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CTV News
May 6, 2006
A new poll suggests most Canadians now oppose sending troops to Afghanistan.
The poll, which was conducted by The Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail, found 54 per cent of Canadians are against the deployment of troops.
Of those, 23 per cent are strongly opposed -- an increase of eight percentage points from the previous survey.
"That's the really interesting number," said Timothy Woolstencroft, managing partner for The Strategic Counsel.
"There is starting to be greater opposition to the Afghanistan initiative -- and this is a real source of weakness for the government."
The specific question asked was: "Overall, would you say you strongly support, support, oppose or strongly oppose the decision to send Canadian troops to Afghanistan?"
The drop in support could partially be connected to Canadians' ambivalence toward the military's increasing role in Afghanistan, Woolstencroft told CTV.ca.
"It's probably been the most controversial part of the Conservatives' first 100 days in government, and Canadians are clearly more than ambivalent," he said.
Of all the provinces, Quebec is most opposed to sending troops to Afghanistan.
"This suggests that the (Bloc Quebecois) has a real opportunity to shift its position and oppose the war in Afghanistan," Woolstencroft said.
In Quebec, 70 per cent of those surveyed now oppose sending troops to Afghanistan, compared to 53 per cent in mid-March.
"Let's face it, Quebec has always been, historically, the least likely to believe in military intervention," he said.
Other areas were split on Canada's military presence in Afghanistan:
- 50 per cent in Ontario opposed sending troops there, with 42 per cent in support;
- 45 per cent in the West were in opposition, with 49 per cent in support; and
- 49 per cent in the rest of Canada were in opposition, with 44 per cent in support.
The Strategic Counsel conducted the polling on May 3 and 4, interviewing 1,000 Canadians right after the Tory government released its first budget. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The poll results also suggest overall Conservative support has slipped recently, despite a month that saw the government end the softwood lumber dispute and unveil a budget that cuts the general sales tax.
When asked which political party's candidate they would vote for tomorrow, 35 per cent of Canadians said a Conservative candidate -- down four per cent from a poll released in April.
For other party candidates (with +/- change since April in brackets):
- 31 per cent said Liberal (+2);
- 16 per cent said NDP (+2);
- 10 per cent said Bloc Quebecois (-1);
- 9 per cent said Green Party (+2).
(c) Copyright 2002-2006 Bell Globemedia Inc.
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