Canadians are concerned political strife in the US will undermine security and economic growth at home, a new poll shows, as an anti-vaccine mandate protest backed by Donald Trump grips the capital and affects the border.
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The anxiety captured in the Angus Reid Institute survey provides a backdrop to protests across the country, at the international border, and especially in Ottawa, the capital, where police say Americans have provided a "significant" amount of money and organisational support.
The Ottawa protest, now in its 13th day, has been marred by the appearance of hateful symbols , like the Confederate flag, associated with the aggressive populism embraced by Trump supporters.
Some protesters say their goal is not only to roll back vaccine mandates, but also to overthrow the government.
"The success or failure of the United States will have a profound impact on Canada," said Bruce Heyman, former American ambassador to Canada from 2014-2017.
"Part of the more extreme nature of our politics over the last few years has now moved to occupy some part of Canada today."
In the poll, 78 per cent of Canadians said they were worried America's democratic discord will affect their country's economy and security.
Two-thirds of Canada's 38 million people live within 100km of the US border.
The trade relationship with the US is of existential importance to Canada, with 75 per cent of all exports going to the southern neighbour. Half of Canada's imports come from the United States, including 60 per cent of all imported fresh vegetables.
Until recently, politics in Canada has been less polarised than in the US.
However, last week's ouster of Conservative opposition leader Erin O'Toole in part for failing to embrace the protest suggests the political landscape is shifting.
"Canadians have generally looked to the United States and felt like, 'Whatever is going on there, it's not as bad in Canada,'" said Shachi Kurl, Angus Reid president.
"We like to think of ourselves as ... a country of circumspection and compromise and friendliness, yet two in five people don't feel that way anymore," she said.
Former US president Trump last weekend spoke out in support of the truckers's protest and called Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a "far-left lunatic ".
According to Angus Reid poll, 68 per cent of Canadians believe US democracy cannot survive another Trump presidency, and 47 per cent said the United States is on its way to becoming an authoritarian state.
"The United States used to be a beacon of democracy, and now it's exporting right-wing sedition to other democratic countries," said Roland Paris, Trudeau's former foreign policy adviser and professor of international affairs at University of Ottawa.
"The worse things get in the United States, the more dangerous it will be for Canada," Paris said, calling the Ottawa protest a "wake-up call".
Gerry Butts, Vice Chairman of Eurasia Group and formerly Trudeau's top advisor, says "Canadians are astute observers of what's happening in the United States, and they're rightly anxious about it".
"In the long term, Canada will be like everyone else ... badly damaged if the United States becomes a democracy in name only," he said.
Australian Associated Press
