Reginald W. Bibby began tracking Canadian social trends in 1975, paying special attention to faith. The Alberta sociologist and prolific author has charted religious decline and resilience in books such as Fragmented Gods, Unknown Gods and Restless Gods. His latest work, The Canadian Transformation: Social Trends 1975-2025, brings together 50 years of data from his national surveys. He spoke to Christopher White from his home in Edmonton.

Christopher White: Canada has experienced huge changes since you began monitoring social trends five decades ago. What value is central to the Canadian identity today?

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Reginald Bibby: If there’s just one that would be right at the top, it’s definitely freedom. Canadians want personal freedom with respect to choices in every part of their lives.

CW: That’s not what I would have expected as the central value. What does the term “freedom” actually mean for Canadians?

RB: It’s a good question. We have just about eight in 10 Canadians saying it’s very important to them. People want choice and flexibility. People want freedom when it comes to personal morality. They have changed over the decades in terms of attitudes toward sexual behaviour and orientation. But over and over again, if you’re looking for some kind of central thread, it’s that people want the freedom to think the way they want to think and act the way they want to act. And religious institutions are perceived as being almost antithetical to that high level of freedom they wish for in........

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