Canadians don’t think there’s enough pride in the country’s military

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A majority of Canadians will celebrate Remembrance Day this year, many by wearing a poppy, but a new survey says Quebecers are less likely to celebrate the national day of remembrance than Canadians in other provinces.

Postmedia-Leger survey looked at Canadians’ pride in the militaryveterans’ treatment and Memorial Day.

Sixty-two percent of those surveyed said the Canadian government is not proud enough of the country’s military. Although slightly more British Columbians hold this view, at 63 percent, slightly fewer Atlantic Canadians hold this view, at 56 percent.

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Those who held this view most strongly were those over 55; 70 percent said the government was not proud enough of the military.

Andrew Enns, Leger’s vice-president in Central Canada, said he thought it was partly due to older Canadians’ “nostalgic view” of the Canadian military, recalling a time when Canada was more involved in military operations and peacekeeping missions.

“There’s already a strong connection between the current armed forces and what they do today, but they attribute it to what they did in the past and those sacrifices,” Enns said. “And they think the government really isn’t doing enough.”

Enns also suggested that younger generations may be more likely to have stronger opposition to the military, war and conflict. That may contribute to the fact that only a slim majority (51 per cent) of 18- to 34-year-olds say Canada isn’t proud enough of its military, he said.

A majority of Canadians (53 per cent) said Canada is not doing enough to support veterans. Only 23 per cent agree that Canada is doing enough, and a small percentage, three per cent, say Canada is doing too much.

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There are between 2,400 and 10,000 Canadian veterans experiencing homelessness, and they are two to three times more likely to become homeless than the rest of the Canadian population.

The poll also revealed wide gaps between Conservative and Liberal voters.

Seventy-six percent of Conservatives said the government was not proud enough of the country’s military, compared to 43 percent of Liberals. Similarly, 65 per cent of Conservatives said the government was not doing enough to support veterans, compared to 44 per cent of Liberals.

“The conservative party has a bit of a historical (and) closer relationship with military things,” Enns said. “Conservative parties tend to be a little more respectful of tradition, and that lends itself well to events like Remembrance Day.”

A 60 per cent majority said Canadians were not proud enough of their country’s military.

In terms of plans to celebrate Remembrance Day, 58 percent of those surveyed said they would wear a poppy and 45 percent said they would observe a two-minute silence.

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24 percent of respondents said they would watch an event on television; This rate is twice as many as those who say they will attend an event in person.

Six percent said they plan to talk to a veteran. The age group that most chose this option was people between the ages of 18 and 34. That may be because some schools are trying to bring veterans into classrooms and give students the opportunity to talk to them, Enns said.

17 percent of respondents said they would do nothing to celebrate Memorial Day. But in Quebec, 40 per cent say they will not celebrate Remembrance Day; This figure is more than three times the figure in other states.

“This doesn’t have the same importance to Quebecers as it does to those of us in the rest of Canada,” Enns said.

The First and Second World Wars are perceived by many as the main commemorations on Remembrance Day, wars that saw Canada come to the aid of Great Britain, Enns said. Quebec, a former French colony, has weaker ties with Britain than the rest of the country, Enns said.

Quebec also strongly opposed conscription during the Second World War.

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“So it’s been sort of an adversarial relationship with the Canadian Armed Forces in Quebec,” Enns said.

Atlantic Canada had the second highest percentage of nonobservers; 13 percent said they would do nothing. While 12 per cent of Ontarians said they would not celebrate Remembrance Day, other provinces were in single digits: Manitoba and Saskatchewan at 7 per cent, Alberta at 9 per cent and British Columbia at 7 per cent.

Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC have Remembrance Day as a legal holiday. Because people aren’t going to work, they’re more likely to find time to do something like attend an event, Enns said.

He also said that’s probably why people ages 35 to 54 don’t celebrate Memorial Day.

“The majority of this sample will probably work just like any other day,” Enns said.

The online survey was conducted between 1-3 November 2024. There were 1,549 participants aged 18 and over, randomly selected by LEO’s online panel. Results were weighted by age, gender, native language, region, education and presence of children in the household. The margin of error for this survey is ±2.49 percent, which is 19 out of 20.

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