Poll finds majority of Canadians disapprove of government’s handling of asylum seekers
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/09/2017 (2970 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The pressure at the border may be easing in Manitoba, but as it builds in Quebec, a new poll shows attitudes toward asylum seekers hardening in Canada.
Fifty-seven per cent of Canadians disapprove of the federal governments handling of this summer’s surge in asylum seekers, the Angus Reid Institute said in a poll released Friday.
Respondents would rather see money spent beefing up border security to keep people out (70 per cent) rather than spending money on accommodating refugees pouring out of the United States (30 per cent), the Angus Reid poll released Friday concluded.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted the online survey from Aug. 22 to 25, 2017, among a representative randomized sample of 1,505 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. Due to the nature of the poll, no margin of error can be determined.
Predictably, opinions are divided along political lines.
Three quarters of past Conservative voters say Canada has been too generous, compared to 45 per cent of New Democrats and 40 per cent of Liberals.
Since July 1, more than 7,000 people have walked across the border into Quebec to make asylum claims.
“Asked to weigh in on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s public statements about Canada welcoming refugees while discouraging irregular border crossings, slightly more than half of Canadians (54 per cent) say the PM’s messaging has been unclear,” the pollster said in a statement.
As seasonal temperatures rose this spring and summer, the number of asylum seekers crossing into Manitoba fell, federal immigration figures showed in early August.
After intercepting 19 people in January, there was a sharp rise at the border in Manitoba, with 142 in February and 170 in March. In April, the numbers started to slip with 146 that month, 106 in May and 63 in June, figures from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada showed.
Another 70 to 80 refugee claimants arrived in July, according to Winnipeg’s non-profit Welcome Place.
The situation is much different in Quebec, which has seen as many as 100 asylum seekers arriving per day.
By early August, Olympic Stadium in Montreal was opened up to shelter the swell of asylum seekers from the U.S., then the military started pitching tents along the border.
For more findings and to read the complete report, visit angusreid.org.
alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca