A new Ipsos poll shows growing support for the trucker convoy and freedom protestors.
The survey, which was commissioned by Global News, found that 46% of respondents said that the grievances expressed by the protestors are “legitimate and worthy” of sympathy.
When asked exclusively of 18 to 34 year-olds, support shot up to 61%.
“It’s not that people are tired. They’re very frustrated. And what’s happened is that this protest has become a lightning rod for that frustration,” Ipsos CEO Darrell Bricker told Global News.
“Canada has one of the highest levels of vaccination, so Canadians have listened and complied…yet we’re still stuck. They feel they’ve done whatever it is that they were asked to do and they feel that we still haven’t gotten back on track.”
Support for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to not meet and negotiate with the convoy is also not strong. Only 53% of respondents said they agreed with his decision to shun them.
“The other half of Canadians say that he should be at least giving it a try,” said Bricker. “So the level of support behind the government in terms of the position that they’ve taken regarding these protests is not strong. It’s quite divided and fragile, and where it seems to be going is against what the government’s position is.”
“So saying that you’re not going to negotiate…is something that’s going to be difficult to sustain over time.”
The online poll was conducted between Feb. 8 and Feb. 9 and included a sample of 1,000 Canadians over the age of 18. A similar weighted poll would be accurate to within +/- 3.5%.
The number of Canadians who support the convoy is up since last week.
A poll conducted by Leger from Feb. 4 to 6 found that 44% of Canadians agreed with the trucker convoy’s frustrations.
The same percentage said that Trudeau and Canada’s premiers “share the blame for the protest in Ottawa because of their condescending attitude toward Canadians who disagree with vaccine mandates and lockdowns.”
Truckers have been protesting in Ottawa for two weeks now, and the city is expecting further demonstrations over the weekend.
Ontario premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency on Friday over the continuing protests as well as the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge on the Detroit-Windsor border.
