Majority (53%) of Canadians Support Decision to Stay in Afghanistan for Training Mission, But Most (61%) Say Parliament Should Debate and Vote on Mission
Recently, Prime Minister Harper announced that up to 1000 Canadian Forces troops would remain in Afghanistan through 2014 in a training capacity but that he would not seek a vote in parliament on the matter since the extended mission involves training Afghan forces, not a combat mission, a decision and process that was backed by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. But, according to the poll, only one in three (35%) Canadians believe that "since it is not about furthering the combat mission there is no reason for a debate and vote". Just 4% are unsure of whether Parliament should debate and vote on the mission or not.
Support for Mission Splits Canadians Along Demographic Lines...
Overall, a majority (53%) of Canadians `support' (23% strongly/30% somewhat) the use of upwards of 1,000 Canadian Forces personnel to remain in Afghanistan until 2014 strictly to train members of the Afghan National Army and not to take part in any further combat missions. However, four in ten (41%) Canadians `oppose' (29% strongly/12% somewhat) Canadian Forces remaining in Afghanistan until 2014 even if it is strictly to train members of the Afghan National Army. Nearly one in ten (6%) Canadians don't know whether they support or oppose this new training mission. By comparison, in the summer of this year, 50% of Canadians supported the current security and combat mission against the Taliban, while 50% opposed the mission.
The issue appears to have divided the country along regional, generational, socio-economic and gender lines:
- A majority of residents of Alberta (64%), British Columbia (62%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (60%) and Ontario (55%) support the training mission, while only a minority of Quebecers (45%) and Atlantic Canadians (38%) support the new mission. In fact, a majority of Atlantic Canadians (53%) and Quebecers (52%) oppose the mission.
- Canadians over the age of 55 are most likely (58%) to support the decision to keep Canadian Forces troops in Afghanistan followed by those aged 35 to 54 (54%). However, a minority (46%) of young adults aged 18 to 34 support this mission, roughly the same proportion that opposes it (47%).
- Men (62%) are considerably more likely than women (45%) to support the new training mission. In fact, more women oppose (47%) it than support it (45%).
- Canadians whose family earn more than $60,000 a year are most likely (62%) to support the mission, while a majority (53%) of those who earn between $30,000 and $60,000 also support it. Those whose family earns less than $30,000 are much less likely (37%) to support it, and are actually the biggest opposition (59%) to the mission.
Majority Want Debate and Vote...
Six in ten (61%) Canadians believe that the Prime Minister should hold a debate and vote in Parliament on the future of the Afghanistan mission. In fact, a majority of those in every demographic group studied believe the Prime Minister should hold a vote:
- Quebecers (71%) are most likely to believe there should be a debate and vote in Parliament, followed by those living in Atlantic Canada (67%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (60%), Alberta (59%), British Columbia (58%) and Ontario (56%).
- Younger Canadians (72%) are much more likely than middle-aged (58%) and older (58%) Canadians to believe that the Prime Minister should hold consult Parliament.
- Women (65%) are significantly more inclined than men (58%) to believe that there should be a debate and vote held in Parliament.
These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Postmedia News and Global Television from November 16-18, 2010. For the survey, a representative randomly-selected sample of 1,002 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult population of Canada been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure that the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2002
[email protected]
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