Canadians are highly supportive of imposing additional sanctions on Russia even if it means paying the price at home, but are cooler to the idea of directly going to war against Russia, a new poll suggests.
A total of 82.4 percent of Canadians surveyed by Nanos Research said they support or somewhat support increasing economic sanctions and actions against Russia, even if it resulted in a prolonged series of price increases in Canada for staples like gasoline and groceries.
When it comes to an escalation of conflict in Ukraine by the imposition of a no-fly zone or by Canada’s direct involvement in fighting Russia as part of NATO, less than half of respondents are supportive, suggests the poll commissioned by CTV and The Globe and Mail.
The overall support (support or somewhat support) for a no-fly zone, which would very likely draw NATO into war, is at 47 percent, while the overall opposition (oppose or somewhat oppose) is at 44.7 percent. A little over 8 percent said they were unsure.
Overall support for Canada going to war as part of NATO is at 46.8 percent and overall opposition is at 45.5 percent.
The support for Canada’s involvement in the war increases drastically when the variable of Russia invading another country than Ukraine is added, with a total of 65.5 percent saying they would support or somewhat support it.
Russia’s invasion of a neighbouring NATO country would almost certainly trigger the alliance’s pact of collective defence under Article 5, where an attack against one ally is considered an attack against all allies, but it is unclear if Canadians would want to go to war with Russia if it invaded a non-NATO country.
The poll surveyed the country by region, including Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, and British Columbia.
Quebec generally had less interest than other regions in an escalation of the conflict, or of Canada going to war.
Only 32.8 percent of Quebec respondents said they would support, or somewhat support, Canada going to war with Russia over Ukraine. The Atlantic region is the most bellicose with 62 percent supporting war.
The survey also queried Canadians on humanitarian measures, such as what number of Ukrainian refugees Canada should accept, and whether taxpayer resources should be used to airlift Ukrainian refugees to Canada.
The overall support for using Canadian tax dollars to airlift refugees is at 84.9 percent and that number is somewhat consistent across regions.
When asked what number of Ukrainian refugees Canada should accept compared to Syrian refugees resettled in Canada (70,000), 85.6 of survey respondents said Canada should accept the same amount or more Ukrainian refugees.
The telephone survey was conducted with 1,000 Canadians aged 18 and older from March 18 to 20, and the margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Canada has imposed a number of sanctions on Russia’s economy and officials, along with providing financial, military, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
The federal government has also streamlined the immigration process to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees to come to Canada. So far, 9,000 Ukrainians have arrived since the war broke out, reported CTV News.
