New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, the second part in a series examining Canadians' views of and experiences with protests, finds Canadians are near-unanimous (86%) in their belief that the right to protest is fundamentally important to Canadian democracy. But there is a concurrent sense among many that not all groups who set out to demonstrate receive the same treatment from authorities.
Overall, two-thirds of Canadians (64%) say the police give preferential treatment to certain groups when dealing with protests. One-in-five (21%) disagree, led by those over the age of 54 (26%).
Canadians of all political stripes largely feel that police response and engagement at various protests is not applied consistently, with at least three-in-five past Liberal (60%), Conservative (68%), and NDP (73%) voters saying so. Where they diverge, however, is on the question of who receives preference.
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