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Monday, June 15, 2009
Sentiment against Canada-U.S. cooperation on the rise: Fraser Institute
Attitudes in parliament toward Canada-U.S. cooperation have become increasing negative according to a new study by the Fraser Institute.
The report, Measuring Parliament’s Attitude towards Canada-US Cooperation, reveals that an enormous decline in support for Canada-U.S. cooperation occurred in 2006, where 57 per cent of the parliamentary debate on Canada-U.S. relations expressed a negative outlook towards cooperation. The Liberal Party, in particular, doubled its share of critical comments to 50 per cent that year, despite having expressed generally warm sentiments towards the Canada-U.S. relationship prior to the 2006. The explanation for this sudden change in attitude by the Liberals appears purely partisan, as 2006 was the year the Liberals were pushed from minority government to opposition status.
“This pivot suggests that the Liberal Party is willing to change its overall favourable sentiment in support of close cooperation with the United States while it is in government to a critical attitude of overall Canadian-American cooperation when it is in opposition,” said Alexander Moens, professor of political science at Simon Fraser University and coauthor of the report.
The study examines the parliamentary Hansard for instances where MPs expressed their support for, or opposition to, more cooperation and better relations with the United States. A total of 918 comments relating to trade and economy, borders and security, and political relations between Canada and the U.S. were identified and analyzed. A team of four independent judges was enlisted to score whether the sentiment of each comment was positive, negative, or neutral.
The study reveals a consistent trend of negative sentiment and rising criticism towards Canada’s relationship with the United States through 2002–2007, where softwood lumber and border issues were at the forefront of parliamentary debate.
Three significant trends are identified by the study with regard to political parties:
1. Comments from both the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois were consistently negative over the entire period studied and across all categories;
2. The Conservative Party scored most positive of all parties but increased its volume of neutral comments after 2006;
3. Comments from the Liberal Party were generally positive until 2006, after which its sentiment became primarily negative.
According to the report, parliamentary debate regarding Canada-U.S. cooperation was 54.5 per cent positive following 9/11 from 2002 to 2003. In 2006, however, this overall cooperative attitude dropped to as low as 14 per cent.
“Our findings show a large presence in Parliament that either criticizes more and better cooperation with the U.S. or is willing to use this relationship as a tool for political advantage and power,” Moens said. “These findings should be a concern to Canadians and Americans alike, as improved cooperation is the key to North American prosperity and security.”
Posted by Matthew Johnston
Posted by westernstandard on June 15, 2009 | Permalink
Comments
No surprise. The US has long been a whipping boy for the pseudo-intellectual left in Canada- that is, when Alberta isn't in the crosshairs. Its the geographical equivalent of 'biting the hand that feeds you' syndrome.
Posted by: Leigh Patrick Sullivan | 2009-06-15 10:55:20 PM
The Liebrals play both sides so as to appear flexible. Just a game. Only the Conservatives have a sane, credible and realistic approach to this subject, and it has yielded so much to so many. If only Ontarians weren't so dumb.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2009-06-15 11:59:52 PM
Ontarians will always be dumb because of Toronto which is a multicultural city and not really a Canadian city! It's a melting pot of liberal ideas and weird religions including Muslim and Hindu! It's composed of unfulfilled dreams and promises of a better tomorrow which never comes but is the bed rock for deceiving liberals
Posted by: George Watts | 2009-06-16 3:34:04 AM
So George. Toronto isn't really a Canadian city because of all those evil non-white immigrants? Is that it?
Posted by: Charles | 2009-06-16 7:52:20 AM
So George. Toronto isn't really a Canadian city because of all those evil non-white immigrants? Is that it?
Posted by: Charles | 2009-06-16 7:52:20 AM
And the mayor is an American.
Posted by: The Stig | 2009-06-16 8:36:58 AM
"And the mayor is an American."
A RECANTED American who has seen the error of his ways in being born there and has since moved to the City That Is the Centre of the Universe, Stig. There's a difference, you know, to a Torontonian.
Ontario and especially Québec lap up this anti-American nonsense because when it comes to the States, their inferiority complex is huge. HUGE.
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2009-06-16 10:15:18 AM
What is so nice about Toronto?Nothing! It's a dirty stinky city with a huge traffic mess and it doesn't compare at all to other nice cities in Canada like Montreal or Vancouver! And don't forget that Toronto and Ontario are almost broke and most industries have left the province!
Dallas, New York and Chicago are far nice cities than Toronto!
Posted by: George Watts | 2009-06-16 1:45:12 PM
Detroit is nicer than TO these days. But this misses the point: who is responsible for this. It is not the fault of successive mayors. Rather, white Toronto is to blame for the state of their city. Their bigotry has led to biased and prejudiced policies where non-white areas receives little if any attention for schools, roads, hospitals, and policing, while white areas receive considerable aid. White Toronto refuses to acknowledge, let alone address, this disparity. Call it a form of Apartheid.
