WASHINGTON - On the eve of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House, a startling new poll suggests more Canadians than Americans believe some of the 9-11 terrorists entered the United States through Canada.
In the Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey, conducted this summer in the United States and Canada, 29 per cent of Canadian respondents said they believed some of the hijackers accessed the U.S. through Canada eight years ago.
Only 19 per cent of American respondents agreed.
The data flies in the face of conventional wisdom among many Canadians that the 9-11 myth prevails because of ignorance on behalf of their U.S. neighbours.
Janet Napolitano, Obama's homeland security secretary, fanned the flames of Canadian indignation earlier this year when she suggested she believed the myth to be true as she reviewed Canada-U.S. border policy.
Border security is expected to be on the agenda when Harper and Obama meet Wednesday in the Oval Office. Contrary to earlier reports of a 42-minute chat, officials from the Prime Minister's Office say the meeting will last about an hour.
A drop in border crossings and cross-border tourism since new passport requirements took effect on June 1 might be on Harper's mind, said Chris Sands, a Canada-U.S. relations expert at the Hudson Institute in Washington.
"There may be some question of what we can do to make this work better," Sands said Tuesday.
"I don't think it's time to raise the panic alarm, but Harper might reasonably say: 'We should discuss this."'
Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, Americans have been toughening up the Canada-U.S. border. Napolitano ruffled diplomatic feathers in April when she said the Obama administration would not treat it any differently than the U.S-Mexico boundary, which is plagued by a drug war and illegal aliens.
Jeff Walker, senior-vice president of Harris-Decima, said the results of the poll on the Canadian side suggests there's "misinformation out there."
Another significant finding, Walker said, is the 50 per cent of Americans surveyed who said they simply don't know how the terrorists entered the United States eight years ago to steer fuel-engorged jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
"I was really surprised that only half of Americans could offer a point of view ... I was definitely taken aback at the number who just don't know," he said.
"But it explains other findings in the survey. In the context of concern about terrorism, not knowing leads to a default of: 'Let's have more security.' It doesn't lead to: 'I'm not worried about it."'
Indeed, the poll suggests Americans still view the Canadian border with suspicion. Three out of four respondents said they have concerns about terrorists entering the U.S. through Canada; 40 per cent said they were very concerned.
The survey also suggested that information about the so-called Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative hasn't been a problem - 97 per cent of Canadians, and nine in 10 Americans, are aware that a passport is now required to cross the border.
In the aftermath of the new rules, the survey found that most Canadians - 73 per cent - view American border guards as being stringent. Only 47 per cent of Americans view Canadian border officials as being equally tough.
The notion that the 9-11 terrorists entered the U.S. from Canada caused a kerfuffle in Washington earlier this year after Napolitano suggested in an interview that she believed they took a Canadian route into the United States. Senator John McCain, Obama's Republican rival for the White House, backed her up, saying she was correct in her assertion.
In the past, Hillary Clinton has also suggested the terrorists came through Canada.
In fact, none of the 9-11 terrorists travelled through Canada into the United States, something Ambassador Michael Wilson reiterated forcefully after Napolitano's remarks.
Sands said he doubts the 9-11 myth is something Harper needs to bring up to Obama, and added that the president has few issues to raise with Canada during their visit.
"The purpose of this visit, given that they see each other so darn much, is really domestic politics with an election in the offing for Harper - he wants to be seen as managing the U.S. relationship well," Sands said.
"There's nothing pressing on the U.S. agenda ... for the most part, I think Obama is doing Harper a favour and thinks that it's the nice thing to do, but I don't think we have a big pressing agenda for the visit. It's mostly a courtesy for Harper."
Harris/Decima interviewed 1,000 Canadians and 1,000 Americans for the poll. A sample of the same size has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
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