More than one-quarter of Canadians support jail time for the unvaccinated, new poll finds
The survey also found that 66% of Canadians are in favour of mandatory COVID shots for everyone over the age of five.
A majority of Canadians have little-to-no sympathy for their fellow citizens who are unvaccinated, a new national survey finds.
According to the poll, which was conducted by Maru Public Opinion on January 14 and 15 and surveyed an online panel of 1,506 Canadians, 54% of respondents said they have no sympathy for an unvaccinated person who becomes seriously ill or dies as a result of contracting COVID.
Further, a plurality of Canadians were found to be in favour of fierce punishments for the unvaccinated — with 37% of respondents saying it would be acceptable to deny the unvaccinated access to any publicly-funded hospital or medical services, and 27% saying they would support a short jail sentence for those who refuse the injection.
Other punishments for the unvaccinated that were considered in the poll include barring the unvaccinated from entering most public spaces (77% in favour), making them pay out of pocket the full medical cost of visits to hospital due to COVID (61% in favour), a special tax on the unvaccinated (such as has been announced in Quebec) of up to $150 per month (61% in favour) and refusing the renewal of their driver’s license (33% in favour).
The survey also found that 66% of Canadians are in favour of mandatory COVID shots for everyone over the age of five. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said earlier this month that mandatory vaccination is likely coming soon, and something that provincial governments should be discussing.
Interestingly, when broken down by province, those 66% of Canadians who responded as being in favour of mandatory vaccination are most likely to be found in both British Columbia (75%) and Atlantic Canada (75%), followed by those living in Manitoba/Saskatchewan (71%), then Québec (67%), Ontario (62%), and Alberta (57%).
The study also explored the reasons why Canadians feel so harshly toward their neighbours who remain unvaccinated. The poll states:
Canadians view the unvaccinated as responsible for overwhelming the health care system (48%), people who are holding Canadians back from having a new normal life (40%), endangering society (36%), misguided conspiracy theorists (36%), good people with legitimate reasons/concerns (27%), reckless (26%), super-spreaders of the virus (17%), and/or heroes for free speech/choice (12%). In addition, A majority (54%) say they don’t have sympathy for the unvaccinated who get seriously ill or die from COVID.
For the 9% of respondents who admitted to being unvaccinated, the study further explored why they have thus far refused a COVID shot.
In contrast, for those who remain unvaccinated, their reasons for doing so are varied and numerous: they are defending their civil liberty to make a choice for themselves (45%), waiting on more data to see if it is truly safe for them to get the vaccine (42%), believing their immune system can beat COVID so there is no need for it (32%), being anxious/scared as to what it could do to them (28%), not wanting government telling them what to do (22%), being concerned about the potential impact to their genetic structure (21%), not wanting something foreign put in their body (15%), that it’s a hoax—it’s just a bad flu, not a killer (9%), and/or it’s just what drug companies have concocted to get rich (7%).
- By Sheila Gunn Reid
JUSTIN TRUDEAU: Fire Liberal MP Han Dong!
According to CSIS leaks to journalists, the MP for Don Valley North was chosen by the Communist Chinese as their man in Toronto, one of 11 such China-installed candidates benefiting from foreign interference in Canada's electoral process since 2019.
Fire MP Han DongDon't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.
Don't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.