More Favour Abolishing the Monarchy than Not
Majority don’t want Prince Charles as Head of State
In a random sampling of
public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 1429 Canadian voters, slightly
more favour abolishing the monarchy in Canada upon the death of the current
Queen (43%) than oppose this idea (40%). Support for ending our ties to the
Crown is common to younger (46%) and older (46%) mid age groups, mid income
groups ($40K to $60K - 48%), in Quebec (73%), among New Democrats (55%),
Francophones (75%), the best educated (post grad - 47%), among those who have
ever used marijuana (51%) and still do (55%) and among gun owners (49%).
Since we
last polled this question, there has been a slight change from supporting the
monarchy to calling for its abolition. In March, 2015, more than 4-in -10
supported the monarchy (45%) while fewer wanted to see it end (39%). This year,
those proportions are reversed.
Majority don’t want Charles to succeed to Canadian throne
The majority of Canadian
voters disagree Prince Charles should become Canada’s Head of State upon the
death of the current Queen (54%), and just 3-in-10 think he should (29%). Fewer
than a fifth don’t have an opinion (17%) . Opposition to the current Prince of Wales
becoming Head of State is common to Boomers (55 to 64 - 60%), the wealthy ($80K
to $100K - 58%), in Quebec (70%), among New Democrats (59%), Francophones
(71%), among marijuana users (59%) and among gun owners (60%).
The
percentage who do not wish to see Charles become Head of State has stayed
stable since last year (March, 2015 - 54%).
“We have been polling this
increasingly urgent constitutional issue since the beginning of 2012, and
sentiment doesn’t change much; there is an even split in opinion, more or less,
on whether to retain the Canadian monarchy or not. There is a substantial
majority opinion, though, also relatively unchanged, that Charles should not
succeed the Queen as Head of State in this country. It is unlikely the Prince
of Wales will abdicate before he succeeds, which means Canadians may be stuck
with a monarch the majority don’t want" 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.
