Canadians say a national monument to veterans should be part of Canada’s 150th commemorations
Toronto – November 4, 2016 – A Historica Canada poll commissioned ahead of November 11th has found most Canadians (86%) believe a national monument paying tribute to veterans and soldiers should be part of the commemorations for Canada’s 150th birthday.
The poll, conducted by Ipsos, found nine in ten (89%) agree that the best way for youth to understand conflict is to hear a veteran speak about their experiences – an opportunity provided by The Memory Project, a speakers bureau of veterans and currently serving Canadian Forces member run by Historica Canada.
“The Memory Project connects youth and adults in ways that benefit everyone,” said Anthony Wilson-Smith. “This year, we’ve seen a 64 per cent increase in requests for veterans in our program to make visits, reflecting a growing interest in hearing their stories and the lessons they offer.”
For many Canadians, there is a personal connection to conflict. Four in ten (41%) have a family member or friend who served in the Second World War, while one in ten (10%) know someone who served in Afghanistan. Not surprisingly, Canadians with a personal connection to conflict are more likely to participate in acts of remembrance, such as attending an official ceremony (33% of those who know someone who has served vs. 17% who don’t know anybody) or wearing a poppy (87% vs. 63%).
Other findings include:
- Six in ten (62%) believe students are not taught enough about Canada’s wartime efforts
- A quarter of Canadians (24%) have visited the National War Memorial in Ottawa
- People aged 18-34 are most likely to say they’re attending a Remembrance Day ceremony – 35% compared to 26% overall
- One in ten (10%) Canadians know someone who served in a peacekeeping mission
The online survey found nine in ten Canadians (92%) believe Canada is a peacekeeping nation. According to the United Nations, as of August 31, 2016 there were 112 Canadians, predominantly police officers, participating in peacekeeping missions.
Historica Canada is the country’s largest organization dedicated to enhancing awareness of Canadian history and citizenship.
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between October 20 and October 24, 2016, on behalf of Historica Canada. For this survey, a sample of 1,004 Canadians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.