OTTAWA | Relations between Canada and the United States are going well despite the upheaval of the Trump years, and the two peoples are on the same page on current issues, including immigration, according to a poll Leger-Le Journal-National Post.
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“There is a love affair between Canada and the United States. The relationship is good and people want to strengthen it,” said pollster Jean-Marc Léger.
His company interviewed 1,527 Canadians and 1,006 Americans between March 17 and 19. And 90% of respondents in the United States said the relationship between our two countries is good or very good, while 78% of respondents in Canada agreed.
Respondents in Quebec and the Atlantic were the most positive. Conversely, respondents from the Prairies and those who typically vote for the Conservative Party are more negative about bilateral relations and believe they have deteriorated over the past decade.
The prairies and conservative voters are also where we find the most supporters of Donald Trump’s policies, according to the survey, while respondents in Quebec are most hostile to the former Republican president.
- Listen to the interview with Pierre Martin, specialist in American politics and researcher at CÉRIUM, on Philippe-Vincent Foisy’s program QUB radio :
Visit more or less useful
This sounding was conducted in anticipation of President Joe Biden’s official visit to Canada this week. On Friday, a US President addressed the Canadian Parliament for the first time since Barack Obama in 2016.
Joe Biden will speak on conquered ground as more than half of Canadian respondents (51%) have a positive opinion of him. Justin Trudeau, on the other hand, is rated positively by only 42% of Canadian respondents.
However, the interviewees see this visit more or less positively. Less than half — 33% in Canada and 41% in the United States — find it useful.
The fact remains that two-thirds of respondents on both sides of the border believe the two countries need to step up cooperation on economic exchanges, the opioid crisis, the fight against climate change, defense and energy.
At a time when the flow of migrants to our borders is at an all-time high, both Americans and Canadians are overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of welcoming more people. Most support the status quo and more than a third want us to get less.
help Haiti
Among the many migrants flocking to our doors are many Haitians fleeing the chaos in their country. And on that subject, both Canadians and Americans believe it would be good for Canada to lead a humanitarian and security mission to the island.
The Haitian government and the United Nations are calling for the establishment of an international force to assist local law enforcement, and Washington has been urging Ottawa to lead such an operation for months.
But Canada’s Chief of Staff Wayne Eyre signaled last week that Canada’s understaffed military would not have the capacity to lead such an operation.