Should the Canadian Senate be abolished? 50% surveyed say yes.
November 8, 2013 – The suspension of three Conservative senators embroiled in a spending scandal has done nothing to end questions over the affair or quiet the calls for Senate reform, a new survey by Angus Reid Global finds.
According to half (50%) of Canadian adults polled, the red chamber should be abolished altogether, while 43% believe the Senate should be reformed. Only seven per cent say the institution should be left as is.
Fewer than one-third of respondents (27%) say the suspensions of Senators Patrick Brazeau, Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin marks an end to the scandal. The rest (73%) say there are still important questions and issues that need to be answered by the Senate and the Prime Minister’s Office.
“When those responses are broken down by political affiliation however, Conservative Party supporters are the most split,” says Shachi Kurl, Vice President, Angus Reid Global. “Just over half of respondents, 55 per cent, say there are still questions to be answered, while 45 per cent say the matter is closed and it’s time to move on.”
When it comes to offering opinions of whether they perceived the roles of key people and organizations involved in the Senate spending scandal as either “honest and constructive” or “dishonest and obstructive”, respondents were reserved the harshest judgment for the senators involved, followed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and the Prime Minister’s office overall.
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology
On November 7th 2013, Angus Reid Global conducted an online survey among 1,511 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The margin of error – which measures sampling variability – is +/- 2.42%.
