From February 4-6, 2022, on behalf of Postmedia, Leger surveyed Canadians about their perspectives on Sir John A. Macdonald.
The survey explores:
- whether Canadians can correctly identify Sir John A. Macdonald as Canada’s first prime minister
- whether Canadians have a favourable or unfavourable impression of Macdonald
- Canadians’ perspectives on media coverage of historic figures who are later found to have taken questionable/outdated actions upon closer scrutiny
- Canadians’ agreement or disagreement with several statements about Sir John A. Macdonald
- and more
SOME OF THE KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR SURVEY ON SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD INCLUDE…
- 66% of Canadians can correctly identify Sir John A. Macdonald as Canada’s first prime minister
- 67% of Canadians who know enough about Macdonald to have an impression of him have a favourable impression. 33% have an unfavourable impression.
- A plurality of Canadians want a balanced approach that emphasizes both the positives and negatives of Canadian historical figures.
- 60% of Canadians feel Sir John A. Macdonald’s legacy should be celebrated, however, 26% feel his historical role should be downplayed when teaching young people.
SURVEY METHODOLOGY
- A web survey was conducted among 1,546 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, via Leger’s online panel, LEO.
- The data was collected from February 25 to 27, 2022.
- As a non-probability online survey, a margin of error is technically not reported. If the data were collected through a probability sample, the margin of error would be ±2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
- Using data from the 2016 census, the results were weighted according to age, gender and region in order to ensure a representative sample of the population.
