Canadians demand Indigenous people fight for rights quietly, where no one sees them: poll

February 20, 2020
Indigenous people march holding a banner that reads RCMP OFF WETSUWETEN LAND

Canadians are okay with Indigenous people fighting for their rights, so long as they do it quietly where no one can see them.

That’s according to the results of a new poll released on Wednesday.

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“We really tapped the pulse of the nation for this one,” said Barry Geal, CEO of polling firm Wypipo-Reed. 

“It’s pretty clear, if it isn’t hockey-related or the participants don’t have yellow vests, then Canadians can’t bear to be inconvenienced.”

The poll finds that many Canadians believe that if Indigenous people want to advance their rights, they should do so by writing letters to someone — just like the civil rights movement did.

It’s a sentiment echoed across the country.

“Look, I’m all for Indigenouses having their rights or whatever,” said Regina resident Bianca Puro. “I just don’t like, you know, being inconvenienced or seeing them or anything.”

This is just latest in a series of major polls conducted by Wypipo-Reed since 2020. The most recent survey published in October suggested that some 13% of Canadians think Indigenous people exist.