Canadians' Thoughts On The Ugly American

I have been reading of late polls that address our feelings about our southern 'neighbour'. To be concise, we don't like or trust them anymore with, of course, very good reason. In today's Star, columnist Andrew Phillips distills the polls and offers his thoughts:

The headline that caught my eye late last week was this one: “Look how much Canadians hate the United States now.”

It was on Politico and it was propped up by the results of a major new poll that suggests a “lasting chill” has settled over relations between our two countries.

While the poll didn't use the word hate in its inquiry,  the results bespeak a deep distrust that has hardened over the past year or so.

If there was any doubt, there’s another poll out this week along the same lines. This one’s from Nanos Research in the Globe and Mail. It’s just as bleak.

Canadians have given up on the U.S. as a reliable ally (three-quarters of them in the Nanos survey, 58 per cent in Politico).

Far more Canadians see the U.S. as the biggest threat to peace (58 per cent) than Russia (29 per cent) or China (just 10 per cent), according to Politico.

Two-thirds of Canadians are concerned that the U.S. and Donald Trump are a security threat to Canada (Nanos). One in five (21 per cent) believe an invasion ordered by Trump is likely; only half dismiss that possibility.

Unsurprisingly, Canadians think we need to take our distance from the U.S. Fifty-seven per cent say it’s better to rely on China than on “the U.S. under Donald Trump” (Politico). Forty-four per cent favour more trade with China (Nanos).

Phillips suggests something I think most of us agree with: that lost trust will be difficult to regain, even after the mad king has passed into history.

It’ll take the Americans years, probably a generation, to rebuild trust — and only if whoever comes after wants to do any such thing, which is not a given.

And despite all of the criticism that the Conservatives, under PP, have lobbed against the Liberals for their failure to secure a new trade deal with the U.S., Canadians seem to understand that such a deal is unlikely under the mad king. 

It’s apparent to anyone who’s paid attention that a decent deal hasn’t been available and the blame for its absence lies at the feet of Trump.

Likewise, the anxious chorus coming out of segments of the business community to the effect that Canada must do everything to make sure the CUSMA trade deal is renewed this summer now sounds distinctly out of sync with the national mood. 

Canadians are no longer the naive, complacent and trusting souls we once might have been regarding the U.S. We have seen the enemy, and we will not easily forget him.