CANADIANS POLLED,

Support for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to bring in 25,000 refugees by the end of the year appears to have ebbed in the aftermath of the Paris terrorism attacks, with a majority of Canadians surveyed disapproving of the policy.

An exclusive poll for Postmedia Network by Mainstreet Research shows that while 42 per cent of those surveyed approve of the ambitious plan, which would see the refugees arrive over the next six weeks, 53 per cent say they do not approve of the initiative. (Five per cent were not sure.)

The telephone poll was conducted using interactive voice response technology on Nov. 16, three days after the terrorist attacks in Paris. The discovery of a Syrian passport near the body of one attacker prompted debate about whether Islamic State militants could slip into western countries as part of the refugee stream.

With the Liberal government poised to make public its plan to bring refugees into Canada, some politicians have urged caution. Earlier this week, for instance, Saskatchewan Conservative Premier Brad Wall warned of dire consequences if the security screening of refugees fell short because of the compressed timeline.

Some other provincial and municipal politicians have also suggested it would be wise to let the timeline slip so that the government can show Canadians it is doing proper security screening and preparation for the arrival of so many people so quickly.

“Our earlier polling showed strong support for bringing refugees to Canada but after the attacks in Paris, security is now a higher concern,” wrote Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research, in an analysis of his company’s poll.

Mainstreet also asked if people were more generally satisfied with the Liberal government’s response to the refugee crisis.

Again, 42 per cent said they were; 46 per cent said they were not; 12 per cent were not sure.

The Syrian refugee issue shook the collective Canadian conscience with the publication in September of photographs of the dead body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi on a beach. The boy’s family had hoped to come to Canada.

Federal political leaders running in the Oct. 19 election rushed to put forward policy platforms on the refugees, and the Liberals, who ultimately won a majority, pledged 25,000 would come to Canada by Dec. 31.

Trudeau this week held firm to his commitment.

“It didn’t take the tragedies of Paris for us to suddenly realize that security is important,” he told reporters, adding that he was “very much committed to keeping Canadians safe while we do the right thing to engage responsibly with this humanitarian crisis.”

The Mainstreet poll of 2,718 Canadians carries a margin of error nationally of plus or minus 1.88 percentage points, 95 per cent of the time.