The non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds nearly 40 per cent of Canadians say there is a “serious problem” with the way police interact with Black, Indigenous, and other non-white people across the country. 27 per cent say it is a serious problem in their own community.
Nearly 63% agree that systemic racism is a serious problem for the RCMP, and 73% say police in Canada interact inappropriately with non-white people at least some of the time.

Calls to simply reduce police department budgets are not widely supported, though structural change is desired by many. One-quarter say that police funding should be reduced where they live. This proportion rises to 38 per cent in Greater Toronto, and 36 per cent in Winnipeg. A third of residents of Saskatchewan say more police funding is needed.
63% of Canadians across the country would rather see investment in social welfare strategies rather than increasing police presence in high crime areas.

38 per cent of people in Saskatoon said they are true blue. That’s the highest percentage of the population in 10 centres polled. Numbers close to that were found in Regina, Edmonton and Calgary. 26 per cent in this city say they are silent supporters. 17 per cent describe themselves as ambivalent observers and 19 per cent are calling for defunding the police. That is the lowest of any of the centres polled.

The pollster says a recent analysis by the Globe and Mail found police budgets across the country ranging from less than one-tenth of the city budget to nearly one-third. In Saskatoon, it came in at 21 per cent; Regina was at 20 per cent.

On the question of should the Canadian justice system broadly give priority to crime prevention and rehabilitation versus longer sentences to punish and deter criminals? While the majority say they prefer prevention and rehabilitation, Angus Reid says both viewpoints are well-represented in each part of the country. In Saskatchewan, 47 per cent opt for longer sentences and 53 per cent for crime prevention and rehabilitation.