In Alberta: lots of candy, possibly some offensive costumes, according to Halloween poll

First the good news: Albertans are more likely than other Canadians to hand out candy to children on Halloween.

Now the bad news: the province is just slightly behind Atlantic Canada when it comes to embracing offensive costumes.

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That's according to a national poll conducted by Insights West that dove into all aspects of the Oct. 31 holiday and even askedCanadians to share their deepest fears.

In Alberta, 72 per cent say they hand out candy to kids on Halloweenwell above the national average of 54 per cent.

At the same time, 30 per cent of Albertans think it's appropriate to dress up their children in costumes that represent an ethnic stereotype, and 44 per cent think it's OKto change the colour of their children's skin for a costume.

The province also ranked second on both of those questions when applied to adult costumes.

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British Columbians are the most likely to find those kinds of costumes offensive.

Social stereotypes also common

If you're looking for a place to wander along in a costume representing a social stereotype such as a "vagabond" or "jailbird" then Alberta is also the place to be, according to the survey, whether you're a child or an adult.

According to the poll, 70 per cent of Albertans wouldn't bat an eye dressing their child up as a social stereotype, a number that rises to 76 per cent for adult costumes.

When it comes to the fears of those who live in the wild rose province, ghosts and goblins don't hold a candle to real-world concerns.

Topping the list of Albertans' fears is terrorism (61 per cent are afraid), snakes (45 per cent) and being the victim of a crime (44 per cent).

Unsurprisingly, only three per cent of Albertans are afraid of open spaces. Surprisingly, only three per cent are also afraid of clowns.

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The results are based on an online poll of 1,001 Canadian adults. For comparison purposesonly, a probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points for the entire sample, 19 times out of 20.

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