Migrants not owed free ride, poll says
www.globeandmail.com News Books Careers Mutual Funds Stocks ROB Magazine Technology
Home  |  Business  |  National  |  International  |  Sports  |  Features  |  Arts  |  Forums  |  Subscribe

The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, Aug 31
leaf stats

Search

Tips & Other Options
Contents
bulletReport on Business
bulletNational
bulletInternational
bulletSports
bulletFeatures
bulletArts & Leisure
bulletCommentary
bulletFocus & Books
bulletClassifieds
bulletBirths & Deaths
bulletTravel
bulletHealth
bulletScience
bulletTechnology

NorstarMall.ca

Yellow.ca

News Index
bulletArts & Leisure
 Art
 Books
 Broadcast Week
 Fashion & Design
 Film
 Music
 Television
 Theatre
 TV Listings

bulletBirths & Deaths
bulletClassifieds
 Automotive
 Business Marketplace
 National personals
 Online personals
 Place an Ad
 Real estate rentals
 Real estate sales
 Services & Merchandise

bulletCommentary
 Editorials
 Editorial Cartoon
 Letters to the Editor
 Send letter to the Editor

bulletFeatures
 Amazing Facts
 Century of the Millennium
 Essay
 Fifth Column
 Life Story
 Lives Lived
 Millennium 100
 Social Studies
 Wax and Wane

bulletFocus & Books
 Book news
 Book reviews
 Focus Columns

bulletHealth
bulletInternational
 Columns
 The Globe Abroad

bulletNational
 Columns
 Issues Forum
 Report

bulletReport on Business
   - Staff Biographies
 Annual Reports
 Enterprise
 Managing
 Money & Markets
 ROB Top 1000
 Smart Numbers
 Special Reports
 1999 Federal Budget

bulletScience
bulletSports
   - Staff Biographies
 Basketball
 Baseball
 Football
 Golf
 Hockey
 Other Sports

bulletTechnology
bulletTravel
Magazines
ROBmagazine.com
Special Interest
Millennium Series
IT Management

Services Index
bulletA Globe History
bulletAbout globeandmail.com
bulletAdvertise
 Newspaper
 Web sites

bulletCustomer Service
 Change of Address
 General Inquiry
 Office information
 Subscribe to the paper
 Subscribe: International
 Subscribe: Gift
 Subscribe: Renewal
 Vacation Suspension

bulletHelp & Contact Us
bulletLink To Us
bulletMake Us Home
bulletNewspaper Assoc.
bulletPrivacy Policy
bulletReprints
 Information
 Order form

bulletStory Search
bulletWeekday Lineup
bulletWhat's New
 
Migrants not owed free ride, poll says
Sympathy for newcomers lowest in B.C.;
public split on need for refugee hearings

JEFF SALLOT
Parliamentary Bureau
Tuesday, August 31, 1999

Ottawa -- About half the Canadian public believes the Chinese boat people who arrived on the British Columbia coast this summer should be deported immediately, a poll for The Globe and Mail and CTV suggests.

An even higher proportion -- about 70 per cent of respondents -- reject the idea that simply because the boat people are from mainland China they automatically have a legitimate claim to be political refugees fleeing a repressive Communist regime.

However, the poll also found that about half said the boat people should be allowed to stay until their claims for refugee status are assessed by the current determination system.

The results show "Canadians really want the process tightened up," said John Wright, a senior vice-president with the polling firm Angus Reid Group.

"The whole notion that these are people escaping from a repressive Communist state doesn't wash with Canadians . . . maybe because we see China as a trading partner," Mr. Wright said.

Sympathy for the boat people was weakest the closer respondents were to the B.C. coast and strongest in Quebec and the Maritimes.

Nationally, about 49 per cent of the respondents said that the illegal immigrants should be deported without delay. Another 49 per cent said the boat people should be allowed to stay until their refugee claims are heard.

The recent arrival of more than 250 Chinese aboard two boats has ignited a fierce political debate about whether Canada should adopt a tougher approach to deal with people-smuggling operations and to speed deportations.

Under current law, foreigners arriving without proper travel documents or visas can claim they are victims of political persecution and can stay until the backlogged refugee-determination system deals with their cases, a process that can take more than a year before legal appeals are exhausted.

The poll indicates just how difficult it will be for Ottawa to find a consensus on whether the refugee-determination system needs fixing.
Only 28 per cent said Chinese mainlanders should automatically be considered refugees. But even among this minority, support for political asylum was soft (only 6 per cent strongly agreed and 22 per cent somewhat agreed).

