A clear majority of Canadians disagree (60%) with the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to settle 25,000 refugees in Canada before the end of the year and more than two thirds (68%) support the use of Canadian Forces CF-18 fighter jets in air strikes against ISIS, a new Ipsos poll conducted after the terrorist attacks that devastated Paris one week ago revealed.
Most (80%) Canadians feel that individual refugees − regardless of how dire their personal situation is − must go through a proper security screening to make sure they aren’t terrorists even if this slows down their admission as Canada cannot compromise national security.
Two thirds (67%) of Canadian believe that there are terrorists pretending to be refugees who will enter Canada to cause violence and destruction.
While Canadians are worried about the security threat refugees pose, a majority (57%) feel that
confident that most refugees who come to Canada will successfully integrate into their new society.
Most (75%) Canadians see a terrorist attack taking place in Canada as a real threat − and increase of 14 percentage points from last month − while just one quarter say it isn’t.
A majority of Canadians see real security threats on the horizon, including Canada being involved in an armed conflict (66%), a nuclear, biological or chemical attack taking place somewhere in the world (64%), and a violent conflict breaking out between ethnic or minority groups in Canada (52%).
But a majority of Canadians (55%) do no see the personal safety and security of Canadians personally, and their family, being violated as a real threat.
The contradiction maybe explained by the Canadians’ confidence in the Canadian Security Agencies, with a majority believe that the authorities would be able to protect them in the cases where a violent conflict breaking out between ethnic or minority groups in Canada (66%), their personal safety and security their family being violated (66%), Canada being involved in an armed conflict with another nation(65%), a terrorist attack taking place in Canada (62%), or a nuclear, biological or chemical attack taking place somewhere in the world (51%).
This faith in the security establishment should come as welcome news to RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson and CSIS Director Michel Coulombe who assured Canadians on Wednesday that the government is not cutting corners when it comes to screening refugees.
“We will play a role in making the security checks and confirm people’s identity,” Paulson told reporters. “In my view, the system is satisfactory.”
Public Safety Minister and Liberal Member of Parliament for Regina-Wascana Ralph Goodale explained that the initial goal is a “humanitarian mission” to “rescue people who are in terrible conditions and fleeing from the scourge that is [the Islamic State],” a mission he vowed to fulfil “without any diminution or reduction in our security work.”
The Ipsos survey conducted between November 17 and 19, 2015 with a representative sample size of 1,002 is deemed accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
[Photo Credit: PMO]
