The head of indigenization at the University of Regina is not surprised by the results of a survey that finds Prairie residents are the least tolerant of Aboriginal people.
The poll was commissioned by the CBC. It examined a broad range of issues dealing from immigration to multiculturalism.
A number of questions dealt with comfort levels and Aboriginals. Prairie residents scored the lowest. Shauneen Pete believes fear played a big role.
“I do, actually, and also ignorance. We just don’t know. We don’t know Aboriginal people, we don’t know their history, we don’t know who they are or what they are about except what we get in the media — and those perceptions are often so biased.”
Fifteen-hundred people participated in the CBC survey.
Nationally, 63 per cent of respondents said they would be comfortable having a romantic relationship with an Aboriginal person. That number dropped to 50 per cent on the Prairies.
Across Canada, 75 per cent of respondents were comfortable with an Aboriginal neighbor compared to 61 per cent on the Prairies.
And working for an Aboriginal scored 76 per cent nationally but only 66 per cent on the Prairies.