{"id":15291,"date":"2025-02-06T12:54:15","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T12:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/06\/trumps-tariff-threat-provokes-wave-of-patriotism-in-canada-polls-show-national\/"},"modified":"2025-02-06T12:54:15","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T12:54:15","slug":"trumps-tariff-threat-provokes-wave-of-patriotism-in-canada-polls-show-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/06\/trumps-tariff-threat-provokes-wave-of-patriotism-in-canada-polls-show-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s tariff threat provokes \u2018wave of patriotism\u2019 in Canada, polls show – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Two new polls suggest Quebeckers are feeling pretty good about their relationship with Canada these days.<\/p>\n

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Between December and February, the share of Quebecers who said they were \u201cvery proud\u201d or \u201cproud\u201d to be Canadian increased 13 points from 45 per cent to 58 per cent, according to an Angus Reid poll conducted online Sunday and Monday.<\/p>\n

The online poll was conducted among 1,811 respondents and has no margin of error. It says the percentage of people in Quebec expressing pride in Canada increased faster than it did in the country as a whole. The poll recorded an average increase in national pride across Canada of nine points, from 58 per cent to 67 per cent.<\/p>\n

The Prairies are dragging the average down, with Alberta up three points, Saskatchewan up four points and Manitoba down four points. Reported pride in Canadian identity is up 12 points in B.C., nine points in Ontario and 15 points in Atlantic Canada.<\/p>\n

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The poll also tracked a spike in the number of Canadians who said they have a \u201cdeep emotional attachment to Canada\u201d \u2013 from 30 per cent to 45 per cent in Quebec, and from 49 per cent to 59 per cent across Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe enemies of my enemies are my friends,\u201d said Daniel B\u00e9land, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.<\/p>\n

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With Canada on the brink of a tariff war with the United States, he said, the \u201ccommon enemy\u201d is now U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is a sense of unity in adversity\u201d and identification with Canada is being used as \u201ca kind of shield against Trump,\u201d B\u00e9land said.<\/p>\n

Genevi\u00e8ve Tellier, a professor at the University of Ottawa\u2019s school of political studies, said that Trump\u2019s tariff threat was perceived as \u201can attack, a betrayal even,\u201d and touched \u201ca sensitive chord\u201d provoking a \u201cwave of patriotism.\u201d<\/p>\n

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She said we seldom see polling show that Quebecers see themselves as being \u201cin the same boat\u201d with other Canadians.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil now, we thought that in Quebec, it was different than in the rest of Canada, so we were going to vote for the (Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois) to represent that difference. But with this crisis, it brought Quebecers back into line with the rest of Canada,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s good news for the (federal) Liberals, most certainly. That should worry the Conservatives, but also the Bloc in Quebec.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while polls of provincial voting intentions put the sovereigntist Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois in the lead, Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Boily, a professor of political science at the University of Alberta, said a \u201cwind of patriotism\u201d is blowing through the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time is not right for Quebec nationalism,\u201d Boily said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that we must form a common front to be able to fight Donald Trump, who is now almost designated as an enemy of Canada, also takes away arguments from Quebec nationalism to say that we could possibly react more effectively than Canada does if we were a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n