About one-in-five Canadians in various provinces believe their jurisdiction would be better off joining the United States and becoming an American state, according to a poll done by Research Co. .The province with the highest proportion of people who want to turn into an American state is Alberta at 21%, according to the Wednesday poll. .The province with the second highest proportion of people hoping to become an American state is Ontario (19%). This was followed by Quebec (18%) and British Columbia and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (13%). .Atlantic Canada had the smallest percentage of people hoping to do this (11%). .Advocacy group Alberta 51 called for the province to leave Canada and become the 51st American state in July, saying the Canadian government will “never correct the parliamentary imbalance that allows Central Canada to control the lives and enterprise of Albertans.” .READ MORE: Advocacy group wants Alberta recognized as 51st American state.“We realize because Ottawa is systematically attempting to destroy our enterprise, our chief industry and our economic wellbeing, we cannot remain in Canada,” said Alberta 51. .It said Alberta should become an American state because 87% of the province’s exports go to the United States. Statehood would ensure trade could continue without potential tariffs or border closures. .The poll said the proportion of Albertans who think their province would be better off as its own country fell to 26% this month, down seven points since June and well below the all-time high of 40% registered in 2019. It said separatist sentiment dropped in Quebec, from 32% in June to 29% this month. .The poll went on to say more than half of Canadians think their province would benefit from a change in government. .“Canadians aged 35-to-54 (56%) are more likely to believe a change in the federal government would be beneficial to their province,” said Research Co. President Mario Canseco. .“The rating is slightly lower among their counterparts aged 55 and over (51%) and aged 18-to-34 (50%).”.Majorities of Canadians who reside in Alberta (66%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (65%), British Columbia (57%), and Ontario (52%) believe their provinces would be better off with a person other than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in charge. The proportions are lower in Atlantic Canada (44%) and Quebec (42%). .The poll was conducted online among 1,000 Canadian adults from January 20 to 22. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
