US court
ruling boosts approval of same sex marriage in Canada
Increase in approval seen among oldest
TORONTO June 29th,
2015 - In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among
1221 Canadian adults immediately after the US Supreme Court ruled in its
favour, 7-in-10 approve of same sex marriage (70%), and this is a very slight
increase overall since the last time we polled this (March 2015 - 68%). One
quarter disapprove of same sex marriage now (22%) and then (24%). Just fewer
than one tenth don’t have an opinion (8% both waves).
While the
increase overall is slight, it is interesting that it is concentrated in older
age groups (55 to 64 - 62% to 66%, 65+ - 53% to 59%) and males (62% to 67%),
groups that traditionally resist tolerance. Quebec has seen an increase in
approval (68% to 78%), while BC has seen a drop (75% to 63%).
Disapproval of
same sex marriage is common to the oldest (30%), the less wealthy ($20K to $40K
- 33%), in Alberta (33%), the least educated (31%) and, especially, among
Conservatives (41%).
"While the Supreme Court’s
decision may not have had a significant effect overall, it has moved the needle
among important groups who formerly were resistant to acceptance of same sex
marriage, the older males in lower income brackets," 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.
