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Canadians want closer ties to U.S
CanWest News Service and National Post | Wednesday, October 29, 2003 | Elizabeth Thompson and Scott Stinson

Posted on 10/29/2003 5:40:39 AM PST by albertabound

Canadians want closer ties to U.S. Poll shows desire for stronger links has increased since war in Iraq began

Elizabeth Thompson and Scott Stinson CanWest News Service and National Post

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Support among Canadians for closer ties to the United States is at its highest point in three years, a trend experts say reflects growing anxiety about a rift between the countries that has grown to include military, political and trade disputes.

A public opinion poll conducted by the Environics and CROP polling houses for the Centre for Research and Information on Canada found 44% of Canadians surveyed believe Canada should have stronger ties to the United States -- an increase of 18 points since the start of the war in Iraq in March.

That level of support is the highest the group has found in three years of asking the question.

The telephone poll of 3,204 Canadians found 39% of respondents want to keep relations with the United States at the same level, while only 15% would prefer to see a more distant relationship.

The survey, which was conducted between Sept. 15 and Oct. 3, found about 42% of those surveyed felt that having a closer or improved relationship with Washington should be a high priority for the next prime minister. Improving Canada-U.S. relations was rated a higher priority than increasing military spending, giving more money to big cities or reforming the Senate.

Dr. Norman Ruff, a political science professor at the University of Victoria, said the results speak to Canadian concerns about trade disputes that are a drag on our economy.

"People are much more conscious now about our economic relationships with the U.S.," Dr. Ruff said in a telephone interview yesterday, noting that disagreements over softwood lumber, grain and beef have hit the West particularly hard.

"The softwood lumber [dispute] has been devastating here," he said. "It's like SARS on a 365-day basis."

Jason Kenney, the Canadian Alliance critic on Canada-U.S. relations, said while trade disputes are a major concern, they are not the only thing worrying Canadians.

"Our relationship with the U.S. is in a deep freeze," he said in a telephone interview from his Ottawa office yesterday, noting the chasm that has developed between the two countries' military policies after Ottawa opted out of the war in Iraq. "The Liberal government needs to acknowledge that there's a problem, and it must start to reconcile on some of these issues and not take our relationship with the U.S. for granted."

Mr. Kenney, MP for Calgary Southeast, noted that Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, and Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson have gone on high-profile overseas trips while leaving the U.S. trade disputes to simmer at home. "The Prime Minister goes on trade missions to countries that we have less trade with than any one state," he said.

Dr. Ruff said the poll also reflects less concern among Canadians about the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "The war tested the strength of our ties, but now much of that tension has been dissipating," he said, adding that Canadians' anger about the war has subsided in part because concerns about the conflict are now being raised more frequently by Americans.

Political and business leaders have blasted the Chrétien government in recent months for allowing relations with the U.S. to deteriorate since George W. Bush became President in 2000. Mr. Bush has not made a personal visit to Canada since his election other than as part of two international summits, and Mr. Chrétien is one of the few major world leaders to not visit the White House or Mr. Bush's Texas ranch since 2000.

The Environics/CROP poll also show Canadians' top priorities are spending more money on health care and education, increasing federal-provincial co-operation and making political institutions more democratic.

And while support for closer ties to the United States is up, support for a common dollar has lost ground. The poll found 45% of Canadians thought it would be a good idea -- down from 53% in 2002. The majority, 52%, opposed the idea.

Support has also declined for a common border security policy, although it still has the support of a majority of Canadians. The poll found 59% of Canadians support a common border policy, compared with 66% support in 2002. Thirty-eight per cent were opposed.

The survey also showed the desire to co-operate with the U.S. does not extend to sending Canadian troops into Iraq. While 81% said they would support sending troops based on a request from the United Nations, only 41% would support sending troops based on a request by Washington alone.

Andrew Parkin, co-director of the Centre for Research and Information on Canada, a non-partisan think-tank, said the poll shows Canadians generally want to

improve co-operation between Canada and the U.S. but tend to reject policies they feel are imposed by Washington.

The survey is considered accurate within 1.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

(The Gazette)

© Copyright 2003 National Post


TOPICS: Canada
KEYWORDS: olivebranch

1 posted on 10/29/2003 5:40:39 AM PST by albertabound
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To: albertabound
So what sort of leader is Paul Martin expected to be? Hope he's not Chretian-lite.

Prairie
2 posted on 10/29/2003 5:44:20 AM PST by prairiebreeze (Halloween night, Hildebeest will be aboard her broom scaring children & small animals.)
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To: albertabound
Here's one American who couldn't care less. Canada rates about the same as France to me. You made your bed now sleep in it.
3 posted on 10/29/2003 6:12:34 AM PST by Broadside Joe
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To: albertabound
What Canadians want and what their government does don't jibe.

I think the government needs a new set of citizens, since the citizens have shown themselves incapable of getting a new government.

4 posted on 10/29/2003 2:22:11 PM PST by gcruse (http://gcruse.typepad.com/)
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