More than three-in-five of the province’s residents agree with Canada’s decision to suspend funding for UNRWA.
Vancouver, BC [February 26, 2024] – A significant proportion of British Columbians express concerns about the local ramifications of the recent conflict in the Middle East, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative provincial sample, more than two thirds of British Columbians are concerned about aggressive behaviour by protestors at pro-Palestine rallies (70%) and antisemitism, or rising prejudice against Jewish Canadians (69%).
More than seven-in-ten British Columbians (72%) are also worried about protestors targeting Jewish neighbourhoods and Jewish-owned businesses in Canada.
“A rise in antisemitism in Canada is a concern for more than seven-in-ten residents of Vancouver Island (77%), the Fraser Valley (74%) and Southern BC (71%),” says Mario Canseco. “Majorities of those who live in Northern BC (70%) and Metro Vancouver (65%) are also worried.”
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a United Nations group created to provide aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
After evidence was found showing some UNRWA staff participated in the atrocities of October 7 and the holding of hostages, several nations—including Canada—suspended their funding for UNRWA.
Across British Columbia, 64% of residents agree with Canada’s decision to suspend funding for UNRWA, while 14% disagree and 22% are undecided.
Majorities of British Columbians aged 18-to-34 (60%), aged 35-to-54 (61%) and aged 55 and over (70%) think Canada’s federal government made the correct call in suspending funding to UNRWA.
Late last year, Langara College professor Natalie Knight was suspended after describing the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel that killed more than 1,300 Israelis and started the current violent conflict as “amazing and brilliant” at a Free Palestine rally in Vancouver.
More than three-in-five British Columbians (63%) agree with Langara’s decision to suspend the professor, while 20% disagree and 18% are not sure.
Agreement with Langara’s original course of action includes majorities of British Columbians aged 18-to-34 (58%), aged 35-to-54 (58%) and aged 55 and over (71%).
In January, Langara College dismissed Knight permanently. More than half of British Columbians (53%) think that, by celebrating the terrorism of October 7 at a public rally, and not apologizing, the professor created an unsafe climate for Jewish students and showed she cannot be trusted as a teacher in our colleges or universities.
About one-in-four British Columbians (24%) believe that, regardless of how a person feels about what she said, the professor was within her rights to academic freedom and freedom of speech and should have her job back.
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted on February 9 to February 11, 2024, among 801 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Photo Credit: Michal Klajban
Find our data tables 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