As the number of refugees crossing the border into Quebec continues to balloon in 2017, a new poll shows that the majority of Canadians are skeptical of the government’s control of the situation.
New numbers released by Quebec’s Immigration Department show that in the first six months of 2017 more people entered made refugee claims in Quebec than in all of 2016.
This surge of asylum seekers has led the country to call in the army to set up camp in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle.
WATCH: More than half of Canadians think Ottawa isn’t in control of the refugee issue in Quebec, according to a Global News Ipsos poll. Global’s Tim Sargeant reports
But, according to a new Ipsos poll, 62 per cent of respondents don’t think the Trudeau government has a “solid plan” to respond to the influx of refugees.
And 56 per cent of respondents say the fact that Ottawa had to call in the army shows that the issue is “out of control.”
Many Canadians also doubt whether those crossing into Quebec illegally are legitimate refugees. Sixty-seven per cent believe the migrants are trying to skip the legal immigration process.
A slim majority (56 per cent) also believe that the government isn’t doing enough to protect the border, which is the longest land border in the world, from “those who want to cause harm to Canada.”
The numbers show that Canadians aren’t worried about migrants pouring over the border, Ipsos pollster Mike Colledge explains.
“I don’t think people are panicked or worried about migrants pouring over the border. I do think that for Canadians it’s about fairness and following process,” Colledge told Global News.
“Every time we’ve asked or surveyed on a range of things, we see they value fairness, they value the notion of following the rules — that’s why I think you see the two-thirds who say, ‘I think they’re jumping the queue.’”
WATCH: Canadian Army welcome asylum seekers at Lacolle border
But he also warns that since it’s still early stages of the refugee influx, Canadian views could change as winter gets closer, when tents might not be enough to keep the migrants warm.
“The government has some time to tell people how they’re dealing with it,” Colledge said.
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The poll shows Quebecers and Albertans are more critical of the government’s plan. That’s likely due to heightened awareness in Quebec, Colledge explained.
As for the disagreement seen in Western Canada, Colledge says that’s likely due to the average Albertan sentiment being more critical of this federal government.
Exclusive Global News Ipsos polls are protected by copyright. The information and/or data may only be rebroadcast or republished with full and proper credit and attribution to “Global News Ipsos.”
This Ipsos poll on behalf of Global News was an online survey of 1,003 Canadians conducted between Aug. 11-14. The results were weighted to better reflect the composition of the adult Canadian population, according to census data. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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