Until whites wake up and start doing something about it, Toronto will continue to slide into irrelevance. No amount of arrogance can save them. Time to eat some humble pie.
My solution is to burn the Greater Toronto Area to the ground and return it to nature. Its population must be deprived of all property so to make everyone equal. Then they should be re-settled into a equal-sized farms so they can grow their own food. Each community will have the same number of racial minorities so as to balance the whites. Community councils must represent the racial, ethnic and gender mixes in each area. This is the only way to break the back of white bigotry and economic disparity.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2009-06-16 2:17:08 PM
Dallas, New York and Chicago are far nice cities than Toronto!
Posted by: George Watts | 2009-06-16 1:45:12 PM
But are they nicer cities than Huntington Beach, Thousand Oaks, Pasadena, Honolulu, San Jose??
Posted by: The Stig | 2009-06-16 2:24:47 PM
But are they nicer cities than Huntington Beach, Thousand Oaks, Pasadena, Honolulu, San Jose??
Posted by: The Stig | 2009-06-16 2:24:47 PM
~But are those nicer cities than Havana and Caracas?
Posted by: K Stricker | 2009-06-16 3:03:04 PM
~But are those nicer cities than Havana and Caracas?
Posted by: K Stricker | 2009-06-16 3:03:04 PM
They sure are.
Posted by: The Stig | 2009-06-16 3:36:50 PM
Ah, for a second there I thought your criteria for 'nice city' were heat + socialism (and I was being sarcastic ;)
Posted by: K Stricker | 2009-06-16 3:38:45 PM
Detroit is nicer than TO these days.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2009-06-16 2:17:08 PM
Average home price in Detroit is $11,533. With a 20% down payment on an $11,533 average priced home in Detroit, the monthly payments on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5% would be only $49.53.
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/05/average-home-price-in-detroit-falls-to-11533-yours-for-50-per-month/
Posted by: The Stig | 2009-06-16 3:56:19 PM
Average home price in Detroit is $11,533
But there is no job in Detroit and health care for Canadians becomes very expensive
Posted by: George Watts | 2009-06-16 7:41:50 PM
"Ontario and especially Québec lap up this anti-American nonsense because when it comes to the States, their inferiority complex is huge. HUGE."
Québec having an “inferiority complex”…?
Sure…
We speak a much more evaluated language.
We have a rich, distinct and bouillante Culture that resonates around the world.
Their favourite female singer grew up in Charlemagne.
Their favourite UFC fighter comes from St-Isidore.
Their favourite circus comes from Montreal.
One of their favourite punk-rock bands comes from St-Bruno.
Their most beautiful actress, Halle Berry, has a kid and lives with a frenchie from Mtl.
We possess the greatest sport franchise in history, thanks to local talent.
We produce some of the best boxers of the world.
Our locally produced movies sell more tickets in Québec than American movies all year long and, win Oscars. Our locally produced television has nothing to fear from U.S. or Canadian productions.
Montreal is indisputably the favourite Canadian destination for numerous U.S. bands of all kinds, F-1 pilots and hockey players. That’s not a secret that many well known Americans have a second house in Québec.
We definitely have the most beautiful and charming women in North America.
We can go all night with examples that shows Québec has nothing to envy our neighbours to the south or anything west of our border, but the objective was to show how stupid you sound.
Québec, the world’s fourth-largest hydroelectricity producer, is an inestimable provider of renewable energy for the Americans. Our economic ties are so important that 1.6 billion cross the border each day.
Our strong Culture and our economic tie with our neighbour allow Quebecers to express themselves from time to time on issues we dislike in the U.S, especially when the issues directly concern us and our future.
Maybe this may hurt the feelings of some culture-less Western Canadians, but it certainly pleases Americans in the North-East that recognise themselves in our observations.
If we would feel any complex regarding the States, we would never raise our voice and would become American wannabes, just like Albertans.
Posted by: Marc | 2009-06-16 9:44:34 PM
Well spoken, pepsi.
I'm wondering, what do you mean by a more "evaluated language"? I realize that French doesn't contain the same extent of verbage as English, so I can understand why you have trouble forming structured thoughts.
By the way, who are all those people you were talking about?
Posted by: dp | 2009-06-16 10:26:37 PM
Quebec culture exists, but Canadian (i.e. English) does not exist, never has existed, and never will exist no matter how hard the Easterners try. It's nothing more than a bunch of brand names. Worse, the Easterners gave up trying to compete with the US on culture, so they just profit off them. Face it, Canada is not a real country anyway.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2009-06-16 10:29:26 PM
I'm wondering, what do you mean by a more "evaluated language"?
Dp,
I would have appreciate if you wouldnt make a case out of one mispelled word in that ugly language of yours.
Posted by: Marc | 2009-06-16 10:35:07 PM
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