Immigrants back ceasefire in Middle East conflict, majority dissatisfied with Ottawa’s action: OMNI Poll

A year into a conflict that has killed thousands of people in the Middle East, the vast majority of immigrants support calls for a ceasefire, though many are still uncertain about a solution.

A new poll commissioned by Leger exclusively for OMNI News found that 71 per cent of the immigrants surveyed want Israel and Hamas to lay down their arms. More immigrants were dissatisfied with Ottawa’s approach to the conflict at 41 per cent, while 29 per cent expressed satisfaction. The remaining 30 per cent said they do not know.

“It’s an issue that hits a bit closer to home for some newcomers,” said Andrew Enns, Executive Vice-President with Leger.

“I don’t think a day goes by in the news media that we’re not seeing, in some cases, fairly horrific images out of the Middle East,” he told OMNI News. “A lot of Canadians would like just to see that stop. And they see a ceasefire as not necessarily picking sides, [but] as just – stop throwing bombs at one another.”

The poll was conducted before the latest round of hostilities in Lebanon last week and Iran’s missile attack on Israel Tuesday.

“[People] know about the issue, but they don’t know what really is the best course of action for their government. It’s an intractable problem,” said Enns.

Calling the situation in Gaza “catastrophic,” Canada has been demanding an “urgent ceasefire” to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian assistance can be delivered to those in need.

When asked whether the Canadian government has done enough to address issues related to the conflict in the Middle East, majority of immigrants (36 per cent) feel the government should do more, while a third could not answer.

Of those who believe Ottawa needs to do more, nearly half of immigrants believe the federal government should step up its diplomatic efforts and provide more humanitarian aid, while 27 per cent would like Canada to welcome more Gazan refugees.

The pollster explains that while the percentage of survey participants who can’t answer a question is usually much lower, on the war in the Middle East, many are “legitimately struggling” with the issues raised by the conflict.

“They do find that these issues have been going on for a long time, and if there was a simple answer or a simple path for the government of Canada to pursue, I suspect we’d be on it already,” he told OMNI News.

More than two-thirds of respondents also said Canada should focus more on domestic issues and that there are too many protests and demonstrations from either side.

Over the summer, pro-Palestinian encampments were erected on university campuses across the country, with some schools seeking help from the courts to dismantle them.

Police in cities like Toronto and Vancouver have stepped up patrols ahead of the October 7th anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.

The OMNI-Leger online poll was conducted between August 28th and September 9th among a random selection of 1,500 respondents who were not born in Canada. A probability sample of this size would have a margin of error of 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.