Canadians are pro trade
This poll dovetails with the thrust of my last post.
Human rights take a back seat to trade: poll
But on the issue of shipping oil to China through B.C. ports, Western Canadians are divided
By Peter O’Neil, Vancouver Sun April 23, 2012 2:05 AM
Canadians are becoming less concerned about human rights in China as they increasingly view the booming Asia-Pacific region as a crucial driver of Canada’s future economic success, according to a survey to be released today.
But a Western Canada consensus on the importance of the Asia-Pacific falls apart over proposals to ship oil via pipelines to Asia-bound supertankers docking in B.C., according to the poll of 3,129 Canadians done for the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada.
Indeed, 62 per cent of respondents don’t believe major pipelines should go ahead if affected first nations are opposed.
“Canadians’ support for the promotion of human rights and democracy in Asia seems to be taking a back seat to the potential for economic gain,” concludes a summary of the poll.
The Vancouver-based Asia-Pacific Foundation found Albertans’ enthusiasm for expanded trade with Asia includes 60 per cent in favour (compared to 29 per cent opposed) for having Asia-bound tankers transport oil from B.C. ports. By contrast, respondents in B.C., while enthusiastic about expanded Canada-Asia trade, opposed by 56 per cent proposed tanker traffic off B.C.
When asked if the potential risks of transporting oil and gas to Asia from B.C. outweigh the benefits, 55 per cent of British Columbians polled agreed, while 37 per cent disagreed. The results were reversed in Alberta, with 51 per cent of respondents rejecting the notion that the risks outweigh the benefits.
Nationally, Canadians are sending mixed signals. While 53 per cent of respondents support pipelines to get oil to Asia via B.C. ports, 47 per cent said the risks of getting crude to Asia outweigh the benefits.
Two Calgary companies, Enbridge Inc. and Kinder Morgan, are seeking National Energy Board approval for pipelines to get Alberta oil to West Coast ports – Enbridge via Kitimat and Kinder Morgan through a twinning and expansion of the existing Trans Mountain line to its Westridge port facility in Burnaby.
The online poll was done in late February by Angus Reid Public Opinion and has a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points. The error margins for provinces are higher due to smaller sample sizes.
The poll suggests that roughly two-thirds of Canadians believe it’s possible to promote business in China while still raising human rights issues, while the percentage of respondents who believe Ottawa should put human rights promotion at the top of its policy agenda – 45 per cent – is down a full 10 points from a year ago.