Canadians want to do ‘ right for the country’

Canadians

are willing to put

national needs ahead of regional issues, according to a new poll that disputes the notion the Canadian federation is a dysfunctional family.

A majority of Canadians (57%) said the federal government treats their province as well or better than other provinces, says a survey conducted for the Canadian Values Study, a joint project of the National Post, the Dominion Institute and Innovative Research Group. Thirty-four per cent said Ottawa treats their province worse than other provinces.

The poll also found a strong majority (82%) of Canadians agreed with the statement “sometimes we have to put our regional self-interest aside to do what is right for the country.”

Greg Lyle, managing director of Innovative Research Group, said the results contradict the oft- cited argument that Canada has become a country of disparate regions.

“One of the things we were wondering was, ‘Is this a governable nation?’ Are we a community of inward-looking communities each nursing its own grievances and none recognizing the grievances of others?” he said. “ And we didn’t find that. What we found was something quite a bit better.”

Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of the Dominion Institute, said the poll results suggest that political parties “that are best at speaking with a national voice are going to have traction with voters.”

There are, however, differences between the regions on some controversial issues, such as Alberta’s vast oil wealth and its inclination not to share any of it with other provinces. Almost six in 10 (58%) of Canadians disagreed with the statement “ Alberta should be able to keep all of its oil revenue for its own use,” and only in Alberta did a majority agree with that view.

And although 70% of Quebecers agreed that “Quebec is not receiving its fair share from the federal government,” a majority disagreed in every other region.

The survey suggests there is “lots of evidence that you can manage the regional tension, but the tension is there,” Mr. Lyle said.

The survey also found 64% of Canadians agreed with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty that Ottawa must stop taking more money out of the province than it is returning in services.

Mr. Lyle said he expected Ontarians to agree with the statement, but “what’s really interesting is that the rest of Canada buys the argument.”

The telephone survey of 815 randomly selected Canadians was conducted between Sept. 22 and Sept. 24 and has a margin of error of 3.43 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.