OTTAWA - The latest wave of deaths and injuries among Canada's troops battling Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan has not translated into a loss of support at home for the mission, a new Ipsos Reid poll says. The survey, conducted exclusively for CanWest News Service and Global National, says support for the mission stood at 51%, up slightly from the 47% registered in late July.The survey was released as news surfaced Afghan President Hamid Karzai will visit Ottawa this month to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper and address Parliament.
Pollster John Wright said the survey's findings defy the notion that support for the Afghan operation would drop as the pace of the body-bag count picked up. Since 2002, 32 soldiers and a diplomat have died in Afghanistan. Half of the soldiers were killed in the past three months. "There is a conventional wisdom in this country that says that the more caskets that arrive in Trenton, the more people are against this action. It's a hypothesis that is not playing out yet," Mr. Wright said.
| Perhaps because the Canadian people are made of stern stuff, and perhaps because they understand the stakes and the issues. |
The survey of 887 adult Canadians was conducted by telephone on Wednesday and Thursday against the fresh sight of flag-draped caskets of five soldiers killed in Operation Medusa over the Labour Day weekend arriving in Trenton, where they were greeted by grieving families, friends and colleagues at a sombre televised ceremony.Mr. Wright said the findings, combined with earlier polls on the subject, suggest the country has settled into a 50/50 divide over the merits of the mission. "There is a very simple story here. The country is virtually split," said Mr. Wright, Ipsos Reid's vice-president of public affairs.
The timing of Mr. Karzai's Ottawa visit, expected around Sept. 21-22, is considered good for the beleaguered Afghan leader and also Mr. Harper, who is facing stepped-up pressure from some political quarters to more clearly define Canada's role and ambitions in Afghanistan. Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale told reporters yesterday there is an all-party agreement for Mr. Karzai to address Parliament within days of it resuming on Sept. 18. Mr. Karzai is expected to use the speech to thank Canada and make a passionate case for Canada to stay the course on grounds his country is benefiting from the NATO-led offensive operations against Taliban insurgents.
Meanwhile, less than three weeks after denying it was sending Leopard tanks to Afghanistan, the Canadian military is set to ship as many as 20 of the heavy-tracked armoured vehicles to Kandahar. Although the tanks have been used once overseas on a peace support mission in Kosovo in the 1990s, this is the first time they will be sent into combat.
A warning order was issued this week to the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) in Edmonton to prepare for the deployment. Twenty tanks are being readied for the operation and about 300 personnel will be heading to Afghanistan. The Leopards will be used for escort duty for Canadian convoys, which have come under attack by the Taliban.