The apologies pronounced on many occasions by Pope Francis last week will not improve the lot of the natives, judge Quebecers who were not very enthusiastic about his visit to Quebec.

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According to a Léger–Le Journal–TVA–QUB poll released on Tuesday, 63% of the citizens of La Belle Province believe that the visit of the sovereign pontiff will not change anything for the First Nations and the Inuit.

"People are very skeptical about the success of the visit," noted pollster Jean-Marc Léger, pointing out that barely 18% of Quebecers believe that the pope's trip will change things.

Recall that last week, François 1er traveled to Edmonton, Quebec and Iqualuit to ask forgiveness for the wrongs of the Church, in particular within the framework of the Indian residential school system. In addition to his apologies, the pope had admitted, on the plane that brought him back to the Vatican, that the natives were victims of a genocide.

The pope's "penitential pilgrimage", if it was rich in apologies, left some of the victims hungry, who were waiting for more concrete measures.

Mixed interest

It must be said that the visit of the sovereign pontiff did not thrill the population, whether in Edmonton where there were places left to attend mass at the Commonwealth stadium or in Quebec where the Plains of Abraham were sparse.

In total, 46% of Quebecers believe that the visit was a fairly or very important event, compared to 49% who found it not very or not at all important. On the other hand, only 15% of respondents found it very important, compared to 32% who found it not at all important.

“Inevitably, there is an age effect in this response,” noted Mr. Léger, young people being less interested than their elders in the pope’s visit.

Thus, barely 29% of 18 to 34 year olds showed interest in this event, compared to 62% of those aged 55 and over, the survey shows.

The probe was conducted online from July 29 to 31 with 985 Quebec adults.