About a third of British Columbians say theyB次元官网网址檇 be willing to change the provinceB次元官网网址檚 name to recognize its Indigenous heritage, according to a recent poll, but the majority say theyB次元官网网址檙e unfazed by the nameB次元官网网址檚 colonial roots.

Public opinion firm Research Co. surveyed 800 B.C. adults between Oct. 29 and 31, and found young adults and Indigenous people were the most likely to support renaming the province and removing the Union Jack from B.C.B次元官网网址檚 flag.

By age, those between 18 and 34 years old showed the strongest desire for change, with 50 per cent in favour of renaming and 43 per cent in favour of removing the Union Jack. Across all age groups, those numbers lowered to about 32 and 31 per cent, respectively. Support was lowest among those aged 55 and up, the poll found.

Indigenous people were by far the most likely to support the changes out of the four ethnic groups the poll divided respondents into. More than 60 per cent of Indigenous respondents said they wanted to rename B.C., and 49 per cent said they wanted to remove the Union Jack. By comparison, about 30 per cent of European and East Asian respondents showed support for the same actions, with slightly greater support (30 to 38 per cent) among South Asian people.

By region, support for the two proposed changes was slightly higher on Vancouver Island (37 per cent), as compared to northern B.C. (32 per cent), Metro Vancouver (31 per cent), the Fraser Valley (30 per cent) and southern B.C. (26 per cent).

When asked what specifically bothered them about B.C.B次元官网网址檚 name, 20 per cent said it was the lack of acknowledgement of Indigenous people, 19 per cent said it was the word B次元官网网址淏ritishB次元官网网址� and eight per cent said it was the word B次元官网网址淐olumbia.B次元官网网址� Still, the majority (62 per cent) of respondents said they thought there was nothing wrong with the name.

The name B次元官网网址淏ritish ColumbiaB次元官网网址� was chosen by Queen Victoria when the area became a British colony in 1858 to differentiate between the B次元官网网址淎merican ColumbiaB次元官网网址� which later became Oregon under the Oregon Treaty.

This yearB次元官网网址檚 poll revealed similar results to one conducted in September 2021, when 26 per cent of respondents showed support for changing B.C.B次元官网网址檚 name and flag, 60 per cent disagreed with changes and 14 per cent said they were undecided on the matter.

Research Co. president Mario Canseco said he plans to conduct the same survey on an annual basis to see how opinions on the name and flag of B.C. change over time.

The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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-With Black Press Media files

jane.skrypnek@blackpress.ca
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