Canadians want in on their democracy; that much is clear.

When only 10 per cent of Canadians strongly believe that Canada is being governed democratically, when 62 per cent feel ignored by government and when 68 per cent feel that elected officials don’t care what people like them think, we need to sound alarm bells about the state of democracy in this country.

The Simon Fraser University Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue ran a nationwide study of 3,524 Canadians, one of the most comprehensive studies on the state of democracy in Canada. Our study builds on two years of public opinion research and is part of the centre’s multi-year Strengthening Canadian Democracy project.

The news isn’t all bad; 77 per cent of Canadians support democracy over other forms of government, representing a 12-point increase from an America’s Barometer survey done just two years ago. But, when we scratch the surface and take a closer look at the indicators of our democratic health, there are some troubling signs.

The majority of Canadians are committed to democracy, but are frustrated with the way it works right now. Many feel ignored by the government, and don't believe that key democratic activities like voting matter. The SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue has launched the Strengthening Canadian Democracy project to understand where the cracks lie in the foundation of this nation's democracy and what needs to be done to address the frustrations of ordinary Canadians.

Forty-four per cent of Canadians don’t believe that voting gives them a say; 53 per cent of Canadians would support a candidate who ran for office with a Canada-first message, even at the expense of relations with our allies; and one-in-three believe that Canadians born in this country should have more of a say in how the country is run than Canadians born elsewhere. These results suggest that while Canadians generally support key democratic principles, they are also susceptible to nationalistic messages in a way that could be exploited for anti-democratic purposes, including the scapegoating of minorities.

Nearly one-in-four Canadians believe that we have too many protections for minorities, and nearly one-in-three believe that we have too much protection for religious freedoms. This suggests that Canadians aren’t immune to the race-based populist messages that we hear south of the border. But to equate Canadians’ views of democracy with those of our neighbours to the south would be a mistake.

Our study suggests that 71 per cent of Canadians would not vote for a candidate who delivered an anti-government message, nor would the majority accept a candidate who engaged in media bashing. So candidates appealing to U.S. President Donald Trump’s electoral tactics might not find an easy constituency in Canada.

But the desire to shift the democratic landscape in Canada is clear. Our study shows that Canadians expect far more from their democracy than just voting. They expect to be authentically consulted and engaged in decision-making and they want elected officials to govern on their behalf rather than on behalf of “elites.”

So, why should we care?

In Hong Kong, people are on the street passionately fighting for their democratic rights and freedoms. For anyone who has lived through conflict or fought on the front lines to defend democracy, they recognize how quickly democratic values and freedoms can be lost, and once lost, how difficult they are to regain.

But in Canada, we aren’t likely to take to the streets. While we recognize that there are huge cracks in the foundation of our democracy, they are not publicly acknowledged or discussed, and so we continue with business as usual. We take for granted our democratic values and freedoms and we turn a blind eye to their erosion.

Through the SFU Strengthening Canadian Democracy project, we are shining the light on the state of our democracy in Canada. And, as this study shows, while there is some room for optimism, we as Canadians have a long way to go.

The survey was conducted between July 5 and 15, among a randomly selected sample. Of those surveyed, 2,700 were done online and 800 via phone using a random digit dialing methodology. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of 3,500 would carry a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current age, gender and province/territory census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population (18+) of Canada.

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