Canadians in favour of privatizing Crown corporations: poll
Posted January 30, 2014 1:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Many Canadians want to see some of this country’s largest Crown corporations sold off to private companies, according to a recent public opinion poll.
The Abacus Data poll, which was released on Wednesday, focused on the CBC, Via Rail and Canada Post.
It found most Canadians still enjoy the companies’ services, but 53 per cent feel the need to sell off Via Rail to a private company, 47 per cent want to privatize Canada Post and 45 per cent feel the same about the CBC.
Abacus Data CEO David Coletto told 680News Canadians have supported these corporations, but now many don’t want them being funded from the public purse.
“[There’s] reasonably large support for doing something about it, whether it’s outright privatization or selling off certain parts,” Coletto said.
It costs $1 billion to run the CBC, while in recent years Canada Post and Via Rail have posted losses worth hundreds of millions of dollars, although both corporations are restructuring.
Coletto also said the companies’ financial troubles and run-ins with the federal government are likely fuelling the call for privatization.
“Media coverage of some of these issues raises the consciousness and this could change two years from now,” he said.
Nearly 2,000 people took part in the survey.
