Canadiansâ views of their southern neighbour and their confidence in the U.S. president are at a 15-year low, according to a major new survey of public attitudes in 37 countries.
According to results of the , just 43 per cent of Canadians now have a positive view of the United States. Thatâs the lowest figure since 2002, when 72 per cent of Canadians viewed America favourably.
Only 22 per cent of Canadians said they have confidence in U.S. President Donald Trumpâs leadership on the world stage. At the end of Barack Obamaâs presidency, he had the confidence of 83 per cent of Canadians. At that time, 65 per cent of Canadians also had a positive view of the U.S.
âWe saw a pretty big drop in ratings for the U.S. president over the last two years,â Jacob Poushter of the Pew Research Center told CTVâs Power Play on Tuesday.
Pewâs previous surveys show that Canadiansâ confidence in the U.S. president jumped to 88 per cent at the beginning of Obamaâs presidency in 2009, from a low of 28 per cent near the end of George W. Bushâs last term in office.
The latest survey results showed that more positive views of the U.S. were expressed by Canadians on the political right. The U.S. is also seen more favourably by Canadian men (52 per cent) than women (35 per cent).
The survey of Canadiansâ attitudes also found that 93 per cent think Trump is âarrogant,â 78 per cent say heâs âintolerantâ and 72 per cent called him âdangerous.â Still, 38 per cent said heâs a âstrong leaderâ and 37 per cent think heâs âcharistmatic,â although only 16 per cent think heâs well-qualified to be president.
âFor the most part, people across the world donât like most of Trumpâs proposed policies,â Poushter said.
That includes many Canadians. The survey found that:
- 84 per cent disapprove of Trumpâs vows to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico
- 79 per cent disapprove of his withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement
- 78 per cent disapprove of Trumpâs talks of withdrawing from major trade agreements
- 64 per cent disapprove of Trumpâs travel ban affecting people from majority-Muslim countries, while 31 per cent approve of the ban.
Among other survey highlights:
- 58 per cent of Canadians said itâs âbadâ that American ideas and customs are spreading here, while 32 per cent said itâs a good thing
- 55 per cent of Canadians said they dislike American ideas about democracy, while 36 per cent said they like them
- 88 per cent of Canadians said they like American movies, music and television
The global survey also found that slightly more Europeans have a negative view of the U.S. under Trump. Across France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the U.K., a median of 61 per cent of people held a positive opinion of the U.S, compared with 26 per cent who had a negative opinion.
Meanwhile in Mexico, confidence in Trump sits at just five per cent, the lowest rating of any U.S. leader since Pew began surveying people there. Only 30 per cent of Mexicans had a positive view of their northern neighbour.
Across the 37 nations polled, Trump gets higher marks than Obama in only two countries: Russia and Israel.
The survey results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews conducted among 40,447 respondents in 37 countries in all regions of the world between Feb. 16 and May 8.
With files from The Associated Press