A majority of Canadians believe the federal government has no real desire to solve expensive native land claims and is simply stalling in order to avoid the payout, according to a new poll.
When asked why land claims negotiations are taking so long, 43 per cent said the government is simply dragging its feet to avoid making a deal, according to a new poll conducted by The Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail.
Thirty-eight per cent said the negotiations are taking a long time because there is a great deal of money and land at stake and the issue is complicated. But in the Tory-dominated West, 44 per cent believe the complexity of the issue accounts for the delay.
The poll results were slightly more dramatic when Canadians were asked about native blockades -- a direct result of the more than 800 unresolved land claims currently on the books in Canada.
While 37 per cent said protesters are justified in staging blockades of railways and highways, 55 per cent said such demonstrations are not justified.
And 50 per cent said the federal government should prosecute those who stage blockades, compared to 34 per cent who said the government should accept the blockades as a negotiating tactic and let them happen.
Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice has been promising to revamp the system used to process land claims, and just this week Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government announced it is co-writing a bill with the Assembly of First Nations that would help the parties move through the process much more quickly.
Tensions have been high in recent weeks with some native leaders pledging a summer of blockades and protests, and a day of protest scheduled for June 29.
The government's announcement appears to be intended to head off the protests, which some leaders have said will include blockades.
In total, 34 per cent of those polled said they were aware of the upcoming day of protest. However, only 15 per cent of Quebecers said they were aware of the planned protest, compared to 40 per cent in the rest of Canada.
"The fact that it's 40 per cent outside of Quebec who are aware of the day of protest, two weeks in advance, is suggesting that the issue of aboriginal (disputes) is a cause for concern," Tim Woolstencroft, managing partner of the Strategic Counsel, told The Globe.
Military spending
The poll also revealed different opinions among French and English Canadians on the subject of military spending.
Outside of Quebec, 62 per cent of Canadians are totally supportive of higher spending on equipment such as tanks, helicopters and large aircraft.
But only 28 per cent of Quebecers are supportive, while 69 per cent are not.
The poll also found little difference in Canadians' political support in the past month. In total, 31 per cent of Canadians would vote Liberal, and 34 per cent would vote Conservative -- matching numbers from one month ago.
The New Democratic Party's support dropped from 16 points in May to 13, but the change is within the poll's margin of error.
The Bloc is up one point to 11 per cent, matching the green Party which is up two points from a month ago.
In total, 1,000 Canadians were sampled between June 8 and 11. The poll has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent.
