'It doesn't matter who the president is'

Canadians still 'distrust' United States

Canadian Press: Canadians are no more loving of the United States under its current leadership than during George W. Bush's presidency... But they do like President Barack Obama a whole lot more than his predecessor, said the Historica Dominion Institute survey... Obama was viewed favourably by 86 percent of respondents, compared to only 21 percent for Bush in 2005.

'What's striking about these findings is how Canadians have detached their personal view of Barack Obama, whom they quite like and respect, from the United States, which they still view with skepticism, even distrust,' said Andrew Cohen, president of the Institute.

Compared to results of a similar poll taken four years ago, Canadians have a marginally improved view of Americans as individual people, with 71 percent expressing a favourable view in 2009 versus 68 percent in 2005...

Canadians were split as to whether the United States is now 'a force for good in the world.' Forty-four percent agreed while 46 percent disagreed. This question was not asked in 2005.

Obama or not, Canadians' opinion of the United States remains low

National Post: Despite US President Barack Obama's continued international popularity, Canadian perceptions of our southern neighbours have changed little since the decidedly less popular George W. Bush occupied the White House...

The Historica-Dominion Institute findings, made public ahead of the first anniversary of Obama's election, suggest that Canadians' views on how welcome they feel in the US, as well as their opinions of American health care and foreign policy, are still less than favourable, particularly in Quebec...

When asked how comfortable respondents felt while in the US, only 48% said they 'feel at home.' In Quebec, that number was 33%. Those figures remained virtually unchanged from the results of a poll in 2005... Likewise, a solid majority (69%) of respondents said the difference between Canadian and American values remained the same as in 2005 or had diverged further.

The debate over health care in the US... spurred an increase to 77% from 71% in 2005, of those who thought they would receive better treatment in Canada than in the US.

Andrew Cohen, the institute's president, said the survey surprised him. 'You could not have a more popular president in Canada than Barack Obama is now, so I thought -- mistakenly -- that our numbers would show... a similar improvement. [The results] show that it doesn't matter who the president is.'

Image source here.