Canadians unfazed by terrorism
Despite attacks, most don’t feel personally threatened, new report suggests
OTTAWA— While Canadians were shocked by attacks in Saint-Jeansur-Richelieu, Que., and Ottawa last October, they don’t feel personally threatened by domestic terrorism, a report prepared for the federal government shows.
Focus groups conducted between Oct. 18 and Nov. 6 found the attacks had little impact on Canadians’ dayto-day lives or the issues they want the federal government to focus on.
“While the attacks were seen as extremely shocking and disturbing by all participants, most of them did not feel personally threatened by extremism and said they would not change their daily habits,” a summary of the research by Léger Marketing reads.
Top of mind for Canadians, in both the focus groups and polling conducted by Léger, was the economy. A full 23 per cent of respondents said the economy (and job creation) should be Ottawa’s main priority, while 10 per cent said health care should be the federal government’s main focus.
Only seven per cent of respondents said national security issues should be the government’s main focus — roughly the same share of people who felt the environment or social issues deserve the top spot.
Despite the poll’s findings, focus groups were generally for tightening Canada’s national security laws.
“Nevertheless, participants were mostly in agreement with the fact that increased security measures may need to be taken, especially with regards to electronic surveillance and swifter police intervention against suspected terrorists,” the report states.
That would be good news for the majority Conservatives, who have pushed new anti-terror legislation through the House of Commons and await the Senate’s stamp on Bill C-51.
But other polling, conducted by Forum after Canadians had a chance to familiarize themselves with the legislation, showed support for the legislation at 33 per cent.
While Canadians may be divided on how best to deal with domestic terrorist threats, they are united in their scorn for Islamic State, the terrorist group that has repeatedly called for attacks on Canadian targets.
“One of the main findings from discussions about this international threat is that there are no redeeming features to ISIS. This organization was seen as bad, evil,” the report reads. “Everything about ISIS was seen as indefensible.”
The polling results match up with that sentiment. While only 2 per cent of respondents felt that ISIS should be the government’s top priority — roughly the same number of people who felt Ebola should get the most attention from Ottawa — 56 per cent either strongly or somewhat supported the Conservatives’ decision to participate in airstrikes against the so-called Islamic State.
The main reason those people supported the mission was that “terrorism must be stopped” (15 per cent) or “Canada must defend itself” (14 per cent).
The poll and focus groups were conducted for the Privy Council Office, the bureaucrats who support the Prime Minister’s Office, which routinely commissions public opinion research on Canadians’ views. The cost of the research came in at $151,446. The poll surveyed 3,008 Canadians between Oct. 17 and Nov. 4, 2014.