Survey from Winnipeg spa asked 'blatantly disrespectful' question about 'purity of the country': customer
CBC
The parent company of Winnipeg spa Thermea has pulled a guest experience survey that asked what one customer says were "highly inappropriate" questions, including one asking if immigration is a threat to "the purity of the country."
"If you're developing and disseminating a survey that is about political climate or cultural beliefs, there may be a place for questions that are seeking diverse opinions," Thermea customer Amelia LaTouche told CBC News on Saturday, after responding to the emailed survey.
"But this was a survey about a spa, and this series of questions are highly inappropriate."
After visiting Thermea during late December, LaTouche received an email earlier this week with the subject line "Your opinion matters — Groupe Nordik (Thermea Spa Village Winnipeg)."
The sender was identified as "Groupe Nordik — CROP."
Groupe Nordik is Thermea's parent company. CROP, or the Centre for Research on Public Opinion, is a third-party research firm.
The email included a link to the survey it said was aimed at helping Thermea "adapt and improve our services to better meet your expectations."
The questionnaire began with questions related to her experience at the spa, but then moved to ask about her level of agreement with a number of statements.
LaTouche shared a screenshot of some with CBC, including one that asked for a level of agreement on the statement, "Society would be better off with more government involvement" and another that read, "Overall, there is too much immigration. It threatens the purity of the country."
"This was just a very blatantly disrespectful way to ask a question," she said.
"Simply the use of the term 'purity' is just inextricably linked to fascism, and I think is so highly problematic and scary."
Another section asked whether she agreed with the statement, "whatever we do, man's destiny is predetermined and history takes course."
"Just the expression of saying 'man' instead of 'people' was enough for me to be annoyed," she said. "It was sexist.… The motives were unclear, and [it] felt there was an ulterior motive."
LaTouche said there was no option to skip questions, or to indicate she preferred not to answer.
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