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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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 Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:22 pm Post subject: Canadian confidence |
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-at-142-were-inferior-no-more/article1202928/
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We not only know who we are, but we like who we are. And as to how we see ourselves in the years to come, Britain and the United States take note. Or don't take note: Canadians don't much care one way or the other, as they intend to go their own way.
�The clich� about Canadians being timid and diffident and too self-critical is wrong,� says Peter Donolo of The Strategic Counsel. �Canadians think they're the cat's meow.
�We have a healthy self-image � in fact, a puffed-up image.�
This comes out of an exhaustive spring survey of 1,000 adult Canadians conducted by The Strategic Counsel for The Globe and Mail and CTV. It discovered some expected truths � Canadians consider their flag and the Mounties to be the country's most-distinctive symbols � but also uncovered some surprises, some might say shocks.
The monarchy is a bust with today's Canadians. When asked if they felt a stronger connection to the Queen or the Queen's representative, Governor-General Micha�lle Jean, 20 per cent named the Queen, 10 per cent said the G-G � and a remarkable 70 per cent said � neither .�
And when asked to look beyond the relatively popular Queen, 65 per cent of Canadians thought the ties to the Crown should be severed once she passes. Only 35 per cent care to think of Prince Charles, who will visit here this fall, as a future king of Canada.
�We were frankly surprised by the depth of the desire to cut ties with the monarchy,� Donolo says.
Even more surprising to some is an argument that the national food of Canada is now poutine, that fries, gravy and cheese concoction that should only be consumed by the heartless.
More Canadians, it turns out, have eaten this relatively recent invention than have been in a canoe or seen a moose � the traditional tests of being Canadian.
�The food snobs won't like it,� says Donolo. �Madame Beno�t must be turning over in her grave.�
There are signs, as well, that Canadians are finally turning away from picking through their own bellybutton lint in an endless search for self-identity.
That old joke about a Canadian coming to a fork in the road � one sign pointing to �Heaven,� the other to �Panel Discussion on Heaven� � and the Canadian scurrying off to talk about it seems out of date.
There's a third sign that says �Home� and there's no debate at all on which direction it lies.
Donolo says there is a kind of new �smugness� out there that goes sharply against the grain of the legendary inferiority complex. Canadians now say, 89 per cent of them, that they live in the best country in the world. They say, 87 per cent, that Canada is in better shape than anyone else to deal with the world economic situation.
They believe Quebec will stay. They believe in their soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. And they think everyone living here could be just a bit more patriotic about it.
�If ever there was a true Canadian inferiority complex,� Donolo says, �it's gone. When 90 per cent of the people think they live in the world's best country, that's not a country with a self-confidence problem.� |
There are some interesting poll results in the link. |
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visitorq
Joined: 11 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Didn't the queen basically trump a "non-confidence" vote in your parliament awhile back, keeping your unpopular prime minister in power? That must've been a piss off... |
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Chet Wautlands
Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Most of us Canadians are uninterested in our own politics. The U.S. election got far more coverage in Canada than our own election. |
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supernick
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 4:42 am Post subject: |
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| Most of us Canadians are uninterested in our own politics. The U.S. election got far more coverage in Canada than our own election. |
That must be because one election lasted 22 months costing hundreds of millions, and another lasting 2 months at a much lower cost.
That said, there has been a great amount of attention on the last two U.S. elections, not just from the Canadians. What happens in the U.S. can have a greater affect on other countries than in the U.S. itself.
Have a good day Chet. |
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gangwonbound
Joined: 27 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 4:51 am Post subject: |
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| supernick wrote: |
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| Most of us Canadians are uninterested in our own politics. The U.S. election got far more coverage in Canada than our own election. |
That must be because one election lasted 22 months costing hundreds of millions, and another lasting 2 months at a much lower cost.
That said, there has been a great amount of attention on the last two U.S. elections, not just from the Canadians. What happens in the U.S. can have a greater affect on other countries than in the U.S. itself.
Have a good day Chet. |
Yeah but us in Canada have an election every year...I think it adds up to about the same time and money as the US  |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 4:53 am Post subject: |
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| Didn't the queen basically trump a "non-confidence" vote in your parliament awhile back, keeping your unpopular prime minister in power? That must've been a piss off... |
This makes it sounds like the government was defeated in a non-confidence motion, but then the Queen in London said "Hmm, I liked that government, think I'll veto the vote just to get what I want". That is not what happened.
First of all, it was the Governor-General, not the Queen, who made the final decision. And, by all accounts, she was acting on the counsel of respected legal advisers, who had told her that it would be constitutionally advisable to give the Prime Minister what he was requesting.
And this decision was in all likelihood made in a completely non-partisan fashion, since this particular GG had been appointed by a Liberal government, but it was the Liberals who would have gained the most had her decision gone the other way. |
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Manner of Speaking
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:52 am Post subject: |
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These so-called "public opinon poll" companies have a bad habit of mixing "objective" public opinion surveys with "marketing" strategies designed to either influence public opinion in Canada, or to mislead parliamentarians as to the real opinions of Canadians. These "surveys" are usually commissioned by somebody with an agenda. And arguably, they are a big part of what is wrong with democracy in Canada...too many lobbyists inserting themselves between members of parliament and the voting public.
You'll notice from the website of The Strategic Council that you can't find any information on who their clients are. The founder of The Strategic Council is Alan Gregg, the infamous pollster and campaign manager for the Tories for the 1993 election, the one where Gregg recommended the attack ads making fun of Cretien's facial paralysis.
It would be nice if the Globe and Mail were able to quote from more than one survey, and one done by a separate polling company, before coming to their conclusions. |
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Manner of Speaking
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:52 am Post subject: |
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| Be nice to see the questions, too. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:57 pm Post subject: Re: Canadian confidence |
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[Canadians now] say, 87 per cent, that Canada is in better shape than anyone else to deal with the world economic situation. |
But this is true and some reason for tempered confidence. |
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