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Environics Research Group

Canadian Attitudes toward DFO Issues

February 2003

METHODOLOGY

  • Survey of 2,000 adult Canadians on FOCUS CANADA Omnibus
    (ATL – 235; PQ – 501; ONT – 563; MB – 132; SK – 122; AB – 214; BC – 233)
     
  • Conducted January 2 to January 14, 2003
     
  • When speaking nationally, results are accurate to within ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence interval

FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

  • Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for the orderly management and conservation of Canada's fishery and marine resources. Fishers and other stakeholders earn direct benefits from these resources. Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree that people and businesses that profit directly from these resources should have a greater responsibility in the management, conservation, protection and sustainable use of these resources?
     
  Strongly agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree
Total 59 30 5 4
Alberta 65 29 3 2
Ontario 62 28 7 4
Atlantic 62 29 2 4
B.C. 60 25 5 7
Saskatchewan 58 30 7 3
Manitoba 57 30 7 3
Quebec 50 38 5 3
  • Men (62%) more likely than women (56%) to strongly agree.
     
  • Those with an annual household income between $60K-$80K (65%) also more inclined to feel strongly that stakeholders should have a greater responsibility in this area.

 OCEANS AND HABITAT

  • The federal government is committed to healthy oceans so that Canadians can continue to enjoy and benefit from them. The government developed Canada's Oceans Strategy to improve the management and protection of our oceans. Are you very, somewhat, not very, or not at all familiar with Canada's Oceans Strategy?
     
  Very familiar Somewhat familiar Not very familiar Not at all familiar
Total 2 13 27 58
English speaking 2 15 26 57
French speaking 3 8 31 57
  • The federal government is responsible for protecting fish habitat in Canada so that fish have healthy conditions to live, grow and reproduce. Are you very, somewhat, not very, or not at all familiar with the federal government's responsibilities in this regard?
     
  Very familiar Somewhat familiar Not very familiar Not at all familiar
Total 7 36 26 29
B.C. 10 48 21 21
Atlantic 12 42 23 22
Ontario 8 38 26 28
Saskatchewan 6 40 22 30
Alberta 5 39 29 26
Manitoba 4 39 24 32
Quebec 6 22 31 39
  • Familiarity is also relatively higher among Atlantic Canadians (23%), Canadians with less than high school education (23%), and Canadians 60 years of age and older (22%).
  • Residents of Saskatchewan (63% not at all familiar) and Torontonians (63%) most likely to indicate a total lack of familiarity with Canada’s Oceans Strategy.

AQUACULTURE

  • Aquaculture is the farming of fish and shellfish for food, such as salmon and oysters, which are cultivated instead of caught in the wild. Would you say that you are very, somewhat, not very, or not at all familiar with aquaculture as it was just described to you?
     
  Very familiar Somewhat familiar Not very familiar Not at all familiar
2000 9 30 21 39
2001 8 33 28 31
2003 15 38 25 22

 

  Very familiar Somewhat familiar Not very familiar Not at all familiar
Total 15 38 25 22
Atlantic 26 45 18 11
B.C. 18 57 12 13
Manitoba 16 44 18 20
Ontario 16 38 26 21
Alberta 13 41 25 21
Saskatchewan 12 34 30 22
Quebec 8 25 32 34
  • The federal government's role is to create a favourable climate for the responsible development of aquaculture. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being not at all important and 5 being very important, how would you prioritize government's role with respect to each of the following:
     
  Very important Somewhat important Neither important nor unimportant Not very important Not at all important
Conduct science / research on aquaculture and its impacts 35 28 24 8 3
Support responsible aquaculture development for local benefit 34 30 23 7 4
Regulate aquaculture industry 35 27 24 7 5
  • Percentage of respondents saying "very" or "somewhat" important to the previous question.
     
  Total Very familiar with aquaculture Somewhat familiar with aquaculture Not very familiar with aquaculture Not at all familiar with aquaculture
Support responsible aquaculture development for local benefit 64 75 67 66 51
Conduct science research on aquaculture and its impacts 63 77 70 59 47
Regulate aquaculture industry 62 73 66 60 52
  • Which of the following sources would you most likely use to obtain more information on aquaculture?
     
  Total Atl Que Ont Man Sask Alb B.C.
Environmental non-governmental orgs. 26 18 28 25 29 19 26 34
Aquaculture industry 23 29 23 24 26 29 28 15
Media 21 19 16 25 14 31 23 20
Federal government 13 13 17 14 10 4 8 10
Provincial government 10 14 12 7 12 11 9 15
Other 3 3 * 3 5 2 4 4
dk/na 3 2 3 3 6 3 1 2
  • Given your current level of knowledge in this area, do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree that the aquaculture industry is being properly regulated?
     
  Strongly agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree dk/na
Total 4 36 23 17 19
Atlantic 6 54 20 10 10
Quebec 7 40 23 11 19
Alberta 3 41 17 10 29
Saskatchewan 2 41 21 13 24
Ontario 4 35 24 13 24
Manitoba 2 31 32 15 20
B.C. 4 23 26 39 7

CANADIAN COAST GUARD

  • In general, are you very, somewhat, not very, or not at all familiar with the work done by the Canadian Coast Guard?
     
  Very familiar Somewhat familiar Not very familiar Not at all familiar
2000 6 34 36 23
2001 5 34 29 33
2003 6 37 31 26
  • Atlantic Canadians (67%), and British Columbians (60%) are most familiar with the work done by the CCG; Familiarity higher in small communities (48%). Familiarity is much lower in Quebec (24%) and Saskatchewan (30%).
     
  • Anglophones (50%) report higher levels of familiarity than do Francophones (25%).
     
