Queen Elizabeth II is pictured in Barbados in 1989 during welcoming ceremonies at the airport. A new poll shows that while many Canadians plan to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral next week, the vast majority have not been personally affected by her death and feel no attachment to the monarchy. The poll by Leger and the Canadian Studies Association also found that while some Canadians are happy that King Charles III took the throne and others are not, most are largely indifferent to Canada’s new head of state. The results, based on an online survey of 1,565 Canadians polled between Sept. 9 and Sept. 11, are among the first to assess how Canadians feel about the monarchy since the 96-year-old queen died last week. Respondents were fairly split on whether to watch the Queen’s funeral, with 48 per cent saying they planned to tune in to the ceremony when it is televised next Monday and the same proportion saying they would not. Leger executive vice-president Christian Bourque said it appears many will not be watching out of genuine affection for the monarch, who was also Canada’s longest-serving head of state. This is because only a quarter of all respondents said they had been even moderately personally affected by the Queen’s death, while almost 75 per cent said they felt little or no effect. “It’s more curiosity than care at this point,” Bourque said. The survey results, which cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet polls are not considered random samples, suggest a lack of connection not just with the Queen, but with her heir and the monarchy as a whole. Participants were asked whether they thought King Charles’s ascension to the throne was good news or bad news. While 15 percent had a positive tone and 16 percent had the opposite view, 61 percent said it was indifferent. However, this apathy did not end with the new king, as 77 percent said they felt no attachment to the British monarchy. That compared to 19 percent who did and 4 percent who didn’t know or preferred not to answer. While respondents in Quebec were far more likely to have negative attitudes toward the monarchy than in other parts of the country, Bourque said the results nonetheless showed a general sense of apathy toward the Crown in Canada. “It’s made me think for the last four days, there’s nothing else in the media than Elizabeth,” he said. “However the majority of viewers don’t really care.” Exactly why so few seem interested in the monarchy was not clear, but Bourque pointed to the shrinking number of Canadians whose ancestors came from Britain as a possible explanation. Canadians over 55 were also more likely to have positive views or attachments to the queen and the crown, which Bourque said is a sign that when it comes to younger people, the monarchy is “losing its relevance in Canada.” Out of respect for the queen and mourners, Burke said a conscious decision was made not to ask respondents whether it is time to end Canada’s association with the monarchy. However, he said future investigations will likely touch on the issue.
