Surging Canadian pride in face of Trump's insults sags after Canada's federal election, poll finds
A surge in Canadian pride when Canada’s sovereignty and dignity were under assault from U.S. President Donald Trump has slumped back to normal levels after the federal election, according to a public opinion poll.
Last year — in May and again in November — 80 per cent of Canadians said they were proud to be Canadian in opinion polls, but patriotism surged this spring, climbing to 86 per cent in early March, during the lead-up to April’s federal election call.
In the month following the election of Mark Carney and the Liberal Party to a minority government, however, Canadian patriotic fervour has slipped back to its pre-election level, according to a new poll.
The national opinion survey, conducted by Leger Marketing for the Association for Canadian Studies and provided to Postmedia, also reveals significant regional differences in expressing Canadian patriotism.
“The boost in pride in being Canadian arising from the U.S. threat of annexation appears to have worn off, and the level of pride has returned to its pre-campaign levels,” said Jack Jedwab, president of the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies.
“The most important swings in pride were in Quebec and Alberta, where election spikes in pride have returned to lower levels post-election, and that is especially the case in Alberta,” he said.
Atlantic Canada displayed the most patriotism in the past, with 93 per cent of respondents saying they were proud to be Canadian a year ago. That was the highest level in the country at any time in the last year of polling.
With the approach of a federal election — called after the resignation of unpopular prime minister Justin Trudeau — patriotic support in the Atlantic provinces dipped to 91 per cent. In the new poll, it deflated even further, down to 83 per cent.
British Columbia expressed the least Canadian patriotism a year ago, with 71 per cent saying they were proud to be Canadian, but that level shot up before the election, reaching 90 per cent in early March. For poll respondents in B.C., patriotism had staying power after the election.
The latest poll places the province at the national top, with 84 per cent expressing pride.
Ontario was the only other region that retained a higher level of patriotism now than last year. In May 2024, 80 per cent in Ontario said they were proud to be Canadian. That rose to a high of 87 per cent this March and has settled in the recent poll at 83 per cent.
Alberta also showed a rise in patriotic pride before the election; however, it’s a feeling that has significantly soured since the vote.
A year ago, 80 per cent in Alberta expressed pride with being Canadian, in line with the Canadian average. That dipped notably to 74 per cent this March, before the election call, but climbed to 96 per cent, slightly above the national average, in early April, after the election call.
In the latest poll, taken after the federal election results that re-elected the Liberal Party, expressions of Canadian pride in Alberta sagged dramatically — down to 70 per cent, the lowest in the country, even lower than in Quebec, and 10 points below where it was a year ago.
“The significant fluctuation in Alberta in pride in being Canadian suggests that for some Albertans such pride was conditional on the outcome of the election,” Jedwab said. The surge in pride for Canada in Alberta coincided with polling data showing sky high national support for the Conservative Party, which did not hold by the time of the vote.
In Quebec, where pride in Canada has often been more controversial because of the Quebec separatist movement, there weren’t dramatic swings, although the new data reflects the province followed a national trend.
Expressions of pride in being Canadian by those in Quebec was at 83 per cent a year ago. Notably, that was the second highest in the country, behind only Atlantic Canada. That rose to 86 per cent in early March but has since dropped to 76 per cent in the new poll, the second lowest in the country, behind only Alberta.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan, polled together by the pollsters, has seen large fluctuations in its expressions of Canadian pride.
A year ago, it stood at 82 per cent, a bit above the national average. After a dip to 77 per cent in November, it jumped to 91 per cent in early April, before falling to 78 per cent in the new polling.
Perhaps impacting expressions of national pride, many Canadians in the poll said they identify more strongly with their province or region than with Canada as a country.
Nationally, 40 per cent of respondents said their strongest tie is regional or provincial, with 46 per cent saying it was not, and 14 per cent saying they didn’t know or declined to answer.
Respondents in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Alberta led the way in the strength of regional bonds: 54 per cent of Quebecers said their provincial tie was stronger than their national; 50 per cent of Nova Scotians and 45 per cent of Albertans said the same thing. In descending order came the remaining provinces: Saskatchewan (38 per cent), New Brunswick (37), Newfoundland (37), Manitoba (34), and Ontario (30).
When it comes to how much provinces feel they are respected by the rest of Canada, respondents in Ontario, B.C., and Quebec felt the most like they get the respect they deserve, with 55 per cent agreeing in Ontario, 40 per cent in B.C., and 33 per cent in Quebec.
The provinces with the fewest respondents satisfied with the amount of respect from the rest of the country were: Newfoundland (31), Manitoba (31), Alberta (29), Nova Scotia (28), New Brunswick (26), and Saskatchewan (21). There was no data provided for Prince Edward Island or the three northern territories.
Almost 75 per cent of those respondents who said they didn’t feel respected by the rest of Canada nonetheless said they were proud to be Canadian.
Similarly, slightly more than 75 per cent of respondents who identified more strongly with their province or region than with the country also maintained they were proud to be Canadian.
The data on people’s regional ties and feelings of respect can be important in the context of national unity, regional alienation and separation discussions, said Jedwab.
“While not a new issue, the feeling of regions being disrespected in Canada needs attention and, whereas Quebec was often viewed as most inclined to express such sentiment, Albertans have surpassed Quebec as being more aggrieved.
“And while most Quebecers identify more strongly with their region than they do Canada, Albertans are exhibiting a similar pattern with a significant percentage identifying more with their province. There are also noticeable feelings of disrespect in parts of the Atlantic and the Prairies, but it hasn’t translated into diminished identification with Canada,” he said.
The public opinion survey was conducted with 1,537 respondents in Canada from May 16 to 18. As a non-probability sample in a panel survey, traditional margins of error do not apply.
• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys
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