Report Dispels Idea That Americans See Canada As Safe Haven For Terrorists

"In fact, for the most part, views of Canada lean positive, although there is appreciation of some of the irritants, e.g., military, missile defence." The findings are contained in a $103,000 report by the polling firm Ekos Research Associates for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada. Ekos conducted two focus groups in the American capital earlier this year with what it called "informed" U.S. citizens of higher-than-average socio-economic status. One group consisted of Democrats, the other of Republicans. Although the findings cannot be considered conclusive, "they provide a good initial overview of some of the attitudes that exist about Canada in the area of national security," Ekos said in its March 2005 report, obtained by The Canadian Press. The Americans were generally satisfied that Canada takes security seriously, although some said immigration is too lax and there isn't enough support for the military. The groups were also asked about the origin of any terrorists operating in the United States. Most said such terrorists would likely be home-grown or would enter from Mexico. No one cited entry from Canada as the greatest threat. That attitude stands in sharp contrast with promoters of the U.S. Minuteman Project, which is trying to find volunteers to help patrol the Canada-U.S. border in the west, starting Oct. 1, out of fear it is a conduit for criminals and terrorists. A specialist on Canadian-American relations said the study results are not surprising, given that Ottawa has often been more effective at beefing up border security infrastructure than has Washington. "So the sense of where the problem is has shifted as people become more sophisticated about what exactly is going on," said Christopher Sands, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. "The people here are following the issue carefully enough that they're aware of that detail." On the other hand, misleading U.S. media reports about a porous Canadian border are driven by politicians in northern states reacting to their nervous constituents, Sands said. In general, Democrats were slightly more supportive of Canadian security efforts than were Republicans, the report said. Ekos also conducted 16 focus groups with Canadians between Jan. 26 and March 2 this year, from Vancouver to Halifax. Some thought that most of the Sept. 11 terrorists had lived in and passed through Canada. Most felt that the odds of a terrorist attack in Canada were no more than one-in-10, though the study was undertaken before the recent bomb attacks on the London transit system. There was also widespread support for new security legislation, and little concern about undermining civil liberties or compromising privacy. Ekos also found that almost all participants firmly rejected racial profiling, saying people's country of origin or religious background should not be used to target individuals. http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=4f6d4a68-c493-4792-90ab-3d00be066989 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 31, 2005]

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