Canadians often think of themselves as less patriotic than people of other nationalities, particularly Americans.
But a four-country poll shows that with the notable exception of francophone Quebecers, Canadians are more deeply attached to their country than people in the United States, Germany or Spain.
Ninety-five per cent of Canadians outside Quebec said they are attached to their country, compared to 92% of Americans, 84% of Germans and 81% of Spaniards, according to the survey for the Association of Canadian Studies.
“I think that Canadians presume that Americans are super patriotic and have a deep sense of attachment because we think they manifest their attachment more openly than Canadians do,” said Jack Jedwab, executive director of the association.
“We think we are modest about our identification with Canada but I don’t believe that to be the case. Repeatedly, survey after survey shows that outside of Quebec, Canadians have a very deep sense of attachment to their country,” Jedwab said.
In Quebec, however, just 64% of residents are attached to Canada. When you factor that province into the national average, 87% of Canadians are attached to their country — fewer than in the U.S. but more than in Germany and in Spain.
Canadians’ attachment to their country (outside Quebec) is not only more widespread than in other countries — it is also more deeply felt, the survey indicates.
Seven out of 10 Canadians outside Quebec feel “very attached” to their country, compared to 67% of Americans, 47% of Germans and 55% of Spaniards.
Including Quebec, 58% of Canadians are very attached to Canada.
The rate of people who are very attached to Canada drops to one in four among French-speaking Quebecers. Attachment to Quebec is correspondingly high, with 66% of Quebec francophones describing themselves as very attached to their province and 27% as somewhat attached.
Quebecers are split on attachment to Canada along language lines, with Quebec anglophones showing similar rates of attachment to Canadians in the rest of the country. Ninety-three per cent of English-speaking Quebecers are attached to Canada, with 65% saying they are very attached and 28% describing themselves as somewhat attached.
High rates of attachment to Canada are “true for immigrants and non-immigrants alike, which is another wrong assumption we make,” Jedwab noted. “We tend to assume that immigrants don’t have that strong sense of attachment to Canada but in fact, they do,” he said.
Outside Quebec, 93% of allophones are attached to Canada, with 58% describing themselves as very attached and 35% as somewhat attached.
Within Quebec, 80% of allophones are attached to Canada; 41% are very attached and 39% said somewhat attached.
While Quebecers identify more closely with their province than Canadians elsewhere, Quebec is far from the only jurisdiction where allegiance to province or region is strong, the poll shows.
“In Europe, they’re a lot less likely to put that they’re from their country only,” Jedwab said. “They’re putting their province or autonomous region into the equation.”
In Spain, where the federal government has decentralized powers to 13 regional governments since 2004, 22% of those surveyed defined themselves equally by province and country while 16 per cent defined themselves by province first or only.
In Germany, nearly one-quarter of respondents defined themselves equally by their province and country while 12% defined themselves by province first or province only.
In Quebec, 31 per cent of francophones identified themselves as Quebecers only, 39 per cent as Quebecers first but also Canadian, 20 per cent as equally Quebecer and Canadian, 7% as Canadian but also Quebecer and 1% as Canadian only.
In English Canada and the United States, 17% to 18% of respondents defined themselves equally by province or state and fewer than 7% identified themselves with their province or state first or alone.
Four major market research firms, including Leger Marketing in Canada, conducted the international survey by Internet and telephone in September. The margin of error varies from one to five per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Postmedia News
mascot&montrealgazette.com
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