- Reaction score
- 14,070
- Points
- 1,260
As an postscript to our discussion of George Bush Going In, here is a little piece for those of you who backed the governments decision to follow the fickle choices of a public by way of polls instead of acting in our best interests as representatives. Hate to say I told you so....
72% believe Canada should have backed war
Split between verbal or military support
Michael Higgins, with files from Sheldon Alberts
National Post
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
ADVERTISEMENT
A large majority of Canadians -- 72% -- believe Canada should have supported the U.S. at the start of the war against Iraq, according to an exclusive National Post/Global News poll.
The COMPAS survey shows 41% of people believe Canada should have given verbal support to the United States two weeks ago while 31% said the backing should have come in the form of both words and troops.
Still, only a slim majority, 56%, agreed with the U.S. decision to launch an invasion to bring down Saddam Hussein, while 34% opposed the attack.
Jean Chré'©en is to give a speech in the House of Commons today endorsing the Bush administration's "mission" in Iraq and asking MPs to declare formal support for a quick victory by coalition forces.
The Prime Minister will speak in favour of a government motion designed to show solidarity with U.S. and British forces in Iraq and hope for their victory, even though Canada refused to join the coalition against Saddam.
The motion affirms "the unbreakable bonds" of values and family Canadians share with the United States and Great Britain.
The motion also asks MPs to affirm Canada's decision not to join the war. It will be the first time Mr. Chré'©en has delivered a formal address explaining Canada's position since the war began March 20.
Two days before the war, Mr. Chré'©en justified his decision not to join with George. W. Bush, the U.S. President, when he said, "He makes his own decision. I respect his authority to make the decision on behalf of the people of the United States. I made a decision on behalf of the people of Canada."
One expert in international relations said he believes Canadian support for the U.S. in the poll was prompted by the fear of trade reprisals.
"Canadians always get nervous at the mention of spillover between differences and disputes between the Canadian and U.S governments and the spillover to economic and trade issues," said Professor Allen Sens, from the University of British Columbia's political science and international relations program.
He said Canadians were concerned that possible U.S. retaliation could harm the economic relationship between the two countries -- "the very lifeline of the Canadian economy and our well-being as a society."
However, trade was not the main reason Canadians gave for going to supporting the U.S.
Asked to choose a reason for joining the war effort, 42% of people said it would be because Saddam and his allies are a threat to the West.
Toppling Saddam to stop Islamist terrorists was chosen as a reason by 15%, with 14% choosing "Americans are our friends."
Only 13% cited the U.S.'s position as Canada's biggest trading partner as the reason to support the war.
The figures did not surprise Mr. Sens.
"The principles and norms normally come to the top," he said.
A question about U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci's recent comments on Canada-U.S. relations resonated with English-speaking Canadians but not with French speakers.
At a meeting in Toronto last month, Mr. Cellucci said the U.S. would help Canada in time of need but the Chré'©en government's opposition to its policy on Iraq showed the reverse was not true.
In response to a question about Mr. Cellucci's position, 41% of Canadians believe the government should show more support for the U.S.
However, a breakdown of the figure shows that 49% of English speakers wanted the government to show more support for the U.S. while only 14% of French speakers agreed with this position.
Mr. Sens described the support for Mr. Cellucci's comments as "lukewarm."
"I think this comes from a bit of defensiveness that Canadians have when representatives of foreign governments make comments about Canadian actions. I think there's a natural, 'How dare they tell us what we should be doing,' kind of reaction."
The Prime Minister has said Canada's decision to sit out the war will not affect bilateral relations, despite warnings from Mr. Cellucci.
Opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq centred around a "pacifist inclination," according to Conrad Winn, chief executive of COMPAS Inc.
The statement "all war is bad" was supported by 31% of the people who answered a question about reasons to oppose the war, while 40% said better diplomacy would have solved the problem.
About a third of Canadians -- 36% -- felt the U.S. military has not done enough to protect innocent civilians in Iraq, while about a fifth -- 22% -- felt it was doing too much.
Canadians were not overly concerned about lost opportunities for influencing the United States by not joining the war, Mr. Winn said.
Asked to record on a scale from one to seven whether they were very concerned or not, most Canadians fell into the middle of the scale.
"Canadians are somewhat concerned about losing business opportunities in the United States and losing opportunities to influence American policy as a result of not participating in the U.S.-led coalition," Mr. Winn said.
"Fewer Canadians are worried about losing international influence as a result of being perceived as too close to the United States."
Asked about France's opposition to the war, 43% of respondents said they felt favourably toward that country and 41% felt unfavourably.
