Almost Half (45%)Believe Police Have Gone Too Far In Using Anti-Terrorism Powers

Toronto, Ontario - The latest Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll shows that almost half (45%) of Canadians say that even though individual rights need to be compromised sometimes in order to fight terrorism, police and security forces in Canada are now going too far in using anti-terrorism powers. Just over half (53%) do not agree that Canadian police and security forces have gone too far in compromising individual rights in their fight against terrorism.

Another sizeable minority (41%) also worry that if they were detained by police or security services in Canada and were wrongly suspected of terrorism activities, they would not get a fair hearing and process. In contrast, six in ten (57%) have enough faith in the system to believe that they would receive a fair trial in this circumstance.

Canadians are also guarded when it comes to their privacy rights, as three quarters (75%) say they are not prepared to see our police and security forces get more power to fight terrorism, when it means that they might tap their phones, open their mail, or read personal emails without ever knowing it. However, one quarter (24%) agree that they are prepared to concede these circumstances in the effort to fight terrorism.

In this vein, half of Canadians (48%) disagree that the Canadian government should be allowed to keep evidence secret in court cases against people who they think are risks to national security. But the other half (51%) are of the opinion that the government should be allowed to take these measures.

When it comes to balancing media freedom versus national security, a majority (54%) do not agree that police should be able to search the homes of journalists for leaked documents and confidential sources regarding national security investigation. This is juxtaposed against a substantial minority (44%) who believe that the police should have these powers.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Globe and Mail/CTV poll conducted between February 3 and February 5 2004. The telephone survey is based on a randomly selected sample of 1055 adult Canadians during each time frame. With a sample of this size, the results for each question 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 Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data. Almost Half (45%) Believe Police Have Gone "Too Far" In Fight Against Terrorism Almost half (45%) agree that even though individual rights need to be compromised sometimes in order to fight terrorism, police and security forces in Canada are now going too far in using anti-terrorism powers (29% somewhat agree, 16% strongly agree). While just over half (53%) do not agree that Canadian police and security forces have gone too far in their fight against terrorism (32% somewhat disagree, 21% strongly disagree). 2% say they `don't know.'

• Five in ten in British Columbia (51%) and in Quebec (50%) agree that police and security forces have gone to far, just under half in Atlantic Canada (45%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (45%) also agree with this statement, while four in ten in Ontario (42%) and Alberta (36%) feel this way.

• As age increases among respondents their propensity to agree with this statement also rises (aged 18-34, 42%; 35-54, 44%; and 55+ , 50%).

• Low-income earners are more likely to agree that police and security forces have gone too far (53%

Four in Ten (41%) Worry About Getting a Fair Trial

Four in ten (41%) worry that if they were to be detained by police or security services in Canada and were wrongly suspected of terrorism activities, they would not get a fair hearing and process (25% somewhat agree, 16% strongly agree). Six in ten (57%) have faith that they would receive a fair trial in this circumstance (28% somewhat disagree, 29% strongly disagree). 2% volunteer no opinion.

• Residents of Quebec (47%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (47%) are the most inclined to worry about receiving a fair trial should they be wrongly suspected of terrorism activities, followed by Albertans (39%), British Columbians (38%), Ontarians (37%) and Atlantic Canadians (36%).

• The older the respondents are the more likely they are to worry that they may not receive a fair trial (aged 18-34, 37%; 35-54, 42%; and 55+, 44%).

• Lower income earners are more likely to agree that they are concerned they may not receive a fair trial (51%

Three Quarters (75%) Not Prepared to Have Security Forces Conduct More Intrusive Surveillance Without Them Ever Knowing

Three quarters (75%) disagree when asked if they are prepared to see our police and security forces get more power to fight terrorism, even if it means that they might tap their phones, open their mail, or read personal emails without ever knowing it (17% somewhat disagree, 58% strongly disagree). While one quarter (24%) agree that they are prepared to concede these circumstances in the effort to fight terrorism (15% somewhat agree, 9% strongly agree). Only 1% state that they `don't know.'

• There are no notable regional variations in opinion when it comes to this topic.

• The oldest respondents are the most likely to be prepared to concede these freedoms in the effort to fight terrorism (21% of those aged 18-34 and 35-54, compared to 31% of those age 55+).

Canadians Split Whether To Allow Government To Keep Evidence Secret

Half (51%) agree that the Canadian government should be allowed to keep evidence secret in court cases against people who they think are risks to national security (29% somewhat agree, 22% strongly agree). While the other half (48%) disagree with this suggestion (20% somewhat disagree, 28% strongly disagree). With 1% saying they `don't know.'

• Residents of Quebec (56%) and British Columbia (56%) are the most likely to agree with this notion, Atlantic Canadians (52%) and Albertans (51%) fall in the middle, while residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (47%) and Ontario (47%) come up the rear.

Slim Majority (54%) Agree Police Should Not Be Able to Search Journalists

Five in ten (54%) do not believe that police should be able to search the homes of journalists for leaked documents and confidential sources regarding national security investigations (21% somewhat disagree, 33% strongly disagree). Four in ten (44%) are of the opinion that police should have these powers (28% somewhat agree, 16% strongly agree). 1% say they `don't know.'

• Alberta is the only province where the majority (53%) agree that police should be able to search the homes of journalists for leaked documents and confidential sources regarding national security investigations, residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (48%) fall second, Atlantic Canadians (45%) third, Ontarian (43%) and Quebec (43%) tie for fourth, and British Columbians (42%) come in last.

• Those with the lowest levels of education are the most inclined to believe that police should be able to search the homes of journalists (58% less than High School, 49% High School, 41% Post Secondary, 36% University or more).

Please open the attached PDF to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900