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Majority of Canadians oppose
Afghan mission: poll

WASHINGTON - A majority of Canadians oppose their country's troops deployment in Afghanistan, according to polls released in Ottawa Thursday.
Fifty-four percent of respondents opposed the Afghan mission, while 34 percent supported it and 12 percent were undecided, according to a poll done for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
The survey suggests the strongest opposition exists in the French-speaking Quebec province, with 73 percent of those polled saying they did not support Canada's presence in Afghanistan. Only 15 percent offered their support.
Opposition was very high among women across the country, with 60 percent saying Canada should not be involved in Afghanistan and only 27 percent saying it should.
The poll was conducted between July 8 and 14, 2009, surveying 2,713 Canadians from across the country over the age of 18. The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 1.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Another poll released on the same day also suggested that 52 percent of Canadians want the combat mission to end in 2011 as planned.
The poll, commissioned for Canwest News and Global Television, revealed that 48 percent of Canadians support the use of Canadian troops "for security and combat efforts against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan."
The survey of 1,001 people was conducted between June 29 and July 6, 2009, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
When Canada first sent soldiers to Afghanistan in 2002, public opposition to the mission hovered around 20 percent.
Since the mission started, Canada has lost 125 Canadian soldiers, two aid workers and one diplomat. The government has pledged to end the mission's combat role in 2011.