CC Image courtesy of CSaint Lin: https://bit.ly/2KeL1Q1
Anglophones More Worried About
Their Place in Québec Than Before
Toronto, July 30th, 2019 – In a
random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 977 Quebecers, the majority of anglophones
(n=126)(BTM2: 81%) are more worried about their rights as an English-speaking
citizen of Québec than they were
2 years ago, with half (52%) saying they are much more worried.
1 in 5 anglophone Quebecers (TOP2: 19%) say they
are less worried about their rights as an English-speaking citizen of Québec compared to 2 years ago, but few (2%) say
they are much less worried.
Anglophone Quebecers say Their
Government is Doing a Worse Job Protecting Their Rights Than 2 Years Ago
The majority of English-speaking Quebecers
(BTM2: 83%) say the Québec government is doing a worse job protecting the
rights of anglophones in Québec than it was 2 years ago, with over half (54%)
saying the government is doing much worse.
1 in 6 anglophone Quebecers (TOP2: 17%), say the
government is doing a better job, with 1 in 6 (16%) saying a bit better.
Strong Consensus Among Anglophone
Quebecers who Think Their Government is Doing a Bad Job Attracting and
Retaining English-Speaking People to Québec
There is a strong agreement among anglophone
Quebeckers that the current Québec government is doing a bad job of attracting,
and retaining, English-speaking people to the province (BTM2: 92%), with 3 in 5
(63%) saying the government is doing a very bad job.
Fewer than 1 in 10 anglophone Quebecers say the Québec
government is doing a good job (TOP2: 8%), with few (2%) saying they’re doing a
very good job.
Anglophones in Québec say Services
for Them Have Gotten Worse
The majority of anglophones in Québec (BTM2:
66%) say services for English-speaking citizens are worse than they were 2
years ago, with a third (34%) saying the services are much worse.
1 in 6 anglophones in Québec (TOP2: 16%) say
services are better compared to 2 years ago, with 1 in 20 (5%) saying it’s much
better.
One-fifth (18%) say there is no change in
services for English-speaking citizens from 2 years ago.
Quebecers divided on whether the
government should focus on attracting people that speak languages other than
French
Half (TOP2: 53%) of all respondents (anglophone
and francophone) say it is important for the Québec government to focus on
attracting people from other provinces or countries that speak a variety of
languages other than French, with over a quarter (27%) saying it is very
important.
Respondents most likely to say it is important
include those aged 65 and over (61%), voting Liberal in the provincial election
(73%), voting Liberal in the federal election (66%), living in Québec City
(58%), Montreal (55%), and North Shore (55%), and anglophones (81%)
About half (BTM2: 47%) say it is not important
for the government to attract people from other provinces or countries that
speak languages other than French, with a quarter (26%) saying it’s not
important at all.
Respondents most likely to say it is not
important include those aged 35 to 44 (56%), voting PQ (58%) or CAQ (55%) in
the provincial election, voting BQ in the federal election (71%), living in
South Shore (53%) the least wealthy (54%), those earning $60k-$80k (51%), and
those earning $80k-$100k (54%).
“Anglophones are concerned about
their place in Québec right now,” said Dr.
Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “They feel much less secure than they
did two years ago. How the government approaches this challenge will be
interesting to watch, as they have a very strong base of support amongst
Francophones.”
