Black Canadians twice as likely to trust the government — but less likely to trust police: survey

Black Canadians are twice as likely to trust the government, according to a new report, while faith in local law enforcement or police among those surveyed was lower compared to the general population.

Canadian public relations firm Proof Strategies created a specific sample set of Black Canadians for the first time as part of its annual CanTrust Index, gauging not only the community's faith in political and law enforcement institutions but also commercial brands. It also surveyed more than 1,000 other Canadians who weren't Black.

It found Black Canadians expressed more trust in the government than the survey's national average.

For example, it found that 41 per cent of Black people surveyed said they trusted the government, compared to 22 per cent within the general population. The same proportion said they trusted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, compared with 33 per cent surveyed in the general population. The higher approval rating comes despite photos of Trudeau wearing blackface and brownface surfacing in 2019, something he has apologized for because of its racist history.

A senior executive at the public relations firm that commissioned the survey said the data only captures a moment in time, and, even then, results should be considered with caution.

"If you got a test where you got 41 per cent, you didn't pass," said Bunmi Adeoye, a senior vice-president at Proof Strategies. "The other thing is, you can lose that trust of that 41 per cent, as well."

The new survey found, however, that trust in the police among Black people surveyed fell below the national average. About four in 10 Black Canadians said they trusted law enforcement compared to about five in 10 Canadians overall.

Black-owned research firm On Point Insight administered the online survey in English and French to 311 Black Canadians during the first two weeks of 2022. For comparison, a probability sample of the same size would be plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The total sample size for the CanTrust study was 1,536.

Digging into the numbers further, "it's not a good picture," Adeoye said. Trust in the government is lower among Black women, those born within Canada and younger Black people between 18 and 34.

"The youth are skeptical," Adeoye said. "So again, there is an opportunity to improve that if there's a desire."

In many other categories, trust among Black Canadians surveyed continued to outperform the general population when respondents shared their faith in doctors, scientists, public health officials during the pandemic, charities and the news media.

Trust in small and big businesses among Black people didn't vary as much as in the general population. However, the data shows those surveyed tended to trust banks, pharmaceutical companies, cannabis producers and telecommunication companies less. But like public institutions, trust falls among younger Black people surveyed, which should worry businesses keen on building their market share among youth, Adeoye said.

"That's something that, as a brand, you really should be paying attention to," Adeoye said. "I think that young groups of Black Canadians are the ones that are helping to drive culture; they're helping to drive trends."

Another section of the report found Black Canadians surveyed said they have experienced racism first-hand or witnessed it. The number was much higher among those born in Canada. Also, more than 85 per cent said corporations and governments have a responsibility to address racism within society, but only 41 per cent said they could see any positive change happening.