A Leger poll has revealed that almost half of Canadians aren’t planning on doing anything to recognize Truth and Reconciliation Day, which takes place on Saturday Sept. 30.
This is the third year that the national holiday will be recognized since it was first announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2020.
The polling found that 48% of respondents said that they wouldn’t be doing anything to recognize the holiday.
A minority of respondents, only 23%, said they would wear an orange shirt in honour of First Nations communities and 15% said they planned to “actively listen to Indigenous people.”
Respondents who said they planned to have a conversation about Indigenous issues with their family was 12%, additionally 10% of parents said they planned to speak with their children about them.
Despite this, 63% of respondents said that they feel more aware now of Indigenous issues than they did five years ago. The same amount responded that they felt “moderate” progress had been made, regarding the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
“They’re being more informed and sort of becoming more aware of some of the issues around truth and reconciliation,” Leger’s executive vice president Andrew Enns told the National Post.
Provincially, 30% of Manitobans and Saskatchewans planned to recognize the day by wearing an orange shirt, with British Columbia just behind at 29%.
Ontarians and those in Atlantic Canada came in at 27%, similarly, Albertans polled at 25%.
Respondents in Quebec were least likely to show support, with only 10% saying they planned to wear orange on Saturday.
Respondents appeared divided on the issue of Truth and Reconciliation at large, 43% of Canadians say they are frustrated by the lack of progress on this front, while 57% believe there are more pressing issues to deal with, like drug addiction and housing.
“If that number keeps going up, that’s a bit of a concern for those who are really championing truth and reconciliation because maybe, you know, their specific arguments are starting to lose the traction that they maybe had earlier,” said Enns.
Enns also believes that there may be a disconnect between the opposing views on the matter, saying, “I think they want to see progress on reconciliation, they want to see, like, some real positive change so we can move on to some of these other big challenges.”
Of those aged 18 to 34, 54% said they felt that results on government promises regarding reconciliation have been relatively stagnant and 38% of respondents aged 35 to 54 agreed with that sentiment.
Less respondents over the age of 55 agreed, with only 39% saying that reconciliation is moving at pace that is disappointing.
The belief that Canadians are facing much bigger issues than reconciliation is mostly commonly held in the prairies, with 70% of respondents in Saskatchewan and Manitoba in agreement. Alberta is not far behind with 68% saying that is the case.
B.C. and Quebec matched at 56% with Atlantic Canada and Ontario coming in at 55% and 54% respectively.
There was a slight difference regarding the age of respondents who felt this way, with 54% being aged 18 to 34 and 57% being aged 35 to 54.
The cohort over the age of 55 felt the most strongly, at 60%.
The survey was conducted online and therefore no margin of error can be applied. A total of 1,652 Canadians responded.
