TORONTO — What do Canadians think about the war in Iran? “Leger” institute asked this crucial question through an online survey of 1,608 Canadians conducted between March 13 and March 16. The results show that 67% said Ottawa should remain neutral and not take sides, while only a quarter of respondents (25%) said the Canadian government should support the United States and Israel. Thirteen percent of respondents said Canada should support Iran, and another 13% said it should try to support both sides of the conflict. 

Canadian public opinion is clearly opposed to the attacks. Nearly six out of ten Canadians (58%) oppose the U.S. and Israeli bombings of Iran, while only 25% support the military action. As Andrew Enns, Executive Vice-President of Leger for Central Canada, points out, some Canadians see the conflict as another “rash decision” by U.S. President Donald Trump. “There’s lots of questions around the rule of international law,” he said. “I think you see that almost reflected a bit in the numbers in the sense that people, I think, quite frankly like us to be neutral. But then you do have that swath of Canada that sort of says Iran’s a bad country, maybe we should be more supportive…”.

The pollsters also asked respondents if they were concerned that the conflict could somehow threaten Canada: 70% fear an increased risk of terrorist attacks, 69% are concerned that Canadian military personnel could become involved, 82% are worried about a potential global recession and job losses, and 91% fear rising gasoline and food prices. Regarding energy, almost three-quarters of respondents (74%) believe Canada should immediately expand oil and gas production to compensate for the global shortfall caused by the war. 

Above, the cover of the survey by the “Leger” institute, which can be consulted in full here