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They Like Us, They Really Like Us (A Little Less Than Last Year)!
An international poll conducted by the BBC World Service confirmed Canada’s traditional role as global nice guy, ranking us fourth most well-regarded among twenty-eight nations surveyed. However, while perception of our beneficial influence on world affairs remains high, our average “positive” rating has dropped by five points since the last survey in 2009, suggesting that Canada’s reputation as a nation of polite, benign hockey lords may be at risk.
Surprisingly, much of the negative change in the annual survey of almost thirty thousand respondents comes from traditional friends and allies. In 2010 Americans liked Canada 15% less, and British positive opinion declined by 12% from last year. China, ever inscrutable, turned on Canada big-time with only 54% viewing us as a positive influence versus 75% in 2009.
In spite of some evidence of broad-based deterioration in overall positive views, only three places found more people viewing Canada negatively than positively. Countries where you might want to reconsider the maple leaf patch on your knapsack are Turkey (35% negative, 16% positive), Egypt (22% negative, 18% positive), and Pakistan (19% negative, 11% positive).
Where was Canada the most popular? France was our best friend, with 79% of pollees having a favourable opinion of the Great White North, followed closely by South Korea at 77% and the Philippines at 75% (although the last saw a substantial decline from 2009, when 83% of people surveyed considered us a good influence).
The United States scored more positive than negative views for the first time since the survey began in 2005, suggesting that the philosophical shift represented by the Obama administration is having a meaningful effect on perceptions of the U.S. around the world. Canadian attitudes towards our neighbour to the south have also improved markedly, with positive views rising to 44% from 38% and negative attitudes declining to 38% from 55% since last year.
Who were the big winners? Spots one and two in the survey were taken by Germany and Japan respectively, suggesting that losing a world war may provide a lasting lesson in global civility. The U.K. took the bronze, indicating that the ignominious loss of empire may be similarly instructive.
Countries most in need of a new PR agency were Iran, with an average of 15% positive views, followed by Pakistan at 16% and North Korea at 17%.
All graphs from the BBC’s full poll report [PDF].