Canadians Endorse Harsh Punishment for COVID-19 Opportunists

Three-in-four would support authorizing jail time for people who are offering bogus cures against the coronavirus.

Vancouver, BC [March 31, 2020] – More than seven-in-ten Canadians believe people who have behaved inappropriately during the COVID-19 outbreak should face legal consequences, a new Research Co. poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative national sample, 72% of Canadians voice support for imposing monetary fines for people who ignore their quarantine or self-isolation period.

“Public backing for fining people who disregard their quarantine is highest in Atlantic Canada (79%) and British Columbia (77%),” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Support is also high among people who voted for the Liberal Party (77%), the New Democratic Party (NDP) (73%) and the Conservative Party (72%) in last year’s federal election.”

Practically four-in-five Canadians (79%) are in favour of imposing monetary fines for people who have bought items and re-sold them at a higher price.

An even larger proportion of Canadians (84%) support imposing monetary fines to people who are offering bogus cures against the coronavirus.

Canadians are evenly divided on whether jail time should be authorized for people who ignore their quarantine or self-isolation period, with 45% voicing support for this idea and 45% saying they are opposed to it.

More than half of Canadians (56%) would be willing to authorize jail time for people who have bought items and re-sold them at a higher price, and three-in-four (74%) would follow the same course of action for people who are offering bogus cures against the coronavirus.

Photo Credit: Sarang 

Methodology:

Results are based on an online study conducted from March 21 to March 22, 2020, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.

Find our full dataset here and download the press release here.

For more information on this poll, please contact:

Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca