A majority of Canadians support calling on Queen Elizabeth II to apologize for the Church of England's role in Canada's residential school system, according to a new survey from Nanos Research.
Commissioned by Â鶹´«Ã½, the nationwide public opinion poll also found respondents were mostly divided on their support for the British monarchy, with four in 10 wanting to sever ties.
RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS APOLOGY
Queen Elizabeth is the Supreme Governor and head of the Church of England, which operated approximately in Canada between 1820 and 1969, second only to the Roman Catholic Church. Having served on the throne since 1952, Queen Elizabeth is the longest-serving monarch in British history. Beginning Thursday, the United Kingdom is celebrating her with four days of festivities.
"Canadians are two times more likely to support rather than oppose calling on Queen Elizabeth II as Canada’s monarch and leader of the Church of England to apologize for their role in Canada’s residential school system," the report from Nanos said.
Sixty-two per cent of respondents supported or somewhat supported calling on the Queen of Canada to apologize. Only 30 per cent opposed or somewhat opposed the proposal. Respondents in Ontario and B.C. were more likely to support it than those in the Prairies and Quebec.
CANADA AND THE MONARCHY
When it comes to Canada's longstanding ties to the monarchy and its representative, the Governor General, Canadians were much more divided.
"Canadians are split on their support for Canada cutting ties with the monarchy but changing the Governor General from being the representative of monarchy to an independent Canadian head of state appointed by the government," the Nanos study said.
Countries with similar systems include Austria, Israel, Italy and Turkey.
Forty-two per cent of respondents supported or somewhat supported the idea, compared with 48 per cent who opposed or somewhat opposed it. Quebec residents were nearly three times more likely to indicate support than those in the Prairies.
The Nanos survey also asked about establishing something like a U.S.-style presidential system.
"Canadians are slightly more likely to oppose or somewhat oppose rather than support or somewhat support Canada cutting ties with the monarchy and having the prime minister become the both the head of the government and the head of state replacing the Governor General," the survey said.
Fifty-one per-cent opposed or somewhat opposed this, versus 43 per cent who supported or somewhat supported. Canadians ages 55 and up were more than two times more likely to oppose than younger Canadians.
It was unclear if respondents supported opening the constitution to discuss cutting ties to the monarchy, which has long been a delicate subject in Canadian politics.
"Canadians are divided on whether now is a good or poor time for Canada to discuss cutting ties with the British monarchy, with about four in ten each who say it is a very good/good or poor/very poor time to do so," the report said.
SUPPORT FOR COMMONWEALTH
Support for the Commonwealth was much stronger than support for the monarchy itself. More than three in five respondents, or 61 per cent, opposed or somewhat opposed withdrawing from the 54-member Commonwealth, which are mostly former British colonies like Canada.
Many members, like Barbados and Sri Lanka, maintain Commonwealth ties despite becoming republics and removing Queen Elizabeth as their head of state. Respondents in Quebec were more likely to support such a measure than those in the Prairies, B.C. and Ontario.
METHODOLOGY
Nanos conducted the hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,001 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between May 26 and 30, 2022 as part of an omnibus survey. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone using live agents and administered a survey online. The sample included both land- and cell-lines across Canada. The results were statistically checked and weighted by age and gender using the latest Census information, and the sample is geographically stratified to be representative of Canada. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
If you are a former residential school survivor in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.
