For over 30 years, the proportion of Canadians stating they were very proud to be Canadian hardly changed. About three-quarters said so. That pride has often manifested as tiny Canadian flags pinned to their backpacks while traveling.
Last year, however, that proportion dipped considerably. Just 53% of Canadians polled reported being very proud of their national identity.
Many experts put the drop down to the price of housing, the cost of living, and postpandemic fallout. The sense of anger, frustration, discontent, and divisiveness in the face of economic malaise has swept through Canada, as it has in many Western democracies.
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Canadians are worried about the threat of a trade war with the United States. But Donald Trump’s hostile rhetoric has done something they didn’t expect: bolster their patriotic pride.
The punishing tariffs that President Donald Trump threatened, ordered, and then paused at the last minute Monday for a 30-day period does nothing to bring a sense of clarity or stability to the country. Economists estimate that a trade war with the United States could put Canada in recession. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are on the line. Mr. Trump has repeatedly said over the past month that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.
Canadians say they are confused and befuddled.
But they are also angry. And in the end, the threats from its historic ally could ultimately shore up Canada’s national pride.
At hockey and basketball games last weekend, fans booed while “The Star-Spangled Banner” was performed. When “O Canada” came next, they cheered wildly.
Canadians have taken the opportunity to push a “buy local” campaign. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave an impassioned speech Saturday night, in introducing retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., that many consider the best of his near-decade career.
“There’s this newly found pride in who we are as a country and as a culture,” says Srabana Dasgupta, an associate professor at the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
Justin Tang/The Canadian Press/AP
The U.S. tariff threat of 25% on most goods, with 10% on energy, has roiled Canadian politics. While Mr. Trudeau faced plummeting approval levels after nearly a decade in office, some say the turbulence from the U.S. precipitated his political demise. He announced in January that he was stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party. Fresh elections will happen this year.
But all of that was forgotten over the weekend, when he addressed the nation underlining the allyship between the U.S. and Canada from providing support during 9/11 to sending firefighters last month to fight the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.
“From beaches of Normandy to the mountains of the Korean Peninsula; from the fields of Flanders to the streets of Kandahar, we have fought and died alongside you,” he said.
In Toronto, Jose Vera, an engineer, took to his community Facebook page urging fellow residents to buy local products. He invoked the power of unity in 1995 when Quebec held an independence referendum and Canada was nearly “lost.” Seeing all of Canada rallying together to keep Quebec is a moment he considers his proudest as a Canadian. It’s a movement he says is in order today, too.
Although he’s relieved by the reprieve of a tariff war, he says Canada is at “a point of no return. I think it’s painfully clear that trust has been broken that might not be repaired,” he says.
A “buy local” campaign also emerged in 2018, the first time Trump threatened widespread tariffs on Canada. But this time it feels “more personal,” says Dr. Dasgupta.
Mr. Trudeau had urged a boycott of American goods in his Saturday address. Premiers (governors) across the country had threatened to order American alcohol be removed from shelves. These measures are also now paused.
But Mr. Trump’s actions last weekend could have a lasting effect – beyond consumer choice. While Canada rails against American protectionism, it faces interprovincial trade barriers that in some cases make it easier for provinces to sell products abroad more seamlessly than across the country.
“This has been going on forever, and enough’s enough,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said at a meeting with premiers who renewed efforts to limit barriers. Mr. Ford called an election for the end of this month to shore up his support to fight American tariffs.
Andrew Parkin, executive director of the Environics Institute, which carried out the national pride survey, says that politically, Canada faces a wake-up call living next door to a superpower that used to “love us, so we thought, ‘Everything is great.’” But whether contemplating trade dependence or Arctic sovereignty, many are saying, “‘Maybe we should have envisioned ourselves more like Latvia or Finland,’” next to a hostile Russia.
A new poll by the Angus Reid Institute this week reveals concern by Canadians for the future. But it also captures a renewed patriotism and desire for Canadians to come together.
That’s also tangible in the newest patriotic accessory: Baseball caps emblazoned with the words “Canada is not for sale,” first worn by Mr. Ford, have gone viral.
