Two new polls suggest Quebeckers are feeling pretty good about their relationship with Canada these days.
Between December and February, the share of Quebecers who said they were “very proud” or “proud” to be Canadian increased 13 points from 45 per cent to 58 per cent, according to an Angus Reid poll conducted online Sunday and Monday.
The online poll was conducted among 1,811 respondents and has no margin of error. It says the percentage of people in Quebec expressing pride in Canada increased faster than it did in the country as a whole. The poll recorded an average increase in national pride across Canada of nine points, from 58 per cent to 67 per cent.
The Prairies are dragging the average down, with Alberta up three points, Saskatchewan up four points and Manitoba down four points. Reported pride in Canadian identity is up 12 points in B.C., nine points in Ontario and 15 points in Atlantic Canada.
The poll also tracked a spike in the number of Canadians who said they have a “deep emotional attachment to Canada” – from 30 per cent to 45 per cent in Quebec, and from 49 per cent to 59 per cent across Canada.
“The enemies of my enemies are my friends,” said Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.
With Canada on the brink of a tariff war with the United States, he said, the “common enemy” is now U.S. President Donald Trump.
“There is a sense of unity in adversity” and identification with Canada is being used as “a kind of shield against Trump,” Béland said.
Geneviève Tellier, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s school of political studies, said that Trump’s tariff threat was perceived as “an attack, a betrayal even,” and touched “a sensitive chord” provoking a “wave of patriotism.”
She said we seldom see polling show that Quebecers see themselves as being “in the same boat” with other Canadians.
“Until now, we thought that in Quebec, it was different than in the rest of Canada, so we were going to vote for the (Bloc Québécois) to represent that difference. But with this crisis, it brought Quebecers back into line with the rest of Canada,” she said.
“That’s good news for the (federal) Liberals, most certainly. That should worry the Conservatives, but also the Bloc in Quebec.”
And while polls of provincial voting intentions put the sovereigntist Parti Québécois in the lead, Frédéric Boily, a professor of political science at the University of Alberta, said a “wind of patriotism” is blowing through the country.
“The time is not right for Quebec nationalism,” Boily said.
“The idea that we must form a common front to be able to fight Donald Trump, who is now almost designated as an enemy of Canada, also takes away arguments from Quebec nationalism to say that we could possibly react more effectively than Canada does if we were a nation.”
Another new survey, conducted by Léger for the Association for Canadian Studies, indicates that Quebecers are significantly more likely than other Canadians to believe that the relationship between their province and the rest of the country is solid.
Nearly two out of three Quebecers (64 per cent) think that this relationship is somewhat good or very good. Outside of Quebec, 52 per cent of British Columbians, 50 per cent of Ontarians, 49 per cent of people in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 48 per cent of Atlantic Canadians and 29 per cent of Albertans said the relationship between Quebec and the rest of the country is sound.
Béland said many Albertans’ “resentment” of Quebec, “especially among Alberta conservatives who think Quebec has too much power within Canada,” colours how Albertans assess the relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada.
He said these feelings stem from Quebec’s past opposition to pipeline construction and the belief that the province receives a lot of equalization.
The Léger survey also reveals significant differences of opinion within Quebec itself: 66 per cent of francophones think the relationship with the rest of Canada is generally good, while just 56 per cent of anglophones agree.
Just 40 per cent of Quebecers aged 18 to 24 say the relationship with the rest of Canada is good, while the percentage of respondents in other age groups agreeing with that statement ranged from 57 per cent to 72 per cent.
The Léger survey was conducted online from Jan. 17 to 19 among 1,578 Canadians. It has no margin of error since it is not a probability sample.
