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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Richnorth who wrote (20750)	12/21/2002 11:44:15 AM
From: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27666

Canadian attitudes on immigration hardening against Muslims: poll 44 % support putting limit on immigration Mike Blanchfield The Ottawa Citizen Saturday, December 21, 2002 The image of the "Canadian mosaic" as a benevolent tapestry of different cultures and religions is challenged by a new poll that indicates a strong core of support for keeping Muslim immigrants out of the country more than a year after the trauma of Sept. 11, 2001. The results suggest that hardened attitudes to immigration -- particularly from Muslim countries -- which emerged in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., have moderated only slightly. In November, a poll for Maclean's magazine, Global TV and the Citizen asked 1,400 Canadians across the nation to assess various ways the government might want to respond to the threat of terrorism. "Restricting the number of immigrants that come to Canada from Muslim countries" received a 44-per-cent approval rating, with support running highest in Central Canada and lowest in Alberta and British Columbia. A marginally lower number -- 42 per cent -- opposed such restrictions, while 12 per cent of respondents were neutral. The 44-per-cent approval was down from 49 per cent a year earlier, but the continuing strength of support for restricting Muslims surprised the Strategic Counsel, the Toronto pollster that conducted the Nov. 1-12 telephone survey, whose national results are considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Adding to the impression of a tough attitude, 51 per cent of respondents said refugee claim-ants should be kept in a secure location -- jails, essentially -- before their cases are heard, down from 59 per cent a year earlier. And 60 per cent said anyone who arrives on an airplane without valid identification should be sent back on the next flight to the place from which they came, compared to 65 per cent in last year's poll. "Given our history for being a haven for refugees, there doesn't seem to be quite the public support for what you'd want," said pollster Michael Sullivan. "It questions our commitment to the mosaic." Mr. Sullivan says the Sept. 11 attacks may have unleashed a sleeping intolerance toward foreigners across Canada. He says the poll results raise some provocative questions about Canada's nice-guy image. "I suspect it's 9/11. Has this allowed, somehow, some of our more intolerant feelings to become more socially acceptable? "Are we more comfortable voicing them?" The poll indicates that attitudes vary by region. Support for restricting the number of immigrants from Muslim countries was highest in Quebec at 48 per cent, followed by Ontario at 45 per cent, and lowest in Alberta at 35 per cent, followed by B.C. at 39 per cent. The figures were 42 per cent for Saskatchewan and Manitoba and 43 per cent in Atlantic Canada. On the question of sending back people who arrive without valid identification, support was highest in Alberta at 65 per cent, followed by Ontario at 64 per cent, and lowest in Quebec, at 51 per cent. The figures were 61 per cent in B.C., 60 per cent in Saskatchewan/Manitoba and 56 per cent in Atlantic Canada. Support for keeping refugee claimants in a secure location until their cases are heard was highest in Ontario at 55 per cent, followed by Alberta at 52 per cent, and lowest in Sask-atchewan/Manitoba at 43 per cent, followed by B.C. at 45 per cent. The figure was 50 per cent in Quebec and 47 per cent in Atlantic Canada. The regional margins of error, at a 95 per cent confidence level, were within 5.8 percentage points in both B.C. and Alberta, 7.5 in Saskatchewan/Manitoba, 5.1 in Ontario, 5.8 in Quebec and 6.7 in Atlantic Canada. Canadian attitudes to immigration have traditionally "waxed and waned" -- the harder the economic conditions, the harsher the attitude towards immigrants, Mr. Sullivan says. "A lot of people see refugees as people who want to jump the queue. I'm not sure we've always been as hospitable as we might believe." Unlike the U.S., Canada does not detain refugee claimants in jails until their claims can be verified. But plans surfaced recently that show $20 million has been set aside for an immigration detention centre near Pearson Airport in Toronto. The plans show the facility would have escape-proof rooms and barbed wire fences. © Copyright 2002 The Ottawa Citizen