Poll roundup: Snubbing Hockey and look out below

British Columbia: The Vancouver Canucks are ready to hit the ice, but they have a way to go to get their fans back. A poll by Insights West found that hockey support in B.C. dropped by nearly half over the course of the NHL lockout, while those who say they are not much of a fan or not a fan at all jumped from 14 per cent to 42 per cent. The poll’s accuracy will soon be put to the test.

Saskatchewan: When it comes to celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017, leave the party planning to the people, say people in the prairie province. Nearly 70 per cent of residents from Saskatchewan agreed that ordinary citizens and not government should be planning Canada’s sesquicentennial festivities. Three in five Canadians feel the same way.

Ontario: Surprise, surprise. Falling chunks of concrete from Toronto’s crumbling Gardiner Expressway are not inspiring a sense of security among drivers. Half of the city’s residents—and 61 per cent of women—believe the Gardiner is dangerous, according to a Forum Research poll released last month. But despite their safety concerns, respondents were divided about what to do about it. One-quarter want it repaired, while 27 per cent want it torn down and replaced with a tunnelled roadway.

Quebec: Quebecers have a case of the winter blues when it comes to Canada’s job market, according to a Bank of Montreal survey. Barely more than one-quarter of people in the province who took the survey said they were optimistic about improved hiring rates for the coming year, well below the 38 per cent average for all of Canada.

Atlantic Canada: People in the Atlantic provinces are the biggest opponents of Canadian companies being sold to foreign state-owned enterprises. According to a recent poll by Ipsos Reid, 80 per cent of people in the region believe such deals should be prohibited, compared to 74 per cent for the country as a whole.