OTTAWA — Canadians are excited about the prospect of a Barack Obama presidency, and want Prime Minister Stephen Harper to work more closely with a new U.S. administration on issues from protecting the environment to dealing with the economic crisis, a new poll suggests.
With only eight days until the U.S. election, Canadians overwhelmingly support Mr. Obama over Republican nominee John McCain, and believe the Illinois senator would do a better job of restoring America's credibility in the world and dealing with the global economic crisis.
But regardless of the winner, there remains significant skepticism in Canada over whether the U.S. can be trusted to deal fairly with Canadian concerns, said the survey, which was conducted for the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute. The Calgary-based institute holds its annual conference in Ottawa today, with its focus on Canada-U.S. relations.
And there are concerns that Mr. Obama – together with a Democratic-controlled Congress – could impose protectionist measures that would hurt Canada.
“It's pretty clear that we have a healthy skepticism of the Americans, even with Obama, although there are a lot of hopes with him as president,” said Greg Lyle, managing director for Innovative Research Group, which conducted the online survey for the institute.
Canadians expect their government to work closely with the U.S. on international problems, and do not believe Mr. Harper has been particularly effective in dealing with the administration of George W. Bush.
In the survey, 58 per cent said Mr. Harper has not been effective in advancing Canada's interests with the Bush administration. [The online poll of more than 2,000 people was conducted between Oct. 16 and Oct. 21, and has a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.]
With the expectation that Mr. Obama will be the next president, 70 per cent of respondents said Canada should work more closely with the U.S. to protect the environment; 60 per cent said the two governments should work more closely in dealing with the economic crisis, and 59 per cent said there should be greater co-operation to reduce drug trafficking.
Colin Robertson, senior fellow with the institute, said he was struck by the pragmatism of Canadians who remain suspicious of the U.S., but recognize the need for close collaboration.
“Arguably, Canadian are the original unAmericans – our origins go back to that,” said Mr. Robertson, who heads the Canada-U.S. project at Carleton University. “But there is nonetheless a realism that says we expect our leaders to work together on problems.”
In fact, 62 per cent of respondents indicated a willingness to adopt American regulatory standards if it would ease restrictions at the border.
On the other hand, Canadians want to see their government move more aggressively to assert sovereignty in the North, despite U.S. opposition. Some 57 per cent say it is unlikely the U.S. will recognize Canada's claims in the North, and 44 per cent want the federal government to unilaterally declare a 200-mile economic zone to cover the Northwest Passage.
Like people around the globe, Canadians are enamoured with Mr. Obama, who outpolls Mr. McCain here by 72 to 12. (In the U.S., Mr. Obama has a commanding eight-point lead over Mr. McCain in an average of national polls assembled by RealClearPolitics website.)
The greatest fear regarding the Democratic candidate is that he would be too protectionist, with 57 per cent saying they worry he would end or renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement, or that he would be too protectionist.
