Six-in-Ten (59%) Believe Federal Government Gives In To Whatever U.S. Government Wants

Toronto, ONTARIO - Ever since the Revolutionary War, those in the northern portion of the continent have discussed the country's relationship with it's neighour to the south. In a new Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll released today, Canadians discuss their views on the current Canadian - American relationship. According to the poll, six-in-ten (59%) Canadians believe that the federal government just gives in to whatever the U.S. government wants.

While two-thirds (66%) of Canadians believe that the closer economic ties that have resulted with the United States is a positive trend, seven-in-ten (72%) Canadians say that when it comes to the type of relationship that Canada and the United States should ideally have, the status quo is fine, with Canada remaining as an independent country.

This compares to one-quarter (23%) who think that the U.S. and Canada should enter into a formal economic union with free trade and a common currency. A further four percent feel that Canada should join the United States become one or more states like the other 50 states.

A majority (54%) of Canadians believe the current overall relationship between the two countries is `just right'. This compares to the one-in-five (20%) who feel that it is `too close' and one-quarter (25%) who say that it is `not close enough'. Interestingly this later number is approximately the same proportion of Canadians who feel that the two countries should enter into a closer economic union.

And, although there have been a number of recent incidents including the "friendly fire" deaths of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and the booing of national anthems at various sporting events, an overwhelming majority (86%) of Canadians agree that while Canadians and Americans can be insensitive to each other, we have one of the best relationships of any two countries in the world. Thirteen percent disagree - with only four percent who strongly disagree.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted between April 23rd and April 25th, 2002. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data.

Six-in-Ten (59%) Believe Federal Government Gives In To Whatever U.S. Government Wants

Six-in-ten (59%) Canadians believe that the federal government just gives in to whatever the U.S. government wants. This compares to the four in ten (40%) who disagree.

• Regionally, residents of Quebec (66%), Atlantic Canada (62%) and British Columbia (62%) are more likely to agree with this view, followed by those in Ontario (56%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (56%). Residents of Alberta (49%) are least likely to express agreement that the federal government just gives in to whatever the U.S. government wants.
• Women (63%) are more likely to express agreement than men (56%) with this view.
• Agreement is highest among younger (65%) Canadians than their middle aged (58%) or younger (54%) Canadians.

While Two-Thirds (66%) Feel Closer Economic Ties with U.S. a Positive Trend

While the original Free Trade Agreement was bitterly opposed by many Canadians and the 1988 federal election was fought over the issue, after more than a decade of free trade with the United States and the subsequent expansion of the agreement to include Mexico in NAFTA, two-thirds (66%) of Canadians say that closer economic ties with the U.S. is a positive trend. Just three-in-ten (30%) believe that it has been a negative trend.

• Regionally, this view is strongest among residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (71%), Ontario (70%), Atlantic Canada (70%), and Alberta (68%), while it is weakest among British Columbians (52%) where they are currently dealing with another soft-wood lumber dispute with the United States.
• The view that closer economic ties are a positive trend are highest among younger (70%) Canadians and lower among middle aged (66%) and older (63%) Canadians.
• Canadians in the highest (73%) and middle (71%) household income groups are more likely to say that this is a positive trend than those in the lowest (57%) household income group.

Seven-in-Ten (72%) Would Prefer Canada To Remain Independent Country Versus Joining in Economic Union with the States (23%) or Becoming 51st State (4%)

The ideal relationship between Canada and the United States is the status quo - that Canada remaining as an independent country - according to seven-in-ten (72%) Canadians.

• Support for this option is highest in Saskatchewan/Manitoba (78%), Ontario (76%), Atlantic Canada (75%), Alberta (75%) and British Columbia (75%). Support is lowest in Quebec (60%).
• Younger (76%) Canadians are more likely than middle aged (70%) or older (70%) Canadians to select this option.
• Canadians in the lowest (77%) and middle (74%) household income group are more likely than those in the highest (66%) household income group to feel this is the best option.

However, this compares to one-quarter (23%) who think that the U.S. and Canada should enter into a formal economic union with free trade and a common currency.

• Regionally, those who feel that this option would be the best for Canada are more likely from Quebec (32%). This compares to only 17% in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
• Canadians in the highest household income group (27%) are more likely than those in the middle (23%) or lowest (19%) household income groups to select this as the best relationship for the two countries.

A further four percent feel that Canada should join the United States and become one or more states like the other 50 states.

• Close to one-in-ten (7%) Quebecers select this option as the best possible relationship for the two countries. This is followed by Atlantic Canada (5%), British Columbia (5%), Alberta (4%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (4%) and Ontario (3%).
• Men (6%) are more likely than women (3%) to choose this option.

Majority (54%) Say Canada's Overall Relationship with United States `Just Right'

Six-in-ten (54%) Canadians believe the current overall relationship between the two countries is `just right'. This compares to the one-in-five (20%) who feel that it is `too close' one-quarter (25%) who say that it is `not close enough'. Interestingly this later number is approximately the same proportion of Canadians who feel that the two countries should enter into a closer economic union.

• Residents of British Columbia (29%) are the most likely to believe that the current Canada-U.S. relationship is `too close', this is compared to only 12% of those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. While regionally, those most likely to say the relationship is `not close enough' are from Saskatchewan/Manitoba (29%), British Columbia (28%), and Quebec (28%), while the least likely are from Alberta (25%), Ontario (22%) and Atlantic Canada (20%).
• Canadians 35 years of age and older (29%) are more likely than those between 18 and 34 years of age (17%) to say that the Canada - U.S. relationship is `not close enough'.
• Men (22%) are more likely than women (18%) to say the relationship is `close enough'.
• Canadians in the lowest household income group are more likely to feel that the current relationship is both `too close' (24%) compared to 17% in the middle and 18% in the highest household income groups.

And Eight-in-Ten (86%) Believe Canada and U.S. Have One of the Best Bi-Lateral Relationships in World

Although there have been a number of recent incidents including the "friendly fire" deaths of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and the booing of national anthems at various sports events, an overwhelming majority (86%) of Canadians agree that while Canadians and Americans can be insensitive to each other, we have one of the best relationships of any two countries in the world. Just over one-in-ten (13%) disagree - with only four percent who strongly disagree.

• Highest agreement is found among residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (91%), Alberta (88%) and Ontario (88%), while lower among those in British Columbia (83%), Atlantic Canada (83%) and Quebec (82%).
• Older Canadians (89%) and middle aged (87%) Canadians are more likely to agree with this view than younger (82%) Canadians.
• Within household income groups, highest agreement is among those in the top (87%) and middle (86%) bracket, compared to those in the lowest (83%) grouping.

To view the complete release and tables, please download the attached PDF files.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Public Affairs
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900