Canadians born after 9/11 far less likely to fear another terror attack, poll finds

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks a public opinion poll reveals a striking generational divide in what Canadians know about the world’s deadliest terror attacks, how deeply they feel its impact, how much they fear terrorism — and even on the question of whether terrorism can be justified.

The poll’s findings suggest personal memories of the shock and horror of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks change how people think about terrorism.

The nationwide poll of Canadian adults, conducted this week by Leger Marketing for the Association for Canadian Studies and provided to Postmedia, found those under the age of 25 are by far the least likely to say they have good knowledge of the events of 9/11.

Among all respondents, 71 per cent said they have good knowledge of what happened on 9/11, while 17 per cent said they did not and 11 per cent said they didn’t know if they did or did not.

In the youngest cohort of adults, those between 18 and 24, only 47 per cent said they have good knowledge of 9/11, with 35 per cent saying they didn’t and 18 per cent saying they didn’t know. By contrast, those in the oldest cohort, aged 65 and up, 81 per cent said they have good knowledge and only 11 per cent said they didn’t. Across the age brackets, professed knowledge escalated with age.

Age changed how people answered all questions about terrorism.

“It’s a generational divide that’s really driving a lot of the responses on this subject,” said Jack Jedwab, president of the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies. “Which makes sense, since those in the youngest cohort weren’t born yet at that time (of 9/11).

“So right out of the proverbial gate that’s going to be an important predictor of how they understand the post-9/11 climate, or the extent to which they think there is a post-9/11 climate, which, in terms of our understanding of the phenomenon of terrorism in this century, that’s the event that has shaped much of the response both in North America and globally.”

For many around the world old enough, 9/11, as the attacks are collectively known, stands as one of those rare events they remember precisely where they were or what they were doing when they first heard the news.

As that day unfolded, people learned that 19 terrorists with al-Qaida, a jihadist group, hijacked four U.S. passenger airliners and used them as deadly weapons. Two planes were crashed into iconic skyscrapers in New York, flattening them, one was flown into the Pentagon, the U.S. military’s headquarters, and a fourth crashed in a field before reaching its target, possibly the White House or the United States Capitol building, when passengers tried to take back control of the plane.

The coordinated attacks killed 2,977 victims. Several times more than that have died since, attributed to exposure to enormous clouds of toxic dust and ash in New York after World Trade Center’s two towers collapsed.

The attacks significantly changed many aspects of life, particularly in the United States but also around the world, including global politics, aviation, public safety, policing and surveillance.

The poll, however, found age also changed how strongly respondents still feel the impact of 9/11 after 25 years.

Asked whether they still feel the impact of the events of 9/11, 45 per cent of all respondents said yes, and 40 per cent said no, with 14 per cent saying they don’t know.

Isolating the youngest group revealed only 27 per cent still felt an impact from the 9/11 attacks, while 47 per cent said no and 26 per cent said they don’t know. That’s much lower even than the next age group up — those between 25 and 34 years old — where 41 per cent said yes and 43 per cent said no, with 16 per cent not knowing. Respondents between 45 and 54 years old felt the strongest lingering impact, at 54 per cent, with 36 per cent saying no. In the two older age groups about half said yes and 38 per cent said no.

“If you have very good knowledge (of 9/11), it has impact. If you don’t, it doesn’t have much impact to you,” Jedwab said. “So, knowledge is really an important predictor of the extent to which you think this is having impact on us today.”

Younger Canadians are far less likely to feel that terrorism is a threat today, the poll suggests. Asked in the poll whether they felt Canada was safer from terrorism now than in 2001, 43 per cent of the youngest respondents said yes, by far the highest. Those feeling the least safe from terrorism were those between 45 and 54 years old; only 18 per cent said yes.

The poll also found one in six Canadian adult respondents under the age of 25 believe acts of terrorism can sometimes be justified, with another one in five saying they don’t know.

Respondents as a whole rejected the idea that terrorism is sometimes justified — 81 per cent saying no, eight per cent saying yes, and 11 per cent saying they don’t know.

“This is a concern,” said Jedwab. “I think there’s a lot of influence on social media that’s working to try to see these horrific acts through some other lens that seeks to identify some root causes.

“This type of view risks creating a severe injustice for victims of tragedies like on 9/11.”

The online survey questioned 1,538 adults in Canada from Sept. 4 to 6. As a non-probability sample in a panel survey, traditional margins of error do not apply. For comparison, a probability sample of the same size would typically have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent.

Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | X: AD_Humphreys