A majority of Albertans did not support the so-called “Freedom Convoy,” according to a recent survey.
And still fewer supported their methods like invading downtown Ottawa or blockading border crossings like at Coutts, Alta.
An online survey of 2,224 Albertans done by Pollara for the University of Alberta’s political science research group Common Ground found 61 per cent of Albertans opposed the convoy’s objectives, and 67 per cent disagreed with how they tried to achieve those objectives.
The convoy blockades in Ottawa and Coutts cleared out in mid- to late-February. The survey was conducted between April 8 and May 9, 2022.
“We did that pretty strategically because we wanted to sample people after the dust had settled,” U of A political science assistant professor Feo Snagovsky told Global News.
“We wanted to sort of see what are the lasting implications once people had a time to think a little bit about the lessons that they thought the convoy had taught them or what they thought the implications for Canadian politics and government.”
Support was split along urban-rural and political affiliations.
Seventy per cent of Edmontonians surveyed were against the convoys, but 53 per cent of Red Deerians and 53 per cent of respondents outside the Calgary-Edmonton corridor backed the convoys.
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“This aligns with a trend where rural communities feel disenfranchised or left out from government decision-making, and helps explain why support for the Freedom Convoy was higher in non-urban areas,” Common Ground’s report reads.
More than half of those surveyed who identified as United Conservative Party supporters – 56 per cent – said they supported the convoy’s objectives. Only 14 per cent of Alberta NDP supporters backed the convoys.
“We didn’t find necessarily any evidence that the convoy had particular resonance among rural folks.
“It’s not that it spoke to rural issues or anything like that in particular. It’s moreso we think that these parts of the province tend to be a little more conservative,” Snagovsky said.
When it came to action, very few Albertans did anything. Only two per cent contributed money to the convoys, only four per cent flew a Canadian flag, and only four per cent participated in a rally, the survey showed.
And when it came to social media, “supporters were a vocal minority,” the report said.
“For a certain period of time, the national discussion was really dominated by what this small vocal minority had to say. So it might have created the impression that there was an overwhelming amount of support for the convoy’s objectives and methods, and that’s not the case,” Snagovsky said.
“It’s just the case that the small group of people who do support the convoy were really motivated to support the convoy.”
With anti-government protests continuing through the year, Snagovsky and his team plan to continue to track anti-government sentiment like the freedom convoy’s.
The most recent report on hate, extremism and terrorism in Alberta and Canada from the Organization for the Prevention of Violence noted an increase in anti-authority ideology.
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“After years of stagnation, or in some cases a decline in activity in Canada, the anti-authority movement has experienced a reinvigoration, partly as a reaction to public health measures enacted during the Covid-19 pandemic and the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories,” the report reads.
Snagovsky said citizens still look up to leaders – elected and otherwise – and follow their example.
“We know that most people look to their leaders for cues on what they should believe and how they should act. So if political elites are encouraging people or giving them sly nods or dog whistles that this kind of behavior is acceptable, people will continue to do it,” he said.
“It may seem electorally-advantageous to hop on the zeitgeist in the moment, but in the long run, it’s almost certainly going to bite them.”
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