Massive New Poll: 56% of Canadians Oppose Morgentaler Order of Canada

Poll called 157,115 Canadian households, yielding over 13,000 respondents - Results weighted in regional proportions

July 22, 2008

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08072202.html


(LifeSiteNews.com) - A random telephone poll of Canadian households with 13,324 respondents conducted between July 17-21, 2008 has revealed that 55.8% of Canadians oppose the awarding of the Order of Canada to abortionist Henry Morgentaler.

The national poll commissioned by Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) and just completed, by KLRVU polling has a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of 1.5%. The data is accurate 19 times out of 20. A breakdown of votes by province is provided.

Beginning with a wave on the east coasts of Newfoundland, ebbing slightly in Quebec and then continuing with a surge in Ontario right to the west coast-the tide of opinion against awarding abortionist Henry Morgentaler has risen, dramatically.

"Whatever side of the abortion debate you are on, many Canadians from all walks of life felt this appointment went way too far and offended too many," said Jim Hughes National President of CLC. "The mass media coverage of the Morgentaler award has given us the largest abortion debate this country has seen in twenty years, and Canadians when they are forced to think about abortion realize it is horrible."

In every region of the country opinion has soured considerably. Ontario is now 58 percent against honoring the infamous abortionist, with the prairies and the Atlantic provinces having two thirds of its citizens against. Even in Quebec support for Morgentaler has dropped to 53 percent.

"Clearly the waves of offended Canadians speaking out have had an impact," says Mary Ellen Douglas, National Organizer CLC. "When a former Lieutenant Governor speaks out and returns his 'Snowflake', disavowing himself from the Order, undoubtedly that is going to have an effect."

Opinion has become the most negative in the Atlantic with Nova Scotia leading the way at 68 percent against. The substantial size of the sample gives some unique insights into the regions. For instance over 400 people were surveyed in Newfoundland alone, even the territories were sampled. With over 13,000+ participants, this survey speaks definitively on the opinion within the country.

Province/Territory: Percentage Against:

BC: 55%

AB: 64%

SK: 65%

MB: 66%

ON: 58%

QC: 47%

NB: 62%

NS: 68%

PEI: 67%

NL : 64%

NWT /NT : 57%

YK : 57%

The Question: "Do you believe abortionist Henry Morgentaler deserves the Order of Canada Press 1 for Yes Press 2 for No"
A French script was used for the province of Quebec.

The extensive scientific poll called 157,115 Canadian households, yielding over 13,000 respondents and the results were weighted in regional proportions. Results have a margin of error of +/- 1.5%, 19 times out of 20. The subgroups may have larger margins of error based on concentration of population. The Targeted Population was Canadian households, respondents were a result of a households that were selected at random, using a random algorithm provided by INFOLIST Canada, of Toronto, ON. Responses were weighted according to geographical area, so that the sample would reflect the actual demographic proportions in the population, using most recent Statistics Canada estimates.

How this poll was conducted: This KLRVU poll was conducted by touchtone technology which polls households across Canada. Using this technology with the voice of a professional announcer all respondents heard the questions asked identically. In theory, with the stated sample size, one can say with 95% certainty that the results would not vary by more than the stated margin of sampling error, in one direction or the other. There are other possible sources of error in all surveys that may be more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. These include refusals to be interviewed, question wording and question order, weighting by demographic control data and the manner in which respondents are filtered (such as, determining who is a likely participant). It is difficult to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

Fieldwork for this survey was done by KlrVu Research of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Based in Winnipeg, KLRVU Research is a privately owned polling company working private firms since 2006 research services. Core services include research, data collection and macro polling services.

Campaign Life Coalition, together with many other organizations, will continue to urge Canadians to call the Governor General's office and insist that the award be revoked.