Canadians want action on Darfur, poll finds
May 19, 2007
The Ottawa Citizen
By Mike Blanchfield
More than half surveyed say Canada should contribute troops to peacekeeping force
Two-thirds of Canadians want the government to take the lead on the international stage to end the four years of carnage in Darfur, says a new poll.
A slim majority -- 52 per cent -- also want Canada to contribute troops to a United Nations peacekeeping force to stop the "genocide," says the Pollara survey for the Toronto-based Mosaic Institute, provided exclusively to the Citizen.
The new poll will likely give ammunition to critics of the Harper Conservatives who accuse the government of single-mindedly focusing its foreign policy on the military mission in Afghanistan. The Conservative government has said with the 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, it is stretched too thin to make a military contribution to an international force for Darfur.
The United Nations wants to deploy 20,000 peacekeepers to Darfur, but has been stonewalled by the Sudanese government in Khartoum.
The poll arrived along with a new report yesterday from former Canadian Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour that blamed Sudanese government security forces for taking part in the killings of 100 people, including civilians, earlier this year.
Ms. Arbour, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, said in her report that Sudan's border intelligence guards participated in eight raids on a series of villages in the country's western region of Darfur between Jan. 6 and March 31. The border guards, armed with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades, backed tribesmen who attacked a rival tribe, the report said.
"The government did not take effective action to prevent the attacks, control members of its security forces and use of its equipment ... or intervene to protect civilians," Ms. Arbour's report concluded.
The report is the latest to blame Sudan's government for backing Arab militias in their four-year campaign of terror and violence, More than 200,000 people have been killed and an estimated 2.5 million people -- mainly black farmers -- displaced from their homes in Darfur, a region the size of France.
The Pollara poll, which surveyed 1,642 people across the country, found that 66 per cent of respondents agree that Canada should play a lead role in stopping the "genocide" in Darfur, with 27 per cent saying they strongly agree. Quebec and the Prairies led the country at 69 per cent, with B.C. at 67, Ontario at 65 and Alberta at 63.
The push to intervene was highest among people aged 18-34, with 79 per cent of men and 71 per cent of women calling on Canada to play a lead role.
"Canadians expect their government to show leadership in creating a more secure world. Africa in general, and Darfur in particular, occupy a prominent position in the humanitarian thinking of Canadians," said Vahan Kololian, chairman of the Mosaic Institute, an organization devoted to diversity, international peace and development.
As far as what specifically should be done, 52 per cent of Canadians polled favoured contributing troops to a United Nations-sanctioned peacekeeping force, while 34 per cent said Canada should condemn "what is happening in Sudan and Darfur."
The Ottawa Citizen
By Mike Blanchfield
More than half surveyed say Canada should contribute troops to peacekeeping force
Two-thirds of Canadians want the government to take the lead on the international stage to end the four years of carnage in Darfur, says a new poll.
A slim majority -- 52 per cent -- also want Canada to contribute troops to a United Nations peacekeeping force to stop the "genocide," says the Pollara survey for the Toronto-based Mosaic Institute, provided exclusively to the Citizen.
The new poll will likely give ammunition to critics of the Harper Conservatives who accuse the government of single-mindedly focusing its foreign policy on the military mission in Afghanistan. The Conservative government has said with the 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, it is stretched too thin to make a military contribution to an international force for Darfur.
The United Nations wants to deploy 20,000 peacekeepers to Darfur, but has been stonewalled by the Sudanese government in Khartoum.
The poll arrived along with a new report yesterday from former Canadian Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour that blamed Sudanese government security forces for taking part in the killings of 100 people, including civilians, earlier this year.
Ms. Arbour, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, said in her report that Sudan's border intelligence guards participated in eight raids on a series of villages in the country's western region of Darfur between Jan. 6 and March 31. The border guards, armed with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades, backed tribesmen who attacked a rival tribe, the report said.
"The government did not take effective action to prevent the attacks, control members of its security forces and use of its equipment ... or intervene to protect civilians," Ms. Arbour's report concluded.
The report is the latest to blame Sudan's government for backing Arab militias in their four-year campaign of terror and violence, More than 200,000 people have been killed and an estimated 2.5 million people -- mainly black farmers -- displaced from their homes in Darfur, a region the size of France.
The Pollara poll, which surveyed 1,642 people across the country, found that 66 per cent of respondents agree that Canada should play a lead role in stopping the "genocide" in Darfur, with 27 per cent saying they strongly agree. Quebec and the Prairies led the country at 69 per cent, with B.C. at 67, Ontario at 65 and Alberta at 63.
The push to intervene was highest among people aged 18-34, with 79 per cent of men and 71 per cent of women calling on Canada to play a lead role.
"Canadians expect their government to show leadership in creating a more secure world. Africa in general, and Darfur in particular, occupy a prominent position in the humanitarian thinking of Canadians," said Vahan Kololian, chairman of the Mosaic Institute, an organization devoted to diversity, international peace and development.
As far as what specifically should be done, 52 per cent of Canadians polled favoured contributing troops to a United Nations-sanctioned peacekeeping force, while 34 per cent said Canada should condemn "what is happening in Sudan and Darfur."
Labels: Darfur Genocide, Mosaic Institute
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