Verifying what’s real & what’s wrong takes humans w/critical thinking skills. BC newsrooms are responding in kind. Tonight as @jackwebsterfdn.bsky.social celebrates the best of their work, I make the case for local reporting in @vancouversun.bsky.social: vancouversun.com/opinion/op-e...
New from us @angusreidinstitute.bsky.social, our independent, self commissioned poll showing on which side of the aisle Canadians sit when it comes to the Air Canada vs flight attendants dispute. Key graph below, read the whole thing here: angusreid.org/air-canada-s...
OK that's it enjoy your long weekend. -30-
Now to the politics because everything is political. How's the PM's approval? It's steady, and comfortably above .500
In negotiations, how important are tariffs specifically, and/or their amounts, versus say, exemptions for key industries or other concessions. Most Canadians appear resigned that some tariffs at some amount will be part of our reality.
Also I am realizing this thread is riddled with typos. Bad!
But at what cost? Even in the face of yet more US tariffs OR a punch to their own pocketbook, those who want the counter-tariffs say do it anyway.
Nothwithstanding the debate on whether its a good idea, most Canadians say they want counter-tariffs.
When it comes to the broader trade dispute, what are Trump's intentions towards Canada? I mean, who actually knows? But Canadians *say* he's trying to make us "suffer"
There is, of course, a political aspect to views on this. See the breakdown between past Conservative and past Liberal voters:
Cda's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood caused Trump to say it would make it “very hard” to get a deal, though “not a deal-breaker”. Cdns are 3x as likely to say we should stick with the decision, even if it irks the DJT (63%) rather than reverse course (20%)
First off, we're seeing an increase in the hardening tone. Tghe proportion of those advising the PM and his team to “play hardball” has gone from 63 to 69 per cent since mid-July.
Quick little mini thread: first of all you can read the whole report, dig into the detailed data tables and read the questionnaire here: angusreid.org/trump-carney...
RN: Brand new from us @angusreidinstitute.bsky.social: overnight polling shows Canadian resolve hardening on trade negotiations and Trump's comments on Cda's Palestinian statehood stance: angusreid.org/trump-carney...
In 2035, it's likely the parents who never got to see their kids on that flight grow old will also be gone. There's a fleeting window now for Cdns to choose to shoulder some responsibility of keeping their fellow citizens’ memories alive. It's been a long time. But it’s not too late
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BTW for #teachers, One useful resource includes
@mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social's Flight 182 archive airindiaflight182.humanities.mcmaster.ca
The victims' families say there are measures that could increase awareness & decrease disinformation: an exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History in the National Capital. There has never ever been one. And, teaching about it in schools. Majorities of Canadians support both:
Just three-in-ten Canadians (28 per cent) believe investigators’ conclusions. Twice as many say they “aren’t sure.”
It was described by trial judge Ian Bruce Josephson as rooted in “fanaticism at its basest and most inhumane level.” I covered some of the trial as a journalist. Not even the defence attorneys who successfully won acquittal for the accused disagreed with this premise. And yet...
Let us note, then, the facts: a criminal trial, plus 2 public inquiries, led respectively by Bob Rae, and by then-retired Supreme Court Justice John Major, all concluded 280 Canadians were murdered because of a terror plot...
The facts about Flight 182 are now subject to disinformation. Politicians who know better won't talk about the origins of the bombing. Journos who know the facts better than those trying to rewrite history are reticent to check them, b/cuz they don’t want to feed the conspiracies
There is danger in forgetting, or not knowing at all. We live in the disinformation era. Activists are believed when they say vaccines harm more than help. Grifters like Alex Jones only admit lies about the gun-killings of kids at Sandy Hook when dragged into court
Little wonder then, that 50% of Canadians themselves say the attacks have never been treated as a Canadian tragedy. This can be nothing short of an indictment of our leaders, our educators and frankly, ourselves.
We report & reflect, for a moment, this time every year. Beyond June 23, though, an event that should be seared into national memory is generally mentioned only in passing, appended to coverage of bungled CSIS & RCMP investigations, or to discussions about Canada-India relations.
Lewis wrote that "the death of a beloved is an amputation". Except for the ghost pain of victims’ families, it is an event has been lost, forgotten, or worse, never learned....
This rises to a whopping 54% of young adults aged 18-34.
Further, one-third (32%) have NEVER heard of it.
The polling finds 83% in this country can't correctly identify the bombing as the single worst case of mass murder of Canadians in our history.
As always, you can read the full report here, look at the questions, and dig into the detailed data tables: angusreid.org/air-india-40...
As we did two years ago, @angusreidinstitute.bsky.social
conducted polling to understand how much Canadians actually do know about the bombing disaster. The results are pretty grim. Follow along while I walk you though them.