Terror threats less in eyes of youth
In a poll that otherwise showed a stark generational divide, younger and older Canadians can agree on one thing when it comes to terrorism: that the majority are not ready to give up their civil liberties to curb it.
Sixty per cent of Canadians disagree with the statement “to curb terrorism in this country, I am ready to give up some civil liberties,” according to a new poll of 2,200 Canadians commissioned by the Association for Canadian Studies, and it was the only result that was relatively consistent across all ages of people surveyed.
“Canadians are very protective of their rights. They value their rights to a considerable extent and are reluctant to make compromises,” said Jack Jedwab, the executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies.
Otherwise, the results of the poll seem to indicate that younger Canadians are less concerned about attacks and more flexible in their views on terrorism, but perhaps less knowledgeable compared to older cohorts of those surveyed.
When asked if they were worried about the possibility of a terrorist attack in Canada, 44 per cent of respondents said “yes,” but when broken down by age, that number ranged from 30 per cent in people aged 18-24 up to 50 per cent in people age 65 and over.
Just over half of respondents, overall, said they think terrorism is most attributable to religious fundamentalism.
But that number was much smaller in Canadians age 18-24, where only 31 per cent said religious fundamentalism was the most important factor, and 25 per cent attributed terrorism to poverty and economic inequality, and another 25 per cent attributed it to foreign policy.
Further, 86 per cent of Canadians agreed that terrorism cannot be justified under any circumstances, but that number ranged from 70 per cent in those aged 18-24 and increased incrementally over the cohorts up to 91 per cent in those aged 65 and over.
“There’s likely a tendency for young people, based on the survey results, to think that the older cohorts are more alarmist about this, and the older cohorts probably think that the younger people are a bit more naive about it,” Jedwab said.
Overall, when asked to name one or two actions that Canada has taken in the past five years to combat terrorism, 19 per cent of Canadians cited enhanced airport security, and the no-fly list.