Canada has enough problems without refugees, say those opposed

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Canada has enough problems without refugees, say those opposed

Most opposed say nothing will change their minds

TORONTO December 8th, 2015 - In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll among 721 of the 4-in-10 Canadians (44%) who oppose the planned refugee resettlement, one half are opposed because “we have enough problems in this country already” (49%), while about one third each oppose the plan because “refugees are a terrorist threat” (39%) or because they object to the cost of the exercise (35%). Other reasons mentioned include being a threat to Canadian culture (25%) and the number being resettled (28%).

Minds of those opposed will not change their minds

The majority of those opposed to the refugee plan say nothing would make them change their opposition (55%), and that includes even if the refugees were not Muslim (13%), if they were Christian (10%), if they weren’t Middle Eastern (8%) and if the Paris attacks had never happened (7%).

 “It does not appear overt racism is behind the reluctance some feel about welcoming the Syrian refugees to Canada, but, for a minority, it appears fear and bigotry are acceptable reasons to object to this plan,” said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.

Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.