Women, young people more supportive of land acknowledgments by NHL teams: survey
Women, English speakers and young people are more likely to support land acknowledgments by hockey teams, according to a new survey commissioned by the Association for Canadian Studies.
The survey of 1,512 Canadians, conducted by Leger Marketing between Oct. 22 and 24, found that support for land acknowledgments was strongest in Ontario, where 52 per cent of respondents supported the acknowledgments and 29 per cent opposed them.
Support was weakest in Quebec, with 31 per cent of respondents in favour and 47 per cent opposed.
People in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were most likely to oppose the statements, with 49 per cent of respondents saying they don't support them, though support for the statements was slightly higher than in Quebec, at 33 per cent, due to a smaller percentage of respondents who are undecided.
The survey comes after a controversy over the Montreal Canadiens reading a statement before home games recognizing that they are playing on unceded Indigenous territory and thanking the Mohawk Nation for its hospitality.
Quebec's Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafreniere criticized the statement, saying it may have made a mistake when it named a specific people as it's unclear who were the first people to live in what is now Montreal.
That criticism was in turn denounced by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake.
Grand Chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer said in a statement that land is an essential part of Mohawk identity.
"It holds the knowledge of our ancestors, our history and our presence, now and for the future," Sky-Deer said. "Opinionated commentary that challenge and discredit our presence are not only insulting, they are taken as displaced attacks on our existence."
Following the controversy, a different version of the statement was read at a recent Canadiens home game, but the team did not respond to a request for comment about the changes from The Canadian Press.
The Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks are among the teams that also have land acknowledgments read before home games.
The survey also found stronger support for the acknowledgments among anglophones (46 per cent) than francophones (28 per cent) and among women (48 per cent) than men (38 per cent).
Broken down by age, support was strongest among people aged 18 to 24 (65 per cent) and weakest among those aged 55 to 64 (30 per cent).
In the Montreal region, the survey found similar results to the rest of the country.
Francophones were less likely to support the land acknowledgment (29.1 per cent in favour, 48.2 per cent opposed) than others (47.1 per cent in favour, 30.9 per cent opposed).
It also found stronger support for the acknowledgment among women (44 per cent) than men (27.9 per cent) and stronger support among people 18 to 24 than any other age group (77.8 per cent).
Surveys conducted using online panels cannot be assigned a margin of error because they are not considered truly random samples.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2021.
--
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
BREAKING Police cordon off Iran consulate in Paris where man threatens to blow himself up: French media
French police cordoned off the Iranian consulate in Paris on Friday, where a man was threatening to blow himself up, Europe 1 radio and BFM TV.
Some Canadian families will receive up to $620 per child today
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
BREAKING Iran fires at apparent Israeli attack drones near Isfahan air base and nuclear site
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an assault coming in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Ottawa to force banks to call carbon rebate a carbon rebate in direct deposits
Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
Ontario woman loses $15,000 to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a U.S. resident
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.