Majority, including union members, approve of Bill C-377

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Majority, including union members, approve of Bill C-377

Most want bill to apply to business organizations as well

TORONTO July 8th, 2015 - In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll among 1200 Canadian voters, two thirds (62%) approve of Bill C-377, the legislation which requires unions to disclose expenditures and salaries. Just one fifth do not approve (18%), although this increases to more than a quarter among union members (28%). Even among this group, the majority (59%) approve of the bill.


Support for the bill is common to older Canadians (55 to 64 - 71%), males (65%) rather than females (58%), among federal Conservatives (81%), but not so much New Democrats (49%). Francophones are more supportive (69%) than Anglos (60%).

Wide majority want bill to apply to business organizations too

More than three quarters of voters (78%) agree the provisions of Bill C-377 should also apply to business organizations such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) or the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). This is the case even in households with no union members (76%). In fact, the only group among whom disagreement with this proposition exceeds one tenth is Albertans (21%).

"It is not surprising that a bill which calls for transparency would gather majority support, but the bill’s proponents should not in turn be surprised if voters see the bill being good for gander as well as goose. They may come to regret the innovative legislation they just passed," said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.

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.