The Aeroplan rewards program is apologizing over a recent online survey that asked questions on controversial topics, including whether immigration threatens 鈥渢he purity of the country.鈥�

But the president of the market research firm behind the survey insists that 鈥渂old鈥� questions are the best way to capture a person鈥檚 true beliefs, and that scrapping those questions would forfeit years of important research tracking the rise and fall of intolerance in Canada.

The survey asked Aeroplan members several questions about shopping and travel, before moving onto questions about their social views. One of the questions asked whether immigration threatened 鈥渢he purity of the country,鈥� another asked whether fathers should be considered the head of households, and whether traditional marriage was the only way to form a family.

Several users complained about the tone of the questions on Twitter, prompting Aeroplan to respond that it would be deleting all of the data collected from the poll.

鈥淭his survey in no way reflects our opinions or values,鈥� the company said. 鈥淲e apologize for sending it out and will be deleting all of the data collected from it.鈥�

Aeroplan's owner, Aimia, said in an email to 麻豆影视 that the company should have reviewed the questionnaire more thoroughly before distributing it.

鈥淲e apologize to any members who were offended by the questions in the survey, which we had not properly reviewed internally,鈥� Aimia鈥檚 senior director of communications Christa Poole wrote.

鈥淎fter looking into it, we found there are aspects of the survey that don鈥檛 meet the standards we hold ourselves to in terms of the kind of information we gather in order to provide the best program for our members.鈥�

She reiterated that data collected from Aeroplan members through the survey will be deleted. They have also asked their research partner, Montreal-based market research firm CROP, to do the same.

Gauging intolerance in Canada

But, in an interview with 麻豆影视, CROP president Alain Giguère stood behind the polling methods.

Giguère called the situation 鈥渟ad鈥� and said the intention was not to offend anyone. He said major brands across Canada have used the 12-minute survey for more than 20 years in hopes of better understanding their customers.

The goal of the survey was to accurately capture 鈥渢he basic fundamental values of people,鈥� and the best way to do that, Giguère said, is by asking what he called 鈥渂old鈥� questions.

鈥淔or instance, one of the questions that has been shocking 鈥� is when we say 鈥楾here鈥檚 too much immigration. It threatens the purity of the country.鈥� I agree that the statement is awful. But you know, 43 per cent of Canadians agree with such an item,鈥� Giguère said.

鈥淪o if you agree to a very bold question like this, I know that you鈥檙e intolerant.鈥�

On the flip side, soft-ball questions could encourage survey-takers to moderate their more radical opinions -- thereby creating inaccuracies.

鈥淟et鈥檚 say, if you鈥檙e too nice in your question, if you ask something like, I don鈥檛 know, 鈥業mmigrants contribute marvelously well to the wealth of the country鈥� and so on, sometimes when you鈥檙e too nice we get as answers what we call socially acceptable answers,鈥� Giguère explained.

鈥淧eople try to be nice with the interview. They want to look nice. If you ask a very bold question and you get people who say they agree with a very bold question -- now you got it. You got the real person.鈥�

Even if some questions seem reprehensible, Giguère suggested it would not be useful to ditch the approach.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been tracking this over the last 20 years with the same questions. You change the wording, you can鈥檛 go on tracking,鈥� he said.

The divisive immigration question was actually inspired by a real-life interaction. Giguère said that, many years ago, he was moderating a focus group when someone expressed how they felt about immigrants coming to Canada.

鈥淚 had someone who told me this word by word: 鈥楾here is too much immigration, it threatens the purity of the country,鈥� he recalled.

The next day, he added the question to the survey.

Social media backlash

As for the controversy, Giguère blamed social media and the way people approach a situation when they鈥檙e offended. Before Facebook, a disgruntled customer upset about the question would have called Aeroplan, and the company鈥檚 public-relations team would鈥檝e redirected the customer to the survey company, Giguère said.

鈥淚 would鈥檝e called this woman, I would have explained to her why we do that -- that鈥檚 it. And this woman, this is not what she did. I mean, she went on Facebook, on Twitter. That鈥檚 it. It鈥檚 a sad story.鈥�

Lacey Willmott, a PhD student at the University of Waterloo, to Aeroplan last week and asked the company why it was supporting 鈥渉omophobia, misogyny, populism and anti-immigration.鈥�

The next day, by thanking Willmott and said it had followed up with its vendor.

In an interview with 麻豆影视 Channel, Willmott said the question about immigration and 鈥渢he purity of the country鈥� upset her most. It also got her thinking about why Aeroplan wanted that information in the first place.

鈥淚 was definitely very shocked and I was frustrated and, more than anything, I was wondering, why is Aeroplan asking this question, and what are they collecting this data for?鈥�

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which information from millions of Facebook users was improperly obtained by a firm connected to U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 election campaign, Willmott said she鈥檚 concerned about what Aeroplan is doing with the data.

After Willmott鈥檚 tweet, Aeroplan鈥檚 vice-president of marketing reached out to personally assure her that the data was being deleted.

鈥淗e said the data would be deleted and they wouldn鈥檛 ask those questions any further,鈥� Willmott said.

Aeroplan accused of 'insensitivity'

Since the story broke, Twitter users accused the company of 鈥渋nsensitivity,鈥� 鈥渁 lack of awareness,鈥� and one described the survey as 鈥渟inister.鈥�

Among those detractors was Toronto city councilor Mike Layton, who called the questions 鈥渟tupid鈥� and said 鈥渓anguage is important.鈥�

鈥淗ow questions are asked can often shape answers but more damaging - shape people鈥檚 perspectives. Did you ask about households with parents sharing responsibility? About how our society is made more prosperous by welcoming people from other countries?鈥� Layton tweeted.

Aimia鈥檚 senior director of communications called the survey 鈥渁 proprietary longitudinal research survey鈥� conducted by CROP over the past 30 years to measure social change, with the results cited by multiple Canadian media outlets.

Last year, Giguère noted that the question about 鈥渢he father of the family must be master in his own house鈥� is one of their 鈥渇avourite鈥� questions and one they have asked for years to gauge changes in attitude about the family unit.

The first year CROP measured this statement, in 1983, 42 per cent of Canadians agreed with the statement. That dropped to 19 per cent in 2003, but has since risen again to 29 per cent.