Photo credit: The Hub
According to a national Leger poll conducted for the Association for the Association for Canadian Studies and the Metropolis Institute, 62 per cent of the people who took part in the poll think the country is admitting too many immigrants. However, 20 per cent have a contrary opinion while 19 per cent say they don’t know.
Furthermore, according to the poll, 42 per cent of the Canadians polled say immigrants can be trusted, and when they were asked about refugees, only 36 per cent say they can trust refugees. On the contrary, 20 per cent think immigrants can not be trusted, while 23 per cent say refugees cannot be trusted.
According to an analysis piblished along with the poll, “While most observers attribute the persistent concern with the numbers of refugees to economic concerns and housing challenges, the survey looks at the extent to which Canadians trust immigrants and refugees and finds that amongst those Canadians who feel that there are too many immigrants, the level of trust in refugees is especially low.”
The analysis found that of the people who think there are too many people coming to Canada, only 32 per cent trust immigrants, while 28 per cent say they can’t be trusted. Similarly, only 24 per cent trust refugees, while 32 per cent say they cannot be trusted
“This may imply that concerns over domestic intergroup tensions may be a more important factor in concern with levels than has been previously acknowledged.”
Jack Jedwab, president and CEO of the Association for Canadian Studies and the Metropolis Institute, said, “We’re trying to probe here whether Canadians do have security concerns that are also driving some of the reticence or hesitation about immigration right now. My conclusion is that that is the case.
“The point of the survey is, there is an issue that we need to pay attention to. If there is a security concern associated with migration right now, it requires some attention and a need to assure Canadians that our government and the responsible departments are taking care of those issues, are paying attention to those issues if and when they arrive, or where and when they may arise.”
The poll also found that 57 per cent of immigrants agree that there are too many immigrants, while 60 per cent of non-immigrants feel that way. 61 per cent of non-white people surveyed alsi agree that there are too many immigrants, compared to 58 per cent of white people.
Source: National Post
