Majority Thinks America Gets Best Result from NAFTA
Overwhemling majority think publicly held personal
information should be kept on Canadian servers only
Toronto,
August 28th – In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ amongst
1150 Canadian voters, about half (51%) think that the United States will get
the best result from the renegotiations of NAFTA. Just under two in ten (17%)
say Canada will emerge with the best results, and a small proportion say (4%)
it will be Mexico.
More
than a quarter (28%) say they do not know which nation will get the best
result.
Respondents
most likely to say that the United States will get the best result include
those aged 55-65 (58%), males (58%), earning $80,000-$100,000 (60%) or the most
wealthy (58%), living in the prairies (MB/SK) (68%), supporting the
Conservatives (63%) or NDP (62%), and those with a university/college (53%) or
post-graduate degree (55%).
Respondents most
likely to say that it will be Canada that gets the best result include those
aged 34 and younger (20%) and 65+ (22%), the least wealthy (32%), living in
Quebéc (25%), and supporting the Liberals (28%).
United States wants
to keep Canadian public data on US servers, Canadians say no
As a component of NAFTA negotiations, the United States has proposed
that Canada allow its publicly-held personal information to be stored on US
servers.
A strong majority of Canadians, more than eight in ten, (85%) say
that publicly-held information should be kept on Canadian servers only. Only
(7%) say that publicly held information should be allowed on US servers, tied
with those who do not know at just under one in ten (9%).
The plurality believe neither Canadian nor American
servers are secure
When given a choice between American or Canadian servers to store
their publicly-held data, and asked which was the most secure, the plurality
(38%) said that neither American nor Canadian servers were secure. A third
(33%) believe Canadian servers are the most secure, while just over one in ten
(15%) say that they are equally secure. Only (7%) say that American servers are
the most secure, the same proportion as do not know (7%).
Respondents most likely to say neither Canadian nor American servers
are secure include those aged 55-64 (45%) or 65+ (44%), earning $60,000-$80,000
(44%), supporting the Bloc Quebécois (55%), with some college/university (43%)
or a post-graduate degree (45%).
Respondents most likely to say Canadian servers are most secure
include those aged 34 and younger (35%), aged 35-44 (35%), 45-54 (37%), the
least wealthy (39%) or the most wealthy (37%), living in Alberta (43%),
supporting the Liberals (39%), with some college/university (34%) or a
college/university degree (35%)
“As negotiations commence, there are many
NAFTA considerations in doubt, but one that isn’t is that a majority of
Canadians feel that the US is going to come out ahead when they conclude. One
move that would be massively unpopular, however, is for Canada to relent and
change its policy to allow Canadians’ personal information to be stored on US
servers,” said
Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research.
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
