Majority of Canadians believe pandemic has divided the country: Survey

The survey comes two years since Covid-19 was officially declared a pandemic and on the heels of a controversial protest against vaccine mandates last month that laid siege to the Canadian capital of Ottawa

Two years since Covid-19 was officially declared a pandemic and on the heels of a controversial protest against Covid restrictions last month, Canadians said they believe that the virus served to divide the country, according to a survey published on Friday.

Tamara Lich (centre), who organized fundraising for the Freedom Convoy trucker protest which became a weeks-long blockade, greets supporters as she leaves the courthouse in Ottawa after being granted bail, on March 7. (AP)

In a comprehensive survey undertaken by the non-profit Angus Reid Institute (ARI) for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), 82% - an overwhelming majority -- of respondents said they believed that “the pandemic has pulled people apart”, while only 18% believed that the pandemic brought people together.

79% said this period brought out the worst in people, with only 21% people agreeing that it brought out the best in them. While, nearly two-thirds (61%) said “Canadians’ level of compassion for one another has weakened”.

The survey came just weeks after a siege of the Canadian capital of Ottawa, precipitated by the government’s imposition of Covid vaccine mandates in mid-January on truckers travelling between Canada and the United States. The so-called Freedom Convoy eventually expanded to include opposition to all restrictions imposed by the government to curb Covid, including lockdowns.

After a prolonged occupation of Ottawa and blockades of major trade corridors, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked an emergency to clear the protest, a move that was criticised by civil liberties organisations in Canada for being draconian. Trudeau was also blamed for using vaccination as a wedge issue during his campaign for the September 2019 general elections, thereby, creating divisions over an issue that had not previously seriously existed.

More than half of all respondents (54%) said their mental health worsened over the past two years, with women between the ages of 18 and 54 faring the worst.

Canadians also have less confidence now in the system to handle another health crisis of this nature in the future.The survey found that they were “jaded about how well this country is equipped to handle a future pandemic”. Most (70%) believe Canada will “struggle just as much” in the next pandemic, while less than half (30%) said they believed that said the nation is in “good shape” to handle something similar happening again.