NATIONAL PULSE – City halls, campuses fair game for protests but not hospitals
Majorities also believe schools, churches should be off limits for demonstrations
By ANGUS REID INSTITUTE
April 30, 2024 – While demonstrations are far from new phenomena in Canada, the last several months – and indeed – recent days, have put the question of where it is acceptable to protest under an increasingly intensified lens.
As administrators at McGill University this week declared a pro-Palestinian encampment on its grounds “illegal”, the vast majority of Canadians say protesting on university campuses is “acceptable” (81%) either in the absence of an exclusion zone (37%) or with one defined and in place (44%).
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds broad acceptance of demonstrations at public buildings – such as city halls (92% acceptable) and embassies (87%) – while there is more resistance to demonstrations at hospitals (43%) and abortion clinics (40%).
Among those who say demonstrations at hospitals or abortion clinics are okay, more tilt towards the requirement of a buffer or exclusion zone between protesters and the institution itself.
And while 45 per cent say it is never acceptable to protest at a public school, 49 per cent disagree. Division also exists about the acceptability of protesting at or near houses of worship – 54 per cent say it is fine, 39 per cent disagree.
Again, most of those who see protesting these locations to be acceptable also express a preference for a buffer zone.
Drivers of opinion include age – older Canadians are more likely to believe more locations should be off-limits to protesters – and whether or not a respondent has engaged in a protest recently themselves.
Three-quarters of Canadians who have protested in the past six months say it is okay to protest in front of a hospital while one-third of those who have never protested in their lives say the same.
This release is the first in a series that will explore Canadians’ experiences with and views of protesting, an issue seen as a fundamental part of the fabric of society, but one with contentious contours.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Today, a Minister stated it was crossing the line for protesters to come to his house and stand at the edge of the property.
Soon, every place in Canada except “government authorized protest zones” will be off limits to peaceful assembly and protest.
CCCP, here we come. All hail Der Kommissar!
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Just because some believe schools; churches should be off limits for demonstrations does not make minorities off limit to criticism. Where did antisemitism come from but the churches? Where did indoctrination come from but the schools? There’s this new movement “Liberalism” or “Wokeism” where everything goes “individualism” which does not believe in countering bad ideas with better ideas. They believe in closing it off and shutting it down in the name of individual rights. To restrict our definition of activism and intelligence to protect the minority or those who agree with me politically ignores the rights of the majority to champion family values.
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