Ottawa — Canadians overwhelmingly believe President George W. Bush lied to justify the Iraq war and their own government was wise to stay out of the conflict, a new poll suggests.
Two-thirds (67 per cent) of adult Canadians said they agreed with the statement that Mr. Bush "knowingly lied to the world to justify his war with Iraq" a year ago, The Globe and Mail-CTV News poll says.
Moreover, almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of the poll respondents said the federal government made the right decision by not joining the U.S.-led coalition that invaded Iraq, the polling data show.
The poll, conducted by Ipsos-Reid, suggests that most Canadians (61 per cent) are pessimistic about the chances of democracy ever taking root in the Middle East.
On the other hand, nearly nine of every 10 respondents (87 per cent) said they think the world is a better place without Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in power.
These results show Canadians are pleased with the regime change in Baghdad, but "they believe the means did not justify the end," said John Wright, senior vice-president of Ipsos-Reid.
The poll, conducted Tuesday through Thursday of last week, shows a sharp increase in the percentage of Canadians who think the United States made a mistake in going to war. Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) now say the United States blundered, compared with just under half (47 per cent) who felt that way when polled last December.
This shift is most likely the result of recent disclosures about faulty prewar intelligence concerning Iraq's presumed arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Wright said.
Canadians, however, seem to be in a forgiving mood with the U.S. administration. Nearly seven in 10 (69 per cent) believe that the United States will "learn a valuable lesson" that it is better to work with Canada and other countries around the world when there is a global crisis rather than acting unilaterally.
Just more than half (54 per cent) said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are not a justification for the United States to take "any action" — including unilateral action — to protect itself against future attacks.
"The numbers speak loudly and clearly," Mr. Wright said. "You come through with a consistent theme that is, 'We're glad we didn't go. Bush lied.'."
With the benefit of 12 months of hindsight, Canadians are "now more resolute than they ever have been that it was a good thing Canada stayed out of this," he added.
Canadians seem to be saying the motive for the war was wrong and if the end was to promote a democratic Iraq, it is probably not going to mature, Mr. Wright said.
Yesterday, while in Montreal, Prime Minister Paul Martin reiterated his support of Canada's decision not to send troops to participate in the U.S.-led effort to topple Mr. Hussein.
"I think all countries are partners and in solidarity with Spain and the United States and with Britain. I think the decision we took on Iraq was a good decision, but at the same time, we share values with Spain, the United States and Britain and we support them."
Mr. Martin, who was asked to comment on the most recent terrorist attacks in Spain, said Canadian security has been beefed up since the attacks on the United States in 2001 and has continued at a heightened level.
Earlier polls suggested that people in Quebec and British Columbia were the most skeptical about the Iraq war while Albertans were more likely to give Washington the benefit of the doubt.
But now, even a majority of Albertans believe Ottawa was right to stay out of the war and that Mr. Bush lied, according to the poll when broken down regionally.
Similar polls in the United States show that Americans have grown more skeptical about the way Mr. Bush has handled the Iraq issue.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll earlier this month showed only 46 per cent of Americans approved of the way Mr. Bush was handling Iraq, down from a 75-per-cent high last April when U.S. troops were engaged in combat.
The poll also showed a majority (55 per cent) of Americans thought the Bush administration "intentionally exaggerated its evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction." That's a sharp increase over the 37 per cent of Americans who told the Harris Poll last June that they thought their government had "deliberately exaggerated" reports of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Ipsos-Reid polled a randomly selected sample of 1,116 adult Canadians. With a sample this size, the results should be accurate plus or minus three percentage points 19 times out of 20.
Full poll results can be viewed at www.ipsos-reid.com
