Tuesday March 17, 2026 | NATIONAL NEWS
News analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends [VICTORIA, BC]
When Prime Minister Mark Carney first heard the news about the US and Israel bombing Iran with the stated US goal of eliminating Iran’s nuclear capabilities and taking out the Supreme Leader, his response was favourable.
That response seemed to come from the gut, as in removing the source of a terrorist regime that oppresses and murders its own people and has killed Canadians (including on Flight 752).
Then Canada’s prime minister chastised the US for not consulting or pre-advising NATO Allies about that military action. Further, Canada’s position was that international laws were being broken.
Carney has said there will be no Canadian military involvement including no troops on the ground.
As the Angus Reid Institute puts it: Prime Minister Mark Carney has responded to the U.S.-Israeli bombardment of Iran with a mix of support and hesitation.
This is “leading some to wonder if his position is in need of clarification, while others praise his strategic ambiguity”, the opinion pollster said today in a news release.
Angus Reid says “for Canadians, there’s little in the way of guess work”. But that may not be entirely accurate. As no one has full information, most Canadians must be pretty much guessing what’s going on with the Middle East overall let alone what Canada’s role should be.
So the Angus Reid opinion poll is just that, opinion.
And it is delineated by the stated political party affiliation of the respondents. The flaw in that is that not everyone defines their opinions in alignment with how they might vote at the ballot box.
Poll results:
But for the sake of discussion, here are some of the poll’s top line results.
“New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds three-quarters of Canadians (74%) saying Canada’s military should not be involved in this conflict, with one-in-10 (10%) disagreeing. Another 15 per cent take no position,” says Angus Reid in their poll report.
“The lack of interest in getting involved mirrors some of Carney’s statements, as he told parliament that Canada “will never participate”. That said, calls from U.S. President Donald Trump to other nations for additional assistance are growing,” the poll report states.
“Population level support for Canadian involvement is limited to single digits for a number of different options. Four per cent would offer Canadian aircraft strike assistance and the same number would offer Canadian troops if a ground invasion were to follow. The largest number – six per cent – would offer intelligence and cybersecurity support,” says the Angus Reid poll report.
Following the war news:
Canadians are paying close attention to news and developments of the war in the Middle East. The Angus Reid poll shows:
- While 10 per cent of Canadians support military involvement, this rises to 21 per cent among past CPC voters and drops to three and five per cent for Liberals and New Democrats, respectively.
- Three-quarters say they have been following the war closely so far. This rises to 87 per cent among men over the age of 55 and drops to 58 per cent among women younger than 35.
Gasoline prices:
“While the war feels far away, and Canadians hope to keep it that way, the impact on gas prices at home has already been felt,” says the Angus Reid poll.
“With traffic in the Strait of Hormuz still constrained, prices have jumped between 20 to 25 cents per litre in much of the country.”
“One-quarter of Canadians (23%) say this has impacted their household finances a great deal already, while another 44 per cent say they’ve felt the impact more minimally. Overall, three-in-five say they’ve made changes including driving less, combining trips, and using alternative transportation.”
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