WATCH: Greece’s small left-wing anti-capitalist Antarsya party and affiliated trade unions gathered outside of the Athens parliament in an anti-bailout demonstration Monday.
Greece has secured a bailout deal with its creditors that saw the country accept a slate of austerity measures in exchange for a financial rescue package.
At the urging of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Greeks overwhelmingly voted against a previous bailout deal in a referendum on July 5 — a week before Tsipras bowed to European demands to secure a three-year, US $95-billion bailout.
READ MORE: Greece reaches deal with creditors, avoids euro exit
While the so-called “troika” of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and the European Commission — had little sympathy for Greek defiance in the face of financial ruin, it also appears a majority of Canadians feel Greece brought its problems on itself.
A new poll released by Angus Reid on Monday found 63 per cent of Canadians have pointed the finger at Greece and its overspending for the current crisis and the billions of dollars in debt it owes, saying the country “should not be afforded any forgiveness in their debt repayments.” Comparatively, 59 per cent of Americans surveyed felt the same way.
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On the other side of the euro coin, the public opinion poll that 37 per cent of Canadians believed the creditors should forgive some of the country’s debt — which accounts for an astounding 175 per cent of its GDP.
READ MORE: Greek PM facing pressure from creditors to back deal as Grexit put on table
The blame, according to 45 per cent of Canadians, rests solely in the hands of past and present Greek governments. Just five per cent of Canadian respondents say the unforgiving creditors are to blame, while 36 per cent said both sides shared in the fault equally.
Angus Reid also broke down the Canadian responses by political affiliation. Those who identified as Conservatives (those who voted for the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2011 election) overwhelmingly supported the creditors, with 75 per cent siding with the troika’s hard line on Greece. But, the majority of Liberal Party and NDP supporters felt the same way — 61 per cent of Liberal supporters and 56 per cent of NDP supporters.
South of the border, Democrats were evenly split on that front while 67 per cent of Republicans back the creditors.
READ MORE: The case for Greece: when it forgave Germany’s debt
Canadians have a pessimistic outlook about what lies ahead for Greece, with only 12 per cent of the Canadian respondents saying Greece will be in a better situation two years from now, according to the Angus Reid poll.
But Canadians aren’t too concerned about how Greece’s debt debacle will affect this country. Only 20 per cent said the Canadian economy will fare worse because of Greece’s financial instability.
Economists have said in the past week the Canadian economy is headed towards recession.
Finance Minister Joe Oliver said Monday Greece’s financial woes are one factor in a sluggish economic situation, but didn’t specifically tie what’s happening in Canada.
“The debt crisis in Greece, as well as economic and market volatility in China are further instances of global economy fragility and disappointing growth.”
READ MORE: Harper says Canadian economy in ‘downturn’ due to global trends
The Government of Canada said on its website that there are approximately 243,000 Canadians of Greek descent, while there are between 20-25,000 Canadians living in Greece. Each year, some 180,000 Canadians travel to Greece, the government said.
Trade between the two countries was approximately CDN $303 million last year, while Canadian companies such as Eldorado Gold Corp., Bombardier and McCain Foods have operations in Greece.
PLEASE NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect that the Greece’s parliament voted to accept the austerity reforms needed to secure a bailout.
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