Canadians: Humanitarian role or stay home
Captain Real Herbert and two Haitian doctors discuss medication dosages during a joint Mobile Medical Clinic at Leogane, Haiti.
According to a Leger Marketing poll conducted for the QMI Agency, Canadians are divided on where they would like the Canadian Forces to go after Afghanistan, with many choosing humanitarian missions and 32% saying they should stay in Canada (Laura Payton, “One third of Canadians want troops home after Afghanistan,” Winnipeg Sun, 19 May 2010).
The most support for a single country was for Haiti, with 24% of Canadians choosing it out of a list of options. Sudan was a distant runner-up at 6% and Pakistan came in at 5%. The more general Middle East option got 3% and “other” got 4%.
Congo, the troubled but resource-rich African nation, registered 5% support….
“There is no longer an appetite for the mission that we have had for the past few years,” said Dave Scholz, vice-president of Leger Marketing….
Scholz says Haiti’s popularity shows Canadians want the military to move back into a humanitarian role. And he says if the government does decide to stay in a combat role, they’ll have to be very clear why, “because right now Canada is saying we believe we should be doing something different.”