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OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump may be constantly threatening to annex Canada by force, but its his own citizens who are more likely to want to be annexed by their northern neighbour, a new poll suggests.
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One in five Americans (20 per cent) polled by Leger this week say they would like their state to join Canada, more than double the proportion of Canadians who said they would like their country to become the 51st state of the United States.
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“Only 9 per cent of Canadians believe it is likely that Canada will become the 51st U.S. state. By contrast, 20 per cent of Americans would like their state to join Canada and become a Canadian province, a proportion that is higher among respondents aged 18 to 34 (30 per cent),” reads the new Léger report.
The findings don’t come as a surprise to Leger executive-vice president Andrew Enns, who says the U.S. is “incredibly polarized” and Trump is “extraordinarily unpopular” to some Americans who would likely relish the opportunity to join Canada.
“(Trump) and the Republican Party’s stance on hot button issues such as abortion rights and immigration would certainly give some Americans reason to find refuge in Canada,” Enns wrote to National Post.
The poll also suggests only one in three Americans (35 per cent) support Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports and two-thirds of U.S. respondents are worried that the border levies will increase the price of common grocery items such as dairy, eggs and meat items.
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The polling was done from March 21 to March 24 with a sample of 1,599 Canadians and 1,012 Americans via an online panel. While margins of error can’t be applied to online panels, a probability sample of this size would be plus or minus 2.5 per cent for the Canadian sample and plus or minus 3.08 per cent for the American sample, 19 times out of 20.
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In January, Trump threatened to use “economic force” to annex Canada and has since frequently referred to the country as the future 51st American state and former prime minister Justin Trudeau as “governor.”
National Post
cnardi@postmedia.com
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