Americans hold Canadians in high esteem. The reverse, not so much

Despite all the trade-war rhetoric and “51st state” comments from the White House, Americans on the whole still have positive feelings toward their neighbours to the north. But from this side of the border, it’s a different picture.

A poll by Canada’s Angus Reid asked people from both countries about their perceptions of the other. It found that almost half of Canadians hold a negative view of Americans, with 29 per cent choosing “unfavourable” and another 19 per cent “very unfavourable.”

Meanwhile, just 13 per cent of Canadians said they felt very favourably toward Americans, and another 32 per cent said their view was favourable. The final seven per cent weren’t sure or couldn’t say.

The stateside answers to the same question painted a much rosier picture, however. Americans were overwhelmingly upbeat about Canadians, with 39 per cent reporting very favourable views, and another 40 per cent choosing “favourable.”

Just six per cent of Americans said they held unfavourable views of Canadians, while a scant one per cent said their views were very unfavourable. Another 14 per cent weren’t sure.

The pollsters chalk up much of that difference to “an attention gap between the two countries,” noting that Canadians are far more likely than Americans (91 per cent versus 69 per cent) to be following news of the latest tariffs, due to take effect on Aug. 19.

“Trump has soured the Canada-U.S. relationship with tariffs and talk of turning Canada into the 51st state but apparently has not turned most of his ardent supporters against Canadians,” they write. “Self-described MAGA Republicans are more likely to view Canadians positively … than not.”

Indeed, Americans who identified as MAGA Republicans viewed Canadians favourably by a four-to-one margin, with 69 per cent choosing favourable or very favourable, and just 17 per cent saying their views were unfavourable or very unfavourable.

Those unfavourable numbers were smaller for non-MAGA Republicans (10 per cent) and almost non-existent for Democratic voters, at just two per cent.

A much wider gap could be seen among Canadians of different political stripes. Those who voted Conservative in last year’s federal election were the only political group to view the American people favourably at a majority level. with 70 per cent approval.

Meanwhile, fewer than half that number who voted for other parties held the same view — 30 per cent for Liberal voters, 28 per cent for NDP supporters and 27 per cent for the Bloc Quebecois. New Democratic Party voters were also the only group to register zero per cent in the “most favourable” column.

Adding more incendiary language to the questions still found Americans feeling friendlier toward Canadians than vice versa. Both groups were asked if the other country should be treated as an enemy, a potential threat, cautiously, on friendly terms, or as a valued partner and ally.