Canadians are calling on Prime Minister Trudeau to be tougher on China. PHOTO/Reuters
As Reuters reported, around 53% of respondents said they believed Canada’s response to a series of recent events, including the arbitrary detention of two Canadian citizens by Beijing and media reports media on election interference, was “not strong enough”. This was revealed by a survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute.
“A further 41% said the federal government’s response was ‘almost correct’, while 6% said it was ‘too strong’,” the online poll showed.
“Canadians are showing they expect their government to take this seriously,” said Shachi Kurl, president of the institute, which surveyed 1,622 Canadian adults Feb. 23-25.
Trudeau acknowledged that China tried to interfere in the election, but he said the results of the 2019 and 2021 elections were not changed. He has so far resisted calls for a broad public inquiry into the allegations.
The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, was conducted amid ongoing tensions between Canada and China over the election and other security issues.
This week, Canada banned the use of Chinese social media app TikTok on government-issued devices, citing privacy and security risks. A Chinese spy balloon that is believed to have flown over the United States and Canada before being shot down last month.
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