Stand strong!A total of 51% of Canadians want their provincial governments to take a firmer approach for standing up for their province’s interests, even if it means disagreements with the federal government, according to a poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute (ARI). Another 35% of Canadians would go further and believe their province should take a tough approach to defend provincial interests, including by refusing to participate in federal initiatives like Alberta and Saskatchewan have, according to the Friday poll. However, the ARI found 15% want provincial governments to take a softer approach. The ARI said the province most supportive of taking a firmer approach was Manitoba (60%). After Manitoba was Ontario (55%). This was followed by British Columbia (54%), Atlantic Canada (53%), and Quebec (49%). Saskatchewan (58%) and Alberta (48%) were the two provinces that preferred a tough approach. It went on to say Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith received high ratings when it came to how well they are doing defending their province’s interests to the Canadian government. It said 47% of Saskatchewanians believe Moe is doing well on this front, and 42% of Albertans have the same opinion of Smith. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew performed best on this metric (56%), but he has served for the least amount of time as a premier. When it comes to the federal side of the issue, majorities said the leaders of the three main federal parties care little for the interests of their provinces. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was most likely to be viewed as caring a great deal or a fair amount (36%) about provincial priorities.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau scored a little lower on this measure (30%). At least two-thirds in every province said Trudeau cares only a bit or not at all about their province’s interests.This poll comes after the Alberta government introduced legislation in April requiring provincial entities to obtain approval before entering, amending, extending or renewing agreements with the Canadian government because of recent jurisdictional battles it had waged. READ MORE: UPDATED: Alberta government tables bill to defend provincial priorities“It is not unreasonable for Alberta to demand fairness from Ottawa,” said Smith. “They have shown time and again that they will put ideology before practicality, which hurts Alberta families and our economy.” The poll was conducted online from July 9 to 12 among a representative randomized sample of 2,021 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. It had a margin of error of +/- two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
