TORONTO — The governments of countries worldwide have been forced to make some very difficult decisions over the last several months. Every country has come up with their own plan and implemented restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers from McGill University and the University of Toronto recently evaluated the response of Canadian citizens to the coronavirus threat. They find that across the board Canadian citizens agree that extreme measures need to be taken to combat the pandemic, a level of solidarity not seen in the country for decades.
“We know that public opinion tends to become polarized on highly salient issues, except when political leaders are in consensus. In the United States, there appears to be political and public polarization on the severity of the pandemic,” says co-author Aengus Bridgman, a PhD Candidate in Political Science at McGill University, in a university release. “Other evidence suggests that polarization is undermining compliance with social distancing.”
This has not been the case in Canada where both liberal and conservative citizens agree on the measures that need to be taken to protect the country from the pandemic.
Johnny Canuck
Article URL : https://www.studyfinds.org/canadian-citizens-putting-politics-aside-at-unprecedented-levels-to-combat-coronavirus-pandemic/