New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians, and especially past Conservative voters, worried that key democratic pillars are weakening in Canada.
Canadians are more likely to believe elections are becoming less free and fair, the rule of law is being applied less equitably and the power is less invested in the common people than to see those principles strengthening.
On all three topics, those who voted for the Conservative party in 2021 are much more critical than other past voters, whose concerns are evident but perhaps less grave.
And while Canadians have their criticisms of their country, some solace may be found in cross-border perspectives.
Two-thirds of Canadians (67 per cent) say they are proud to live in Canada, compared to 54% who say this in the U.S. Meanwhile, twice as many residents north of the border say they believe it to be a caring society (59%) as south (30%).
Domestically, the federal government, and its current path, appears to be the most polarizing element of the country at the moment.
Half (48%) say Canada does not have a good system of government and as many (47%) believe the country is on the wrong track.
In this perceived dearth of quality government, an issue that extends to the provinces, concerns over the potential for “Trump-style politics” are palpable.
Just 13% of Canadians say that this approach – driven by bombastic populist messaging, disregard for institutions and legal norms, and attacks on “the deep state” – is something to which Canada is immune.
Three-quarters (75%) say that the Trump trend – which has inspired imitators around the globe – is something that can happen in Canada.
Two-in-five (38%) in Alberta and three-in-ten (29%) in Saskatchewan say Canada is a country whose values align with their own, the two lowest proportions in the country. More than half (53%) in Quebec say the same, leading all provinces.
Canadians are less likely to view Canada as a prosperous country (62% to 54%) and a positive player in world affairs (50% to 44%) than they were in 2022.
Amid the ninth year of Liberal government, past CPC voters are much less likely to say they are proud to live in Canada (49%) than past Liberal (89%) or NDP (70%) voters. Just one-in-eight (13%) 2021 Conservatives see the country as on the right track.
Two-thirds (65%) of 2021 Liberal voters believe the country is heading in the right direction, the only group of past voters who say so at a majority level.
