By: Thomas I. Likness
EBC News Service

EDMONTON (Eagle News) — People in Canada’s two western-most provinces seem to be the least compliant when it comes to Covid-19 restrictions, according to a survey released Friday.

Insights West, a Canadian market research company, surveyed people in the five largest regions of Canada on whether they follow Covid-19 restrictions.

It found that people on the west coast, in British Columbia, were the least likely to comply.

“A surprising finding is that BC residents are least likely to feel that they are following all of the rules and regulations all of the time relative to residents of other provinces in the country,” Insights West said in a news release. “Only 34% of BC residents claim they are following all of the rules all of the time, which is 14 points to 22 points lower than in other regions.”

Alberta was the next worst at 48%.

Across the country, 48% of Canadians claim to follow the rules all of the time. A further 36% say they comply with restrictions most of the time. Only 7% admit to blatantly breaking the rules.

The highest rate of compliance was in Quebec where 56 per cent said the totally complied.

Young people aged 18 to 34 were most prone to bending the rules.

What is interesting is the reasons people give for bending the rules.

Some say they keep their bubble small, so although they are going against recommendations, they still think they are doing the right thing.

Others say they visit family members outside their bubble but they are careful and have limited contacts so they believe they are safe.

Some people say although they don’t always follow the rules but they are careful when they do so.

Others break the rules because they say it keeps them happy and mentally healthy.

Another common reason is people are tired of all the rules so they feel it’s okay to bend them a little.

Confusion is another reason some people give.

Some say they don’t think some of the restrictions are necessary so they bend them occasionally.

And some people feel because their risk is low they feel entitled to break the rules sometimes.

Results are based on an online study conducted February 3-7, 2021 among a sample of 1,614 English-speaking Canadians. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 2.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
(Eagle News)