Majority of Quebecers say they're racist: poll43 per cent describe themselves as 'mildly racist'
By CP
MONTREAL — Nearly 60 per cent of Quebecers surveyed in a poll described themselves as racist to some degree.
The Leger Marketing survey found that one per cent of respondents considered themselves very racist, 15 per cent viewed themselves as moderately racist, while 43 per cent said they were mildly racist.
Another 39 per cent said they weren’t racist at all.
The poll of 1,000 Quebecers was conducted Dec. 22-Jan. 3 and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Leger also surveyed 2,092 Canadians from outside Quebec and found that 47 per cent of them said they were racist to some extent.
The margin of error on that Dec. 22-Jan. 5 sample was 1.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
“There are several ways to measure and define racism in a population,” said Leger Marketing president Jean-Marc Leger.
“In this poll, people show their own attitudes and behaviours to have a racist character. Those who have had contact with different ethnic communities are slightly more racist.”
In Quebec, the Arab community fared the worst with 50 per cent of Quebecers surveyed saying they had a bad opinion of that community, followed by 36 per cent for the Jewish community and 27 per cent for the black community.
“The Arab community is carrying the weight of Sept. 11 (terrorist attacks) and Islamic fundamentalists,” Leger said. “That’s what people are thinking of when they respond in a poll.”
The poll was done for Le Journal de Montreal, the TVA television network and radio station 98.5 FM.
By CP
MONTREAL — Nearly 60 per cent of Quebecers surveyed in a poll described themselves as racist to some degree.
The Leger Marketing survey found that one per cent of respondents considered themselves very racist, 15 per cent viewed themselves as moderately racist, while 43 per cent said they were mildly racist.
Another 39 per cent said they weren’t racist at all.
The poll of 1,000 Quebecers was conducted Dec. 22-Jan. 3 and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Leger also surveyed 2,092 Canadians from outside Quebec and found that 47 per cent of them said they were racist to some extent.
The margin of error on that Dec. 22-Jan. 5 sample was 1.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
“There are several ways to measure and define racism in a population,” said Leger Marketing president Jean-Marc Leger.
“In this poll, people show their own attitudes and behaviours to have a racist character. Those who have had contact with different ethnic communities are slightly more racist.”
In Quebec, the Arab community fared the worst with 50 per cent of Quebecers surveyed saying they had a bad opinion of that community, followed by 36 per cent for the Jewish community and 27 per cent for the black community.
“The Arab community is carrying the weight of Sept. 11 (terrorist attacks) and Islamic fundamentalists,” Leger said. “That’s what people are thinking of when they respond in a poll.”
The poll was done for Le Journal de Montreal, the TVA television network and radio station 98.5 FM.
