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POLL: Canadians support grassroots protest movements

A joint Environics-University of Alberta poll finds that, “Canadians are supportive of grassroots citizen protests and strongly believe people should push politicians to do a better job. …The majority of respondents said they supported grassroots protests, including the Occupy movement and the British Columbia referendum against the harmonized sales tax.” An Edmonton Journal article highlights, “People are looking at other methods of political participation beyond conventional parties…”

“When asked about three specific grassroots movements, 86 per cent of those polled said they supported B.C.’s HST referendum, 62 per cent supported the Occupy movement, in which low-income people camped out in public places to rally against growing income inequality, and 56 per cent supported the Quebec student protest over increased tuition fees last summer.”

“The poll also identified 12 basic values supported by more than 50 per cent of Canadians. At the top of the list, with more than 90-per-cent support was ‘having a political system that encourages average Canadians to let politicians know what they think’…” Keeping taxes low was at the bottom of the list.

To participate in grassroots activism through the Council of Canadians, please consider joining us at http://canadians.org/support-donate, as well as becoming a member of a Council of Canadians chapter, http://canadians.org/chapters. With respect to the three grassroots movements noted in the article, the Council of Canadians voiced its opposition to the HST, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=6507; were involved in the Occupy movement, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=16609; and participated in the Quebec student protests, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=15309.

The Edmonton Journal article can be read at http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Majority+Canadians+support+grassroots+protest+movements+poll/7737808/story.html.