An Angus Reid poll published this morning indicates that 54% of Canadians agree or strongly agree with the statement “It’s time to end restrictions and let people self-isolate if they’re at risk” [from COVID-19]. Conducted January 27 and 28 in the context of the peak of the Omicron variant, changing public health messaging, and the Freedom Convoy 2022, a total of 1,688 respondents were asked about their experiences with COVID-19 testing, infection and symptoms, as well as the way forward.
In comparison to the Angus Reid Institute’s previous poll less than three weeks earlier, the proportion supporting the end of restrictions grew from 40% to 54%, with another 5% or 6% unsure. The proportion of those in favour of holding on to restrictions dropped correspondingly, from 55% to 40%. If this trend continues, my predictive modeling indicates that Canada will be 100% ready for a return to normal before the end of March.
Despite the promising overall results, the Angus Reid poll also shows some interesting, if not concerning, patterns. To paraphrase Asterix the Gaul, Canada is waking up… well, not entirely! The geographic and age/gender distributions of the snapshot give reason to pause.
Geographically, the province of Sasketchewan leads Free Canada with 62% of respondents supporting an end of COVID-19 restrictions, followed by 59% in Quebec and 57% in Alberta. The high value in La Belle Province constrasts sharply with Premier Legault’s plans to establish a penalty tax for unvaccinated Quebeckers. Premier Kenney of Alberta should be comforted in his on and off efforts to pursue a moderate pandemic response and an actual plan to lift restrictions.
A majority of 54% of Ontarians would support an end of this province’s restrictions, and there is some hope that Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, is preparing an exit strategy with recent remarks around “learning to live with the virus”. The geographic outlier in the poll are the Atlantic provinces though; only 40% of respondents there support an end of restrictions. I am not too familiar with that region’s culture or pandemic experience—maybe some readers will offer their insights in the comments.
Lastly, we’ll look at the age and gender distribution of responses. All but one broad age/gender group support the end of restrictions at 50% to 67%, with that highest value obtained from 35-54 year old males. All male age groups are clearly more supportive to opening the country than their female counterparts. The outlier and the only group with less than majority support are females aged 55 and older. This makes it less surprising that many of Canada’s leading public health bureaucrats advocating for unproven lockdowns and ineffective inoculations are women in that age range, or approaching it.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Prime Minister continues touting the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 injections and pursuing a total vaccination approach, while in isolation at home due to contact with an infected individual and now testing positive himself. Trudeau seems increasingly out of touch with the growing number of Canadians who for one reason or another are getting over their exaggerated fears and are getting ready to celebrate the end of all pandemic measures and mandates. He makes every effort to taint the Freedom Convoy 2022 using isolated incidents of hatred and violence that occurred at the fringe of the massive weekend rally in Ottawa. Let’s hope that the federal and provincial governments won’t be too far behind in waking up from the nightmarish pursuit of a narrow set of experimental solutions to a perfectly manageable problem.