According to Senior Vice-President Doug Anderson “By and large, Canadians agree with reverting to the traditional names for Canada’s Navy and Air Force and only one in ten are strongly opposed to the change. As might have been predicted based on historical evidence, Quebec residents find the lowest level of agreement on this point, but even there, opinion is fairly evenly split.”

• A majority agree with the decision to re-name the Maritime and Air Commands of the Canadian Forces to the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Nationally, 56% agree with this decision, which also sees the Land Force Command re-named the Canadian Army. Three in ten (31%) say they disagree with the move.
• Support for the move is less popular in Quebec than elsewhere. In Quebec, 41% agree with the decision, while 46% disagree. In every other region, at least 57% of respondents agreed with the decision to re-name the various branches of the Canadian Armed Forces.
• Across age, gender and income splits opinion was relatively consistent on the question.
• Conservatives are highly supportive of the plan. Almost three in four (72%) agree with the government’s decision on this issue, with 20% disagreeing. A majority of Liberals (51%) and New Democrats (53%) agree with the change, as do 48% of Greens. Among BQ supporters, just 19% agree with the move, while 74% disagree.

Each week, Harris/Decima interviews just over 1000 Canadians through teleVox, the company’s national telephone omnibus survey. The most recent data were gathered between August 18 and August 22, 2011. A sample of the same size has a margin of error of 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.