Earlier this year, Natural Resources Canada hired Ipsos-Reid to go find out how Canadians felt about nuclear energy, particularly in the context of finding a source of power that doesn't produce the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The results, considering that Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn and many other Conservatives are unabashed fans of nuclear power, are not surprising:
“The findings of this research indicate some openness to the idea of nuclear energy as a part of addressing air quality issues. Half of Canadians agree that if we are to have cleaner air, we must increase the use of nuclear power in Canada, compared to one in three who disagree. The same proportion agree with the proposition that if we are to have reduced greenhouse gasses, we must increase the use of nuclear power in Canada, compared to one in three who disagree. Only in Quebec do more respondents disagree than agree with these two statements. In response to a specific scenario (the extraction of oil from Canada’s oil sands which requires a significant expenditure of energy that releases greenhouse gasses), two in three Canadians indicate that they would approve using nuclear power to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that result from the extraction of oil in the oil sands.”
This poll was conducted Feb. 16 to Feb. 22, 2007. The pollster says it surveyed 2,001 Canadians and that its results are accurate to within 2.2 percentage points.