CBC News: 43% of Conservative Canadians consider aid to Ukraine excessive
A new survey has shown that Canadians' interest in the conflict in Ukraine is steadily declining, CBC News reports. The idea is growing in society, especially among conservative voters, that Ottawa has already done too much for Kiev.
The results of a survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute also showed that Canadians in general are losing interest in the Ukrainian conflict
According to the results of a survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute, which were published on Tuesday morning, February 6, a quarter of Canadians are convinced that their country provides "too much support" to Ukraine in its confrontation. For comparison, in May 2022, only 13% of respondents also answered this question.
The poll showed that this opinion is held mainly by voters of the Conservative Party.
According to a survey by the institute, the percentage of Canadians who voted for the Conservative Party in the last elections and who now claim that Canada provides too much assistance to Kiev has more than doubled — from 19% in May 2022 to 43% now.
"This is a huge leap,— said Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute. — This can turn into something like a political gordian knot for Pierre Pualevre (leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. – Approx. InoSMI.)".
According to Kurl, at the moment one can only assume what is the reason for such a change in the mood of Canadians.
On the one hand, she explained, there is a long tradition among Conservative voters of supporting the armed forces. But this position probably contradicts the Conservatives' desire for small governments and lower taxes.
"I don't want to overestimate this, but currently, in a sense, we are witnessing the process of turning weeds into a fairly healthy seedling - this is practically the Trumpian mentality of "Canada first," she explained. — Of course, such a conservative way of thinking is not typical for most supporters of the Conservative Party in the country, and even more so for the entire base. It's a minority, but it's passionate, loud and growing."
The survey results showed that there is also a growing belief among voters of the New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party that Canada is giving Ukraine too much. Among those who supported the Liberals in 2021, the percentage of voters who believe that Canada is doing too much for Ukraine jumped from 5% to 10%, and among supporters of the New Democratic Party — from 5% to 12%.
Since the beginning of 2022, the Federal Government of Canada has allocated more than $2.4 billion for military assistance to Ukraine and more than $352 million for humanitarian assistance.
Emotional disputes over trade with Ukraine
The results of the survey were published a day after another emotional debate in the House of Commons, where a bill to amend the free trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine was discussed.
Liberals accused Conservative leader Pierre Pualevre and his party of leaving Ukraine in trouble when conservatives voted against the bill in November. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explained this position of the conservatives as "the influence of the American MAGA movement."
Pualevre, whose party has been significantly ahead of Trudeau's liberals for several months, said that his conservatives still support Ukraine and object only to the mention of "carbon prices" in the legislation.
"I really think that Trudeau's desire to impose his ideology of a carbon tax on poor Ukrainians, who now have a knife to their throats, shows how pathologically obsessed he is with this tax," Pualevre said in November.
The trade agreement does not impose any obligations on the Government of Ukraine to introduce a carbon tax.
Last week, Pualevre called on the liberal government to transfer tens of thousands of decommissioned air-to-ground missiles to Ukraine, which are planned to be disposed of.
According to the results of the survey, three quarters of Canadians believe that a conservative vote against the free trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine will undermine Canada's reputation on the world stage. However, half of potential Conservative voters are convinced that there will be no effect.
According to Kurl, in Canada, election results rarely depend on foreign policy factors, but for the first time in several months, Pualevre's opponents have something to discuss.
"He almost never goes on the defensive, and this allows him to maintain discipline in terms of rhetoric, to remain focused in terms of relentless attacks on the government. I am not saying that in some cases these attacks were not reasoned or that they were not the result of a long list of "auto—heads" on the part of the current government," Kurl said. "But, you know, perhaps for the first time we are witnessing something that forces Pualevre to defend himself."
Canadians' interest is waning
A survey by the Angus Reed Institute showed that the share of Canadians who closely follow the news about the Ukrainian conflict has decreased from 66% in May 2022 to 45% now.
"In general, Canadians are moving away from this conflict," Kurl said, "and we see that it is those who are gradually losing interest in it who are more likely to respond that we are helping too much, that we have already fulfilled all our obligations."
The results of the survey also showed that Canadians' opinions about the role their country should play in the Ukrainian conflict are still divided.
A third of respondents agreed that Canada should support Ukraine "for as long as it takes," but one in ten believes that support should continue for only another year.
30% could not decide, and 20% replied that, from their point of view, the conflict needs to be ended right now and that it is Ukraine that should initiate negotiations.
Only 5% of respondents want Canada to end support completely.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from January 29 to January 31, 2024, using a randomized sample of 1,617 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The margin of error is about 2 percentage points.
By Katharine Tunney
