't release its detailed methodology. My understandings is that the question from Ipsos was something along the lines "Do you support the decision of the federal governement?". If you look at question 1 of the Angus' poll, you see a very similar question and you can see that people are indeed split on this issue. So why the discrepancy between the two questions? I'm guessing the wording of the questions and answers did influence the respondents. In particular, one question asks if you support the government, while the other mentions the benefits of the census data. What is interesting though is to see that 52% (versus 27%) of people think the government should back off.
