Detainee issue not followed closely: poll

Canadians are generally not paying close attention to the issue of Afghan detainees, a new poll suggests.

When asked how closely they had been following the issue of "how the government of Canada has handled the transfer of Afghan detainees to the authorities in Afghanistan," 43 per cent of those surveyed said they haven't been following the issue "at all," while another 40 per cent said they've followed it "somewhat closely."

A small number — just 16 per cent — said they are following the issue "very closely."

People who favour the Liberal Party, Ontarians, men, people aged 65 or older and those with a university-level education were most likely to be following the issue closely, according to the EKOS poll, released exclusively to CBC News.

Supporters of the Green Party and Bloc Québécois, Quebeckers, women, Canadians under the age of 44 and those with a high school education or less were more likely not to be following the issue.

On March 5, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed a retired Supreme Court judge, Frank Iacobucci, to review documents relating to the handing over of detainees to Afghan authorities by Canadian Forces and determine what could be made public.

According to the poll, 24 per cent of those surveyed said that would give MPs "enough information to get a full understanding of the Afghan detainee issue."

But a much larger percentage — 48 per cent — said it wouldn't be enough, including 62 per cent of Liberal, NDP and Bloc Québécois supporters.

EKOS surveyed a random sample of 2,880 Canadians aged 18 and over by telephone between March 17 and 23. The deemed margin of error is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Support for gay marriage

On a totally unrelated topic, a clear majority of the same people polled, or 53 per cent, of Canadians support same-sex marriages while just 28 per cent oppose them, the poll suggests.

Supporters of the Conservative Party were almost equally split on the subject, with 40 per cent in favour and 39 per cent opposed. Twenty per cent said they were neither for or against it. Conservative supporters were most likely to oppose it.

Bloc Québécois and Green Party supporters were most likely to support gay marriages, with both at 66 per cent.

Support was highest in British Columbia, at 60 per cent, and lowest in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, at 42 per cent.