Are we too easily offended?

If you feel you often hold your tongue to not offend others, you're with a majority of Canadians.

Seven-in-10 Canadians say they self-censor to avoid offending others and they are reportedly fed up with it.

According to a Angus Reid Institute public opinion poll, the majority of Canadians say political correctness has “gone too far.”

“The notion of political correctness has ignited controversy across the land. And although the movement arises from the laudable desire to sweep away the debris of racism and sexism and hatred, it replaces old prejudice with new ones. It declares certain topics off-limits, certain expressions off-limits,” said George H.W. Bush in 1991.

Now, 25 years later, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is back at the helm of the latest anti-PC movement, and many agree with him.

The Angus Reid poll found that while Canadians are sympathetic to the value of following certain PC values, with most saying there are certain things you just shouldn’t say in unfamiliar company, respondents were also wary of the movement encroaching on their freedom of expression.

According to the poll, four-in-five (78 per cent) say that there are certain things you “just shouldn’t express in front of people you don’t know.” The same number (80 per cent) also say it “seems like you can’t say anything” without offending someone these days.

About two-in-three Canadians (67 per cent) say too many people are easily offended over the language of others, including 71 per cent of men and 62 per cent of women.

The poll also found that men and women are both as likely to self-censor, and when they do, nine-in-10 (87 per cent) say they’re being polite, rather than trying to avoid judgment.

Notably, Canadians in the age range 18 to 34, so-called Millennials, often thought to be the most sensitive to concerns over language, were actually the most likely to say people are too easily offended, while older Canadians were more sympathetic to language sensitivities.

The above results were tabulated by the Angus Reid Institute that conducted an online survey on Aug. 17, 2016, among a representative randomized sample of 1,510 Canadian adults.

For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

For more details and to read the full findings click here.