REGINA — Despite all the trash-talking directed at Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump in the past year, the Angus Reid Institute is reporting that Americans don’t share those same sentiments.
In its latest survey, released Aug. 10, it found 79 per cent of Americans have favourable views of Canada. Of those, 39 per cent have a “very favourable” view, with 40 per cent having a favourable view.
That compares with 45 per cent of Canadians viewing the American people positively, while 48 per cent view them unfavourably. Of the 45 per cent, 32 per cent view Americans favourably, while only 13 per cent view them very favourably.
According to its news release, Angus Reid attributes the disparity to an “attention gap” between the two countries when it comes to their trade and tariff dispute.
It reports Canadians are much more likely than Americans to be following the latest tariffs, at 91 per cent compared with 69 per cent.
While Canadians seem more split on how they view Americans, there is much more of a consensus on how they view U.S. President Donald Trump, with a whopping 79 per cent of Canadians voicing disapproval of him.
As for how they view the United States, six per cent of Canadians see the U.S. as an enemy, while 36 per cent see it as a threat to Canada’s interests. Only 20 per cent view the U.S. as a valued partner or ally, according to the survey.
By contrast, Angus Reid is reporting much more favourable attitudes toward Canada among Americans, especially compared with what is being projected by the White House.
The survey reports that 59 per cent of Americans oppose the levying of tariffs on Canada. It also found that 78 per cent of Americans say the U.S. should approach Canada as a friend or ally.
The survey from Angus Reid was conducted July 10-14 and July 31 to Aug. 5, sampling 2,199 Canadian adults and 1,000 American adults.
This poll comes as a critical Aug. 19 deadline looms for the levying of new tariffs on Canada, with Canadian officials racing to get a trade deal done with the Americans before that date.
