Four in five Canadians would support the Trudeau government’s plan to allow an unlimited number of Ukrainian refugees into the country in the coming weeks, according to a recent Angus Reid Institute poll.
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Nearly 90% of former Liberal voters surveyed and 92% of New Democrats would support this welcoming plan. Support is less pronounced among former Conservative Party of Canada voters, but remains a majority at 75%.
This support is thus greater than that which was observed in 2015 when the approximately 25,000 Syrian refugees arrived in Canada, indicated the polling institute. At that time, only 39% of Canadians were in favor of their arrival, a figure that still climbed to 52% in February 2016.
The strong presence of the Ukrainian community in Canada, which already numbers 1.4 million people, could explain this difference in support for the reception of refugees, argued the Institute.
Just under half of Canadians surveyed (43%) would also be in favor of Ukraine joining NATO.
Recall that Ottawa has promised to implement a new visa system allowing an unlimited number of Ukrainians to obtain open work and residence permits for two years.
This plan then differs from that which had been proposed when the Syrians arrived, to whom permanent residence was offered from the outset.
The online survey was conducted among 4,292 Canadian adults from March 10-15, 2022.
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Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com