More than 60 percent of Canadians say they have an unfavorable opinion of President George W. Bush, voting him the most unpopular American president in recent memory, according to a report in the Toronto Globe and Mail.
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A poll, conducted for the paper by Environics Research Group, found that while Canadians maintain a favorable attitude toward the United States, most blame Bush for worsening the already strained relations between himself and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien over the decision to invade Iraq.
”George Bush as president will probably be the best thing that ever happened to Canadian nationalism,” Derek Leebosh of Environics told the newspaper. ”He totally personifies the essence of the side of the United States that Canadians tend to dislike ? the anti-intellectual Texan in a Stetson, social conservative.”
2,018 Canadians were surveyed between June 12 and July 6.
Of those questioned, 62 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of Mr. Bush, including 37 percent who said it was ”very unfavorable.”
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According to the poll, Bush is the most unpopular U.S. president in Canada since Environics started asking the question in 1982, when Ronald Reagan was in the White House. In 1991, about two-thirds of Canadians said they had a favorable opinion of Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, who was U.S. president at the time.
Still, Canadians remain fond of their southern neighbor, though not unduly so. About 61 percent said they had a favorable view of the United States, but of that, 42 percent said they were ”somewhat favorable,” and only 19 percent said ”very” favorable, reports the newspaper.
The poll is considered accurate to within 2.2 percentage points.
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