Canadians still 'distrust' US

2009-11-02 21:17

Ottawa - Canadians are no more loving of the United States under its current leadership than during George W Bush's presidency, suggested a poll published Monday.

But they do like President Barack Obama a whole lot more than his predecessor, said the Historica Dominion Institute survey of 1 018 Canadians.

Obama was viewed favourably by 86% of respondents, compared to only 21% for Bush in 2005.

"What's striking about these findings is how Canadians have detached their personal view of Barack Obama, whom they quite like and respect, from the United States, which they still view with scepticism, even distrust," said Andrew Cohen, president of the institute.

Compared to results of a similar poll taken four years ago, Canadians have a marginally improved view of Americans as individual people, with 71% expressing a favourable view in 2009 versus 68% in 2005.

Fewer Canadians (17% versus 24% in 1995) also said they felt Canadian and American values are diverging.

Canadians were split as to whether the United States is now "a force for good in the world." Forty-four percent agreed while 46% disagreed. This question was not asked in 2005.

"There really does appear to be a hardy strain of anti-Americanism in Canada," Cohen said. "Almost half of us don't believe America is a force for good in the world, even with Obama as president."

The survey has a 3.1 percentage point margin of error.

- AFP