NATIONAL PULSE – Canadians proud but see Trump-style politics as a risk
Then-President Trump addressing Congress. (Screenshot)
By ANGUS REID INSTITUTE
February 9, 2024 – The looming American election has become a source of anxiety on both sides of the border, but Canadians’ concerns about the state of domestic democracy are growing, too.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians, and especially past Conservative voters, worried that key democratic pillars are weakening in Canada. Canadians are more likely to believe elections are becoming less free and fair, the rule of law is being applied less equitably and the power is less invested in the common people than to see those principles strengthening. On all three, those who voted for the Conservative party in 2021 are much more critical than other past voters, whose concerns are evident but perhaps less grave.
And while Canadians have their criticisms of their country, some solace may be found in cross-border perspectives.
Two-thirds of Canadians (67%) say they are proud to live in Canada, compared to 54 per cent who say this in the U.S. Meantime, twice as many residents north of the border say they believe it to be a caring society (59%) as south (30%).
Domestically, the federal government, and its current path, appears to be the most polarizing element of the country at the moment. Half (48%) say Canada does not have a good system of government and as many (47%) believe the country is on the wrong track.
In this perceived dearth of quality government, an issue that extends to the provinces, concerns over the potential for “Trump-style politics” are palpable. Just 13 per cent of Canadians say that this approach – driven by bombastic populist messaging, disregard for institutions and legal norms, and attacks on “the deep state” – is something to which Canada is immune. Three-quarters (75%) say that the Trump trend – which has inspired imitators around the globe – is something that can happen in Canada.
More Key Findings:
- Two-in-five (38%) in Alberta and three-in-ten (29%) in Saskatchewan say Canada is a country whose values align with their own, the two lowest proportions in the country. More than half (53%) in Quebec say the same, leading all provinces.
- Canadians are less likely to view Canada as a prosperous country (62% to 54%) and a positive player in world affairs (50% to 44%) than they were in 2022.
- Amid the ninth year of Liberal government, past CPC voters are much less likely to say they are proud to live in Canada (49%) than past Liberal (89%) or NDP (70%) voters. Just one-in-eight (13%) 2021 Conservatives see the country as on the right track.
- Two-thirds (65%) of 2021 Liberal voters believe the country is heading in the right direction, the only group of past voters who say so at a majority level.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Mainstream (government subsidized) media is fond of trotting out the now-old and tired chestnut of Trump-style politics as the only alternative to, let’s face it, far-left Trudeau and Singh-style politics. Ask yourself honestly how almost 9 years of Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh government is working for you and your family. Is your standard of living better, or even the same, as it was prior to them being elected? With out-of-control spending triggering inflation and requiring higher interest rates to cool things, and increased taxes on many fronts, probably not. Pierre Poilievre actually represents the middle ground that the Liberals used to occupy before their exodus to the Left, and perhaps the hope of a return to some common sense, sadly lacking for a long time. Just imagine, family decisions and fiscal decisions in the hands of those Canadian families that are just trying to get by, and that earned the money in the first place. Something what like we used to have in Canada until over-reaching governments decided they knew better than the citizenry that elected them, and who have regretted it ever since. Raising the idea of Trump-style being the only alternative is done out of fear that the borrowed money gravy train we have become accustomed to might need to come to a stop. What we have now isn’t working for Canadians, and hasn’t for a long time.
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If I were a betting woman, and I am, I’d wager that the latest report on Biden’s improper handling of classified documents, in addition to the scathing accusations that he’s losing his memory, and his attempt to assure the public he isn’t going senile backfiring after making yet another memory gaffe, will sink the Biden ticket. The free world needs more than a sleepy, forgetful, stumbling grandpa leading it.
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