Most Canadians support pivot away from China trade, poll shows
- The shift in public opinion has been shaped by China’s willingness to drop an ‘anvil’ on Canadian trade whenever it wants to make a point, expert said
- Just 5 per cent of respondents said they want to see trade increase. Canada recently labelled China an ‘increasingly disruptive global power’
The poll found 24 per cent of Canadians believe trade with China should stay at the current level, and just 5 per cent want to see an increase. Those numbers are relatively steady across gender, age and geography.
“Canadians have now woken up to the fact that China is not a reliable trading partner,” said Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a China specialist at the University of Ottawa and a former senior public servant.
Describing the shift in sentiment as “really dramatic”, McCuaig-Johnston said public opinion has been shaped by China’s willingness to drop an “anvil” on Canadian trade products whenever it wants to make a political point.
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Merchandise trade with China totalled C$127.5 billion over the last 12 months through October, representing about 8.5 per cent of trade flows, according to Statistics Canada. That compares with about 7 per cent for all other major Indo-Pacific countries combined.
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The Nanos poll, however, also found a drop in public confidence that the Canadian government is effectively managing its relationship with China. Just 20 per cent of respondents said Ottawa is doing either a very good or good job at tending to Chinese ties, a drop of 12 points since 2019.
Nanos surveyed 1,025 Canadians by phone and online between Nov. 27 and 29. The poll is considered accurate with 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.