  • Familiarity is very low among Canadians between 18 and 29 (29%); it is much higher among those between 45 and 59 (48%).
     
  • While a majority of Canadians with at least some university education (51%) report that they are familiar with the work done by CCG, those with less than a high school education (33%) are much less likely to make this same claim.
     
  • Using a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is not at all confident and 5 is very confident, how much confidence do you have in the Canadian Coast Guard's ability to do each of the following:
     
  Very confident Somewhat confident Neutral Not at all/not very confident dk/na
Marine search / rescue 34 34 20 9 3
Regulate / promote boating safety 29 34 22 10 4
Ice breaking / navigational aids 28 31 24 9 8
Marine communications / traffic 25 37 23 8 7
Respond to marine catastrophes 25 30 25 16 4
Navigable waters protection 20 30 30 15 6
Respond to oil spills 19 23 29 25 5
Waterways development 12 22 36 18 13
  • Percentage of respondents saying "very" or "somewhat" confident to the previous question.
     
  Ttl Atl Que Ont Man Sask Alb B.C.
Provide marine search and rescue 68 79 68 70 67 61 65 55
Regulate and promote boating safety 63 73 59 68 62 61 58 57
Provide services such as ice breaking / navigational aids 59 71 56 64 55 53 59 48
Provide marine comm / traffic services 62 69 77 66 59 59 56 60
Respond to marine catastrophes 55 65 52 57 52 59 49 51
Provide navigable waters protection 50 59 49 52 48 41 46 44
Respond to oil spills 42 59 42 43 36 49 37 35
Provide waterways development 34 38 46 33 28 28 26 22
  • The Government of Canada currently has a number of high-profile priorities such as health care and the environment, yet financial resources are limited. With this in mind, do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree that the Government should allocate additional funding to the Canadian Coast Guard?
     
  Strongly agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree dk/na
Total 31 45 13 5 6
B.C. 44 39 12 2 2
Atlantic 40 44 6 3 8
Ontario 32 51 9 1 7
Manitoba 29 45 18 3 5
Saskatchewan 28 50 14 2 6
Alberta 26 53 9 3 8
Quebec 22 37 22 13 6
  • More specifically, should the government spend more, less or the same on each of the following:
     
  More The same Less dk/na
Marine pollution response 65 28 3 5
Modernizing CG fleet 63 26 4 7
Marine search/rescue 60 34 2 5
Security and protection of the Arctic 45 40 6 8
Recreational boating safety 33 51 11 5
Navigational aids 31 54 6 10
Ice breaking 19 60 9 11

OFFICE OF BOATING SAFETY

  • Are you very, somewhat, not very, or not at all familiar with the Canadian Coast Guard's regulations that require operations of a motorized pleasure craft to possess proof of operator competency?
     
  Very familiar Somewhat familiar Not very familiar Not at all familiar
Total 39 37 11 13
B.C. 49 29 10 2
Atlantic 44 40 9 6
Ontario 44 32 10 13
Manitoba 43 45 4 8
Saskatchewan 34 37 10 16
Alberta 28 57 8 7
Quebec 25 39 19 18

MARSHALL DECISION

  • The federal government has the right and the responsibility to regulate Aboriginal fishing just like other fisheries so that conservation rules are applied to, and respected by, everybody. Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with this statement?
     
Strongly agree 56
Somewhat agree 29
Somewhat disagree 7
Strongly disagree 7
  • Opinions are relatively consistent across the various subgroups.
  • Strong agreement is most notable among Canadians between 45 and 59 years of age (62%), Atlantic Canadians (62%), Albertans (61%), Vancouverites (61%), the most affluent Canadians (61%), and those with a college education (61%).
  • Men (61%) much more likely than are women (51%) to strongly agree that the federal government should regulate Aboriginal fishing just like other fisheries. Aboriginals (33%) are much less likely to strongly agree with this notion.
  • Aboriginal people with established historical or treaty rights should have greater access to the fisheries in Canada than they do now. Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with this statement?
     
  Strongly agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree dk/na
Total 12 27 24 33 4
Ontario 17 32 23 24 4
Quebec 12 29 24 32 3
Atlantic 10 27 22 37 4
B.C. 9 19 26 43 3
Manitoba 8 24 25 38 5
Saskatchewan 7 23 19 48 4
Alberta 5 19 29 44 2
  • Do you agree or disagree with the way that the federal government is responding to the Supreme Court decisions relating to Aboriginal access to fisheries in Canada by:
     
  Agree Disagree dk/na
Negotiating fishing agreements 56 29 16
Enforcing fishery regulations 63 23 13
Preventing confrontations between \ Natives and non-Natives 57 29 14
Providing Aboriginal fishers\raccess to fisheries 47 39 15
  • In Atlantic Canada, the federal government is providing First Nations affected by the Supreme Court's Marshall decision with tools (boats, gear, training, etc.) to build their capacity and skills in the commercial fishery. Do you think it is very, somewhat, not very, or not at all important to continue these efforts?
     
  Very important Somewhat important Not very important Not at all important dk/na
Total 33 43 11 10 4
Ontario 37 45 9 7 3
Quebec 37 39 9 10 4
Saskatchewan 28 47 13 8 4
Alberta 26 48 8 14 4
B.C. 25 40 17 13 6
Atlantic 25 46 14 12 3
Manitoba 23 33 18 17 9
  • Do you think the federal government is properly managing its response to the Marshall decision in Atlantic Canada?
     
  Yes No dk/na
Total 30 33 36
Saskatchewan 39 28 33
Atlantic 36 41 23
Quebec 34 24 42
Alberta 31 36 33
Ontario 29 35 36
Manitoba 25 37 37
B.C. 21 40 39
   

Last updated : 2004-09-01

Important Notices