OTTAWA - Author, biographer, British Lord, business tycoon, media mogul and convicted criminal.
And now, suggests a new Canadian Press-Decima poll, you can add soothsayer to Conrad Black's list of titles.
"The destructive fixation of the envious English-Canadian mind requires that the highest, happiest, most agile flyers be laid low,'' Black wrote in his 1993 memoir, "Conrad Black: A Life In Progress.''
He called it "a sadistic desire corroded by soul-destroying envy, to intimidate all those who might aspire to anything the slightest exceptional.''
Judging by public reaction to Black's recent conviction by a Chicago jury, the multi-millionaire businessman got that right -- with a vengeance.
The survey of more than 1,000 Canadians found that only eight per cent think the American jury was too severe in convicting Black on four of 11 charges earlier this month. Forty-eight per cent say the jury got it about right and 22% said the verdict was not severe enough.
Black, convicted on counts of mail fraud and obstruction of justice, won't be sentenced until November but he should take some small solace that Canadian public opinion won't influence his penalty.
Decima found that most respondents -- 69 per cent -- would like Black to see jail time in addition to paying a fine. Just 10 per cent believed a fine is ample punishment.
Some 29 per cent felt he should be sentenced to 10 years or more in prison, with another 40 per cent feeling that one to nine years would suffice.
Black, who gave up his Canadian citizenship in 2001 to accept a British peerage, is appealing the conviction but Decima respondents gave his chances short shrift: 53 per cent felt he wouldn't successfully appeal, compared to 23 per cent who think the convictions will be overturned.
Among the four in 10 respondents who said they followed his criminal trial closely, opinions against Black were no better and in some cases, more harsh.
Some 60 per cent of respondents -- rising to 71 per cent among close followers of the trial -- said the Montreal-born Black's Canadian citizenship should not be reinstated.
Bruce Anderson, Decima's CEO, said the poll is a clear signal that "most of those Canadians who passed judgment on Conrad Black, came to similar conclusions as the jury did.''
" Most show little sympathy for Mr. Black, and see no reason why he should have his citizenship restored, or maintain his Order of Canada designation.''
The poll of more than 1,000 respondents was conducted July 19-22 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.
