As the TransMountain pipeline chronicles have dominated the news in recent weeks, the Angus Reid Institute, Canada’s Non-Profit Foundation Committed to Independent Research, issued a new public opinion poll to gauge Canadians on the topic.
The latest news, in which the federal government decided to purchase the proposed pipeline project from Kinder Morgan, has supposedly split Canadians right down the middle, according to the aforementioned public poll.
The poll found 37 per cent of Canadians who answered the poll believe that the government made the correct decision, while an equal number of 37 per cent believe that the federal government’s acquisition of the project was wrong.
The remaining 26 per cent is still unsure about the decision, which suggests that a significant number of Canadians will be formulating their opinions on the matter in the coming months.
In another interesting piece of information found in the public poll is that British Columbia residents echo the national average on opinions concerning the government’s decision to buy the TransMountain pipeline.
38 per cent of B.C. residents believe that the perchase was the right call, while another 38 per cent are not on board with the decision, believing that the government’s purchase will ultimately be a bad investment. The remaining 24 per cent are still unsure.
Half of Alberta residents polled, the other major player in the TransMountain saga, believe that the Liberal government made a great decision, while the minority of 28 per cent believe it was a bad choice.
Yet, the debate continues to rage on. Other information found in the public poll shows that 66 per cent of Canadians who believe the decision was the right one believe so because they think the project will ultimately be a good investment for Canadian taxpayers.
Correspondingly, 64 per cent of the opponents to the decision believe that the government has said a bad precedent for future resource projects by taking control of TransMountain.
Ultimately, regardless of the federal government’s purchase of the pipeline project, the Angus Reid Institute finds that roughly 57 per cent of Canadians support the TransMountain project.