Majority (58%) Oppose U.S. Missile Defence Shield

Toronto, ON -According to a new Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll released today, a majority (58%) of Canadians say that the Government of Canada should oppose the building of an anti-ballistic missile system (ABM) by the U.S., while one third (33%) say the Canadian government should support the ABM system. Respondents were told that the United States has tested and is planning to build an anti-ballistic missile system, which would allow the U.S. to shoot down missiles that are fired at it by a hostile country. Respondents were also told that those who are opposed to the system have suggested that it could lead to another arms race.

• Opposition to the ABM system is highest is Ontario (61%) and BC (60%) and lowest in the Atlantic provinces (48%).
• Women (65%) are more likely than men (50%) to say the Canadian Government should oppose the U.S. construction of an ABM system.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted between July 17th and July 19th, 2001. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians. 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 Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual adult Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Darrell Bricker
President
Public Affairs
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900