A slight majority of respondents -- 53 per cent -- said Canada's immigration policy makes it too easy to be accepted as a refugee. Only 8 per cent thought the policy was too tough. Thirty-four per cent said the refugee policy was just about right.

The poll highlighted another sharp division among Canadians on the question of which is the bigger concern -- accidentally letting illegal immigrants stay in Canada when they aren't really refugees or forcing people to go home when in fact they really deserve refugee protection. About 49 per cent said authorities should be more concerned with illegal immigrants accidentally being allowed to stay. By contrast, 47 per cent said the bigger worry should be sending real refugees back home by mistake.

On another question, about 51 per cent said Canada should do no more or less than what most other countries do to take in political refugees. They think Canada should do what the average country does. But 34 per cent said they thought Canada should do more for refugees than other countries. Eleven per cent of those polled thought Canada should do less.

The poll sampled the opinions of 1,502 adult Canadians last week. The pollsters say a sample this size should be accurate within 2.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

British Colombians were slightly more inclined to want the boat people deported immediately. Quebeckers and those in Atlantic Canada more often said they would allow them to stay until their refugee claims were assessed.

Men were also more inclined than women to want the boat people deported immediately -- 52 per cent versus 46 per cent.

GLOBE AND MAIL / CTV / ANGUS REID POLL

Should the two boatloads of illegal immigrants from China be allowed to apply as refugees or should they be immediately deported back to China?
1. Allowed to apply as refugees/Stay here while applications reviewed
2. Immediately deported to China
3. Did not know / Would not say
-***

                      1       2       3


TOTAL                49%     49%      2%


British Columbia     42      56       2


Alberta              41      56       2


Sask./Man            45      54       2


Ontario              46      51       3


Quebec               56      43       1


Atlantic             63      38       1

-*Note: Figures may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
Source: Angus Reid Group
-***

ATTITUDES ABOUT CHINESE REFUGEES

China is a repressive Communist state, therefore, anyone from China who manages to make it to Canada should be accepted as a refugee.

                    Agree    Disagree


TOTAL                28%       70%


British Columbia     17        82


Alberta              26        72


Sask./Man            36        62


Ontario              25        73


Quebec               34        63


Atlantic             40        59

Note: Figures may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
Source: Angus Reid Group



More National News
Third ship spotted off B.C. coast
Immigration, military authorities mobilize as suspect vessel approaches Canadian waters
by Kim Lunman - Tuesday, August 31, 1999

Migrants not owed free ride, poll says
Sympathy for newcomers lowest in B.C.; public split on need for refugee hearings
by Jeff Sallot - Tuesday, August 31, 1999

Pearson travellers may face fee for flying
Toronto airport hopes to boost revenue with levy added to price of tickets
by Murray Campbell - Tuesday, August 31, 1999

Microsoft burned by Hotmail hackers
by Mark Evans - Tuesday, August 31, 1999

Swissair tragedy lives on in minds of helpers
One year after the crash that killed 229 people, N.S. residents still leery of what the waters off Peggys Cove may cast ashore
by Kevin Cox - Tuesday, August 31, 1999


Search
Search up to one week back for the selected parts of The Globe and Mail that we have online. See tips & other options for help.


 
Noteworthy
Click here for the Editorial Cartoon

Special Series Archive
Archived features from The Globe and Mail.

What's New
The latest additions to globeandmail.com.

Writers
Gagnon

Lysiane Gagnon
· Inside Quebec


Simpson

Jeffrey Simpson
· Articles


Sullivan

Paul Sullivan
· The West



Forums
Eaton's Memories
Share your memories of the Eaton's you knew.

Sprinter Surin
Has Surin stepped out of Johnson's and Bailey's shadow?

Books
Peter Robinson author of In A Dry Season hosts a discussion on real crime and its represenation in fiction. To have your say click here.

Careers
"I believe that the IT skills shortage is being hyped by private and public training institutions who want to cash in on the demand for training." Do you agree?

Mutual Funds
Will your current Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) actually cover expenses in the future, or will you have to reevaluate current investment strategies to meet forecasted needs? Share your thoughts in the globefund.com discussion forums.

Technology
"I don't think many people realize how insecure Web banking is. Would you use ATMs if all you had to do was put in a password and no card was required?" Big Bank Bust, in our forums.

ChaptersGLOBE.com
Related Books
· Canadian Biographies
· Canadian Drama Books · Canadian History
· Canadian Politics & Government
· Canadian Travel Books

Help & Contact Us
Back to the top of this page
Copyright © 1999 Globe Information Services