{"id":157020,"date":"2025-09-20T12:28:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T12:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/157020\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T12:28:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T12:28:04","slug":"commentary-canadians-arent-mad-at-america-anymore-were-hurt-suspicious-and-moving-on-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/157020\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMENTARY: Canadians aren\u2019t mad at America anymore. We\u2019re hurt, suspicious, and moving on – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been nine months since Donald Trump<\/a> returned to the White House, and in that time has upended the world order around trade, relentlessly expressed an \u201cAmerica first\u201d mentality, and mused about annexing Canada as the 51st state.<\/a><\/p>\n

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He also seems to have upended how Canadians see our southern neighbour.<\/p>\n

At the core of that shift is trust, which our data show Canadians have lost. When trust between neighbours breaks, proximity becomes the problem, and right now six in 10 Canadians say we can never trust the United States the same way again.<\/a><\/p>\n

That measure has remained remarkably consistent since tracking began in February<\/a>, despite efforts made by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team to preserve the relationship while defending Canadian interests.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s relationship with America has entered an uncomfortable space beyond shock and anger, where, in the words of Ipsos CEO Darrell Bricker, we are hurt and suspicious, and the data proves it.<\/p>\n

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In February, Ipsos polling showed that we viewed the actions of the president with anger and resolve, but we have added acceptance to our anger, a settled wariness that is underscored by the new lack of trust in America.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWith most of Canada\u2019s counter-tariffs gone, what\u2019s next for Carney in U.S. trade war?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Canadians know we are in this for the long haul. Seven in 10 (71 per cent) say they see this dispute lasting several years. Few (30 per cent) think these problems end with Trump, a recognition that the change in our relationship with the U.S. is systemic and not just personal.<\/p>\n

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Despite the challenges faced by the new administration, Canadians appear to be giving Carney the benefit of the doubt, with 51 per cent approving of his government\u2019s handling of Canada-U.S. relations.<\/p>\n

While 42 per cent believe Carney will succeed in landing a new trade deal, nearly as many (37 per cent) remain undecided, taking a \u201cwait and see\u201d approach. Only 22 per cent think he will fail outright.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tA \u201cnew normal\u201d with America\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Canadians are taking a wait-and-see approach, and expectations have been lowered from the campaign when the prime minister promised an \u201celbows up\u201d approach. Canadians are now taking the long view, and the seven in 10 who believe this dispute will last several years may be giving Carney room to make incremental progress in a difficult dynamic.<\/p>\n

In addition, a majority (54 per cent) of Canadians feel the relationship with the U.S. has largely remained the same over the past two weeks, further suggesting Canadians are settling into acceptance.<\/p>\n

Further moves by the U.S. administration, such as additional tariffs, other perceived provocations, or abandoning the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA) entirely, may move Canadians back into \u201cworse\u201d territory, as this measure has shifted in reaction to the president\u2019s actions. At the moment, Canadians seem to feel things have stabilized and their attention has shifted elsewhere.<\/p>\n

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Our data provided<\/a> exclusively to Global News shows the economy, housing and affordability top a new list of political issues that have emerged, with Canada-U.S. relations one item on a long to-do list. We have entered a \u201cnew normal\u201d with America, at least for the time being.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tHere\u2019s what Jimmy Kimmel said about the Charlie Kirk shooting\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tToyota recalls more than 70K vehicles in Canada\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\tThe prime minister himself recognizes this, calling<\/a> what we are experiencing \u201cnot a transition \u2026[but] a rupture. And its effect will be profound.\u201d Despite this, he says<\/a> the \u201crelationship is good,\u201d and that he communicates with the president often.\t\t\t \t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCarney unveils \u2018Buy Canadian\u2019 multi-billion-dollar package to combat tariffs\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

This shift has implications for businesses, Canadians and our political leaders. We don\u2019t expect the dispute to be resolved soon, a finding underscored by U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra<\/a>\u00a0recently saying the U.S. wants a larger deal to replace CUSMA<\/a>, while the Liberal government pursues smaller<\/a>, incremental gains.<\/p>\n

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Businesses, therefore, must build resilience, rather than waiting for resolution. Companies are already trying to diversify supply chains<\/a>, likely viewing American partnership as beneficial but no longer taking it for granted.<\/p>\n

For Canadians, success now appears to be defined as things \u201cnot getting worse.\u201d Keeping things \u201cthe same,\u201d as 54 per cent of Canadians characterized the relationship over the past two weeks, is seen as a victory, and a trade deal is hoped for but not expected.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Canada
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In the meantime, 53 per cent have purchased more Canadian products in the past two weeks, and 43 per cent have bought fewer products made in the United States or stopped altogether. This trend has continued since we started tracking in February, led by Boomers.<\/p>\n

The prime minister and his government have two valuable assets at the moment: time and fidelity. Our data suggest Canadians have not completely made up their minds on whether a deal is possible, suggesting suspended judgment and lowered expectations from people now wary of the U.S. administration.<\/p>\n

We can see through these findings that Canadians have internalized the fact that the relationship with the U.S. has been permanently altered. The government has several paths open to it, including diversification, building domestic resilience, and seeking small wins over grand bargains.<\/p>\n

Carney recently visited Mexico to secure a bilateral strategic partnership agreement, further signalling how he is looking beyond the U.S. Being hurt has made us careful, and being suspicious may make us better prepared. But there is no going back to the way things were, at least for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has been nine months since Donald Trump returned to the White House, and in that time has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,1673,8334,44,714,2845],"class_list":{"0":"post-157020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-commentary","11":"tag-donald-trump-tariffs","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}