Proud but with problems: How Canadians feel about their country
As Canada turns 158 on Tuesday, a birthday celebrated during tumultuous political and international agitation, Canadians remain proud of their country and their place in it — with considerable intensity for a nation often too modest to boast — but riding on that red-and-white wave are hard questions of what kind of country Canadians want.
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A new national opinion survey marks Canada Day by delving into how Canadians feel about their country and what boosts their patriotism and what dampens it; about what irks them so much they might leave, their sense of Canadian values, and even tries to put a finger on what Canada's national identity looks like.
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There is little doubt Canadians are proud to be Canadian — a huge majority declared it — even though there are concerns about affordability, what it means to be Canadian, and a loss of a shared sense of collective identity, according to the survey conducted by Leger Marketing Inc., for Postmedia.
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'As we approach Canada Day this year, Canadians are feeling pretty good about being Canadian, and I think they're going to be pretty boisterous about demonstrating it,' said Andrew Enns, a Leger vice president who oversaw the poll.
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But, cautioned Enns, that doesn't mean there aren't challenges.
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'It doesn't necessarily mean things are fantastic here. I think it's possible to be very proud to be Canadian — particularly when there's another country that suggests you should just pack in this whole Canada thing — but still say there's a lot of problems in the country,' Enns said.
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When the poll respondents were asked how proud they were to be Canadian, 83 per cent described themselves as proud, with 45 per cent of those escalating that feeling to being very proud. Of those who dissented, 11 per cent said they weren't very proud and four per cent said they were not at all proud to be Canadian.
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'A year ago, it wasn't like we were all wearing paper bags over our head and being ashamed — three-quarters said they felt pretty proud about being Canadians back then, but we've now popped that number up. There's also an intensity that I think we'll probably see on display in different celebrations,' said Enns.
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Canada's proudest region is Atlantic Canada, where 90 per cent said they were proud and 57 per cent even upsized to very proud.
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Those least likely to declare Canadian pride were in Alberta, but even there a strong majority — 78 per cent — said they were proud to be Canadian. That result wasn't much different that in British Columbia, where it was 79 per cent.
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More women than men expressed Canadian pride (86 per cent versus 80 per cent).
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The younger a respondent was, the less likely they were to say they were a proud Canadian: Among those aged 18 to 34, the youngest cohort, 76 per cent expressed pride; in the middle, those aged 35 to 54, there were 81 per cent declaring pride, while 89 per cent in the oldest group (55 and over) said they were proud to be Canadian.
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As Canada turns 158 on Tuesday, a birthday celebrated during tumultuous political and international agitation, Canadians remain proud of their country and their place in it — with considerable intensity for a nation often too modest to boast — but riding on that red-and-white wave are hard questions of what kind of country Canadians want. Article content A new national opinion survey marks Canada Day by delving into how Canadians feel about their country and what boosts their patriotism and what dampens it; about what irks them so much they might leave, their sense of Canadian values, and even tries to put a finger on what Canada's national identity looks like. Article content Article content Article content There is little doubt Canadians are proud to be Canadian — a huge majority declared it — even though there are concerns about affordability, what it means to be Canadian, and a loss of a shared sense of collective identity, according to the survey conducted by Leger Marketing Inc., for Postmedia. Article content Article content But, cautioned Enns, that doesn't mean there aren't challenges. Article content 'It doesn't necessarily mean things are fantastic here. I think it's possible to be very proud to be Canadian — particularly when there's another country that suggests you should just pack in this whole Canada thing — but still say there's a lot of problems in the country,' Enns said. Article content Article content When the poll respondents were asked how proud they were to be Canadian, 83 per cent described themselves as proud, with 45 per cent of those escalating that feeling to being very proud. Of those who dissented, 11 per cent said they weren't very proud and four per cent said they were not at all proud to be Canadian. Article content Article content 'A year ago, it wasn't like we were all wearing paper bags over our head and being ashamed — three-quarters said they felt pretty proud about being Canadians back then, but we've now popped that number up. There's also an intensity that I think we'll probably see on display in different celebrations,' said Enns. Article content Canada's proudest region is Atlantic Canada, where 90 per cent said they were proud and 57 per cent even upsized to very proud. Article content Those least likely to declare Canadian pride were in Alberta, but even there a strong majority — 78 per cent — said they were proud to be Canadian. That result wasn't much different that in British Columbia, where it was 79 per cent.
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