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Canadians oppose Muslim restrictions |
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Most Canadians do not support restricting the numbers of immigrants
allowed into Canada from Muslim countries, a new poll shows. While 81
per cent of Canadians are in favour of "deporting or jailing anyone who
publicly supports terrorist bombers", only 39 per cent were in support
of severely restricting immigrants from Muslim nations.
The Strategic Counsel poll, conducted for TV network CTV and national newspaper The Globe and Mail, also found that Canadians are in favour of tough security measures.
Of those surveyed, 72 per cent support having video cameras
in all public places, while 62 per cent believe Canada should provide
the United States with "any information they request about Canadian
citizens who they suspect of being terrorists."
When asked whether they supported detaining suspected
terrorists without trial, 46 per cent said they strongly or
womewhat supported the measure. Another 45 per cent strongly or
somewhat supported the government sending agents to infiltrate the
Muslim community.
While there isn't a strong civil libertarian tradition in this country,
"Canadians have always had a sense of fair play and the right thing,"
Allan Gregg, chairman of The Strategic Counsel, was quoted as telling CTV.
"They do draw at least a faint line in the sand on some measures that
do touch on those two things: Rule of law and prosecution of the
prospectively innocent." At the same time, "they aren't particularly
concerned about their own privacy," he said.
The poll also found Canadians are generally in favour of the
government's current immigration policy and say it strikes the right
balance in terms of numbers and countries of origin.
But 41 per cent of Canadians believe the country an immigrant comes
from is linked to their likelihood of success in Canada. Among those
polled with such views, there were also clear notions of which
immigrant groups are more likely to make a positive contribution.
European immigrants -- who tend to be predominantly white -- topped the
list with 76 per cent, followed by Asians at 59 per cent. Less than
half of that subsection of Canadians, at 45 per cent, believed Indians
make a positive contribution and West Indians were viewed favourably by
only 33 per cent.
University of Toronto Professor Jeffrey Reitz told the Globe and Mail that
while he suspects the findings do reveal some racial bias, his studies
of census data show European immigrants are in fact more economically
successful than visible minorities.
"Then it wouldn't necessarily reflect anything other than a knowledge
of income levels in different groups, but some people say the reason
why some groups make more than others is racism," said Prof. Reitz, who
teaches ethnic and immigration studies.
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