According to a new poll, only 28% of Canadians oppose the death penalty in all circumstances. There is a division on whether or not the government should reinstate it as law, but a large majority support its use in certain cases; by party; 77% of Tories, 68% of Dippers, 51% of Liberals, and 48% of Bloc supporters. I found it strange that NDP voters are substantially more likely to support the use of the death penalty than Liberals (though only 48% of Tories and 46% of Dippers believe that it should become law once again). It is odd because if you listen to the "social justice" rhetoric of its leaders, you'd think that party would be the most opposed to this form of penalty.
I suspect that the answer to the mystery is that many of the union guys and gals who vote NDP out of habit don't actually agree with all that much NDP policy (at least in non-economic matters).
Perhaps it's because many NDP supporters come from a lower income demographic and live in areas where crime is the most prevalent.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that lots of NDP voters live in Western and rural areas.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention some rough cities.
Have you noticed that nobody in the media is talking about the death penalty anymore since these polls have come out?
ReplyDeleteNeilD
There is no reason to believe the findings of an Abacus Data poll since they do not employ standard and accepted practices of data analysis. They claim that they "aren’t stuck in the same old way of doing things" which sounds to me like they are quite willing to make the data say whatever SUN News pays them to make it say.
ReplyDeleteBoth Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff made it clear that their parties are opposed to the death penalty last January when Stephen Harper told Peter Mansbridge at CBC that he personally supports it. I guess this explains why Harper changed Canada's foreign policy such that the government no longer seeks clemency for Canadians sentenced to death in foreign countries. Sad.