Last week, two of the most popular liberal politicians in the world met together in Washington DC and President Obama hosted a White House state dinner in honour of the second Trudeau to be prime minister of Canada.
Earlier that day, Thursday, we asked the YouGov panel of US voters to indicate how much they agreed with certain descriptions of Canada – a nation that Justin Trudeau, song of Pierre, has described as a “sibling” to the USA. Certain descriptions in our survey were a little more serious than others (i.e. the one about maple syrup and the moose!). The panel’s verdicts were, perhaps, predictable and very positive:
- Large majorities saw Canada as “a great ally” and a very beautiful nation.
- There was also significant support for the idea that Canada was a more liberal and more “European” version of America with added free healthcare and subtracted handguns. That idea is on firmer footing after, last October, Mr Trudeau ended the nine year rule of the conservative Stephen Harper. Mr Harper did not receive a state dinner from Mr Obama!
- Only 11% of YouGov panelists saw Canada as a “weak nation” and only 8% admitted to “never” thinking about Canada.
There was also good news for Canada from a panel survey we set at the start of the month. We had asked YouGov panelists: “If you couldn’t live in the United States which of the following ten countries would you most be happy to move to?” Canada then Australia were clear winners with Britain and Ireland tied at 10% each.
And what do Americans think, more generally, of Britain? We reported that verdict last month.
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