Vast majority of Canadians DON'T want to cancel Canada Day: poll

The uncovering of hundreds of unmarked graves and several burned-down churches had led to calls by several municipalities to cancel Canada Day.

However, in a Leger poll commissioned by Postmedia, 67 percent of Canadians did not support calls to "cancel Canada Day" and believe Canadian history is worth celebrating. Only 14 percent of Canadians polled support calls to cancel the national holiday in the wake of heightened tensions.

Of 1,542 Canadians polled, 69 percent want the Canadian flag displayed "more often and in more places," while 11 percent expressed the flag may "offend marginalized groups." 56 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds surveyed being ready to defend Canadian history, National Post reported.

The remains of 751 unmarked graves in Cowessess First Nation were located with ground-penetrating radar last week. The grim discovery came after 215 children—found buried in Kamloops—and 104 unmarked graves in Brandon shocked the country, urging immediate calls to action over the findings at residential schools.

The Terrace Standard reported that Skeena BC Liberal Ellis Ross spoke out against cancelling Canada Day. He believes the holiday gives people an opportunity to unite. "The term reconciliation means to bring two parties back together, and if you cancel these public events, there’s no opportunity to get the citizens back together," said Ross. "It's a symbolic way for us to say, 'Yes, there are issues that we had in the past, but together, we can go forward in the future.'"

According to another poll released by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, more Indigenous Canadians had an attachment to Canada than those who are non-Indigenous, at 58 to 52 percent.

About 40 percent of Canadians had little to no knowledge of residential schools, rising to 47 percent among Canadians in their 30s and 40s.

As the former Haisla Nation chief councillor and a BC Liberal leadership candidate, Ross detested how some used Reconciliation to divide people further and manipulate the historical abuses of Indigenous people for political capital.

The Leger poll discovered that 70 percent of non-white Canadians are among the most ardent supporters of the Canadian flag, and that the respondents wanted the flag displayed more in their local communities.

However, only a measly 38 percent intend to hoist a Canadian flag on July 1. That number dropped considerably in Quebec to 14 percent.

The poll also found that one-third of Canadians felt "less patriotic" than they did five years ago, but not likely owing to historical injustices.

That same span yielded a poor economy for Alberta residents who are increasingly hostile towards the federal government. Close to 25 percent of Albertans backed secession from the federation.