(07/30/10) -

Canadians Reject Issuing Special Permit for Conrad Black’s Return

Respondents are evenly split on whether the former Canadian newspaper entrepreneur should have his citizenship reinstated if he is cleared of all charges when his appeal is settled.

Respondents are evenly split on whether the former Canadian newspaper entrepreneur should have his citizenship reinstated if he is cleared of all charges when his appeal is settled.

Many Canadians believe the federal government should not issue a special permit to allow former newspaper entrepreneur Conrad Black to return to Canada, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

The online survey of a representative national sample of 1,000 Canadian adults also finds that respondents are evenly divided on whether Black should have his Canadian citizenship reinstated in the event he is cleared of all charges when his appeal is settled.

Views on Citizenship and Immigration Issues

A majority of respondents (62%) agree with allowing Canadians to hold dual citizenship (that is, allowing Canadian citizens to acquire a foreign nationality without automatically losing their Canadian citizenship), while three-in-ten (31%) disagree. Support for dual citizenship is highest in British Columbia (73%), Quebec (66%) and Alberta (64%).

Canadians are split on whether Canadian citizens should continue to be restricted from accepting titles issued by foreign countries (such as knighthoods and peerages), with 44 per cent agreeing with the current rationale, and 45 per cent disagreeing with it.

Respondents were provided with three potential cases for the relocation of a non-Canadian to Canada. While a majority of respondents see no problem with allowing a non-Canadian who is the live-in partner of a Canadian to relocate to Canada (54%), a large majority of respondents (70%) believe that a non-Canadian who has been in jail for a white-collar crime and is married to a Canadian should not be allowed to settle in the country. The level of rejection is higher (90%) for a non-Canadian who has been in jail for a violent crime and is married to a Canadian.

The Conrad Black Case

In July 2007, Conrad Black was convicted by a U.S. court on three counts of mail fraud and wire fraud and one count of obstruction of justice. He began serving his six-and-a-half year sentence in March 2008. On Jun. 24, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision on Black’s appeal, and ordered a lower court to review the three fraud convictions, based on the new definition of “honest services” fraud.

Black was released on bail earlier this month, after serving for 28 months. Across the country, 54 per cent of respondents say they are following the release of Conrad Black “very closely” or “moderately closely”.

Black renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001. A majority of Canadians (56%) side with the argument that the former newspaper entrepreneur discarded his Canadian citizenship to get a seat in Britain’s House of Lords. Only 10 per cent of respondents believe that Black was forced to renounce his citizenship by the Jean Chrétien government.

Because Black has been convicted of an indictable offence and is no longer a Canadian citizen, he may need a special minister’s permit from the federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration in order to return to Canada. Seven-in-ten Canadians (71%) disagree with the federal government issuing a special permit that would allow Conrad Black to return to Canada, while one-in-five (21%) would agree with this resolution.

If Black is cleared of all charges when his appeal is settled, 45 per cent of respondents would support reinstating his Canadian citizenship, while 45 per cent would oppose this course of action. The highest level of support for reinstating Black’s Canadian citizenship if he is cleared of all charges is in Ontario (55%) and Alberta (52%).

If Black were to renounce his seat in the House of Lords, only 29 per cent of respondents would support reinstating his Canadian citizenship.

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Jodi Shanoff, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs
+416 712 5498
jodi.shanoff@angus-reid.com

Methodology: From July 28 to July 29, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,000 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.