Most Canadians don’t want to be American, unless it comes with perks: poll
If given the opportunity, 43 per cent of young Canadians would vote to be American, with a few guarantees.
“One group of people that we’re seeing in Canada these days that are having a pretty tough time with the direction of the country are young men,” Darrell Bricker with Ipsos told Global News.
“And in particular, they are most interested in taking a look at the opportunity in the U.S. if they were given the chance of voting for Canada, joining the U.S., if their Canadian dollars could be put into U.S. dollars and if their citizenship could be confirmed… It’s pretty shocking.”
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has referred to Canada as “the 51st state” in numerous social media posts, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the country’s politicians have pushed back against.
In a new Ipsos poll, when asked if they would like to be a part of America, four in 10 Canadians age 18 to 34 would vote to be American if citizenship and conversion of assets to U.S. dollars would be guaranteed.
That number drops to three in 10 among every age group polled.
“Canadians are quite patriotic,” Bricker added. “Eighty per cent of them are saying that they were given a chance on voting to join the U.S. or staying in Canada, they would definitely stay in Canada.”
Forty-eight per cent of Canadians think Trump’s comments pose a serious risk to Canada’s independence, while 43 per cent think that his comments shouldn’t be treated as serious.
“Younger Canadians are more likely to think the country is under threat,” Bricker said. “So the stability of the country going forward is not as determined as it used to be. They seem to be believing that Donald Trump is more serious in the threats in particular that he’s making.”
Most of those polled
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