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Most Canadians opposed to Wexit, but poll finds new party could pose challenge to Conservatives | CBC News

Byindianadmin

Jul 6, 2020
Most Canadians opposed to Wexit, but poll finds new party could pose challenge to Conservatives | CBC News

Most Canadians remain opposed to the concept of the four most western provinces separating from Canada, but a new poll suggests any support for the Wexit party could come at the expense of the federal Conservatives in the next election.

Veteran conservative politician Jay Hill was named interim leader of the separatist Wexit Canada party in June, following the resignation of founder Peter Downing. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

A majority of Canadians remain opposed to the concept of the four most western provinces separating from Canada, but a new Abacus Data poll suggests the limited support the Wexit Canada party currently enjoys could come at the expense of the federal Conservatives.

“If you isolate the four western provinces, the federal Conservatives rely on those provinces disproportionately for more of their support, more of their seats,” said David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data. “When you distil down and look at it, who are these Wexiteers?”

Coletto said among those who support separation from Canada, “almost half of them nationally voted Conservative. Among those western Canadians, 81 per cent voted Conservative in the last election.”

The poll found that only seven per cent of Canadians think Wexit is a good idea — but Coletto said that number increased to 15 per cent of Conservative Party voters in the 2019 election.

How survey respondents said they would feel about a separation of Canada’s four western provinces. (Abacus Data)

Among Albertans, the new party gets slightly higher support. Twenty per cent of survey respondents in the province said Alberta separating from the rest of the country was a “good idea.” Another 26 per cent said they could “live with it,” while 54 per cent called it a “terrible idea.”

“It shows that Wexit Canada, as a starting point, has an audience that is open to listening, and in Alberta particularly, an audience who may not be strongly in favour of separating but signal that they could live with it,”

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