Canadians support government's response to Lebanon crisis

[tuvor]

OTTAWA -- Despite numerous media reports highlighting complaints and frustration about Canada's efforts to evacuate thousands of citizens from war-torn Lebanon, two-thirds of Canadians are giving Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government a passing grade for its handling of the crisis, a new opinion poll has revealed.

The Ipsos-Reid survey of 1,023 people, conducted Thursday night on the Internet for CanWest News Service and Global National, found that 66 per cent of respondents were satisfied when asked what they thought about the government's response to "the largest evacuation of Canadian citizens in Canada's history."

"I think Canadians are looking at this and saying, `This is a war zone,"' said John Wright, senior vice-president at Ipsos-Reid. "This is not a situation where the Princess cruise line is coming in to Lebanon to pick up people. This is a desperate situation with shelling, and there's going to be chaos and lack of organization."

Only 34 per cent of respondents felt the government response was "slow and unacceptable," with the strongest criticism from Quebec, where 50 per cent of respondents were unhappy with the evacuation efforts.

Nearly eight out of 10 respondents in the poll said that Canadian citizens had the right to expect the government to evacuate them from a dangerous area, although most didn't think taxpayers should be footing the bill for emergency efforts.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=e96d4c2e-4c7a-4d53-9a75-ac6deaf668ce&k=24177

[MrPrax]

1. Nice slant...

The headline makes it seem as if the POLL was about Canada's position on Israel's actions, but clearly the questions are specific to the evacuation.

But that doesn't keep the article from smearing Quebec...

The survey also found that 56 per cent of respondents believed the citizens being evacuated were being "unreasonable in demanding that the government get them out of the war zone quicker and without cost." But 57 per cent of respondents in Quebec disagreed with that take on the issue.

"There's quite a distinct flavour here that sets Quebec off from the rest of the country in almost every question," said Wright.

Many headlines from Quebec on the Middle East crisis have taken a local angle since last week -- when a vacationing family from Montreal died in Lebanon during an Israeli air strike.

So in Quebec where they broader coverage, the public is more informed and less forgiving...whereas in the West, from Winnipeg to Vancouver, where they are fed CanWest continually as the major source of news, they support the government.

No kidding...

[Spazito]

2. This is ALL I need to see to know this is a bullshit poll....

The Ipsos-Reid survey of 1,023 people, conducted Thursday night on the Internet for CanWest News Service and Global National.

harper's buddies commissioning a poll that.....gasp....turns out in his favour for those who do not go beyond the headline or the slant.

[daleo]

3. Conducted on the internet?

You can't generate a random sample that way. This is no doubt a convenience sample of government supporters.

[Spazito]

4. LOL, I have noticed the Global/Canwest and CTV online poll

results slant WAY right most of the time, that tells me their readership leans more right than left. It is rare the questions posed is straightforward.

[CHIMO]

5. Just Take

A look at the poll results from CTV. Any political item seems to poll 55% to 65% for the Cons. Go through the polls and the issues and it seems that it is not a random listing. The items, choices and number of votes on an issue lead me in the direction that it is an attempt to create a consensus that doesn't exist.

http://www.ctv.ca/

You have to vote on todays question, on the right hand side, and then one can look at the previous polls.

[Spazito]

6. That's exactly what I was talking about!

I make a point of checking out their polls quite often and the percentage difference rarely changes by any marked difference. I had noticed that a quite a while ago and putting those polls together with the Canwest slant in their news and in any polls they have paid for, it is proof positive, for me anyway, that their polls don't mean crap.

[daleo]

8. Even a well done internet poll isn't representative

First off, everyone in it has to own a computer. Second, they have to be uncommonly interested in public affairs. Third, they have to be willing to spend the time and effort responding to the poll.

Telephone polls have their problems too, these days, with the number of people who are just fed up with phone calls interrupting their dinner.

Add in the clear evidence of bias in various pollsters and media sources that report the polls, and you don't have much left with scientific credibility. Polls are mostly an attempt to mold opinion these days by creating bandwagon effects.

[HEyHEY]

7. HAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHA

When the fuck did Ried start relying on FUCKING internet polls? IS this just so they don't have to hire people? Ha, what a joke. And Canwest too, I may add. Fuck me running. What a joke.

[LeftistGorilla]

9. Canada.com

Is pure crap...