The poll of 500 people was conducted from April 4-6 and is considered accurate within 4.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
In tomorrow's Post, poll results show Canadians' views on shared security with the U.S.
? Copyright 2003 National Post
72% believe Canada should have backed war
Split between verbal or military support
Michael Higgins, with files from Sheldon Alberts
National Post
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
ADVERTISEMENT
A large majority of Canadians -- 72% -- believe Canada should have supported the U.S. at the start of the war against Iraq, according to an exclusive National Post/Global News poll.
The COMPAS survey shows 41% of people believe Canada should have given verbal support to the United States two weeks ago while 31% said the backing should have come in the form of both words and troops.
Still, only a slim majority, 56%, agreed with the U.S. decision to launch an invasion to bring down Saddam Hussein, while 34% opposed the attack.
Jean Chré'©en is to give a speech in the House of Commons today endorsing the Bush administration's "mission" in Iraq and asking MPs to declare formal support for a quick victory by coalition forces.
The Prime Minister will speak in favour of a government motion designed to show solidarity with U.S. and British forces in Iraq and hope for their victory, even though Canada refused to join the coalition against Saddam.
The motion affirms "the unbreakable bonds" of values and family Canadians share with the United States and Great Britain.
The motion also asks MPs to affirm Canada's decision not to join the war. It will be the first time Mr. Chré'©en has delivered a formal address explaining Canada's position since the war began March 20.
Two days before the war, Mr. Chré'©en justified his decision not to join with George. W. Bush, the U.S. President, when he said, "He makes his own decision. I respect his authority to make the decision on behalf of the people of the United States. I made a decision on behalf of the people of Canada."
One expert in international relations said he believes Canadian support for the U.S. in the poll was prompted by the fear of trade reprisals.
"Canadians always get nervous at the mention of spillover between differences and disputes between the Canadian and U.S governments and the spillover to economic and trade issues," said Professor Allen Sens, from the University of British Columbia's political science and international relations program.
He said Canadians were concerned that possible U.S. retaliation could harm the economic relationship between the two countries -- "the very lifeline of the Canadian economy and our well-being as a society."
However, trade was not the main reason Canadians gave for going to supporting the U.S.
Asked to choose a reason for joining the war effort, 42% of people said it would be because Saddam and his allies are a threat to the West.
Toppling Saddam to stop Islamist terrorists was chosen as a reason by 15%, with 14% choosing "Americans are our friends."
Only 13% cited the U.S.'s position as Canada's biggest trading partner as the reason to support the war.
The figures did not surprise Mr. Sens.
"The principles and norms normally come to the top," he said.
A question about U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci's recent comments on Canada-U.S. relations resonated with English-speaking Canadians but not with French speakers.
At a meeting in Toronto last month, Mr. Cellucci said the U.S. would help Canada in time of need but the Chré'©en government's opposition to its policy on Iraq showed the reverse was not true.
In response to a question about Mr. Cellucci's position, 41% of Canadians believe the government should show more support for the U.S.
However, a breakdown of the figure shows that 49% of English speakers wanted the government to show more support for the U.S. while only 14% of French speakers agreed with this position.
Mr. Sens described the support for Mr. Cellucci's comments as "lukewarm."
"I think this comes from a bit of defensiveness that Canadians have when representatives of foreign governments make comments about Canadian actions. I think there's a natural, 'How dare they tell us what we should be doing,' kind of reaction."
The Prime Minister has said Canada's decision to sit out the war will not affect bilateral relations, despite warnings from Mr. Cellucci.
Opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq centred around a "pacifist inclination," according to Conrad Winn, chief executive of COMPAS Inc.
The statement "all war is bad" was supported by 31% of the people who answered a question about reasons to oppose the war, while 40% said better diplomacy would have solved the problem.
About a third of Canadians -- 36% -- felt the U.S. military has not done enough to protect innocent civilians in Iraq, while about a fifth -- 22% -- felt it was doing too much.
Canadians were not overly concerned about lost opportunities for influencing the United States by not joining the war, Mr. Winn said.
Asked to record on a scale from one to seven whether they were very concerned or not, most Canadians fell into the middle of the scale.
"Canadians are somewhat concerned about losing business opportunities in the United States and losing opportunities to influence American policy as a result of not participating in the U.S.-led coalition," Mr. Winn said.
"Fewer Canadians are worried about losing international influence as a result of being perceived as too close to the United States."
Asked about France's opposition to the war, 43% of respondents said they felt favourably toward that country and 41% felt unfavourably.
The poll of 500 people was conducted from April 4-6 and is considered accurate within 4.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
In tomorrow's Post, poll results show Canadians' views on shared security with the U.S.
? Copyright 2003 National Post
