Portraits 2017: A Fresh Look at Public Opinion and Federalism

Produced by the Mowat Centre at the School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Toronto.This sesquicentennial year has provided Canadians with an opportunity to celebrate their country’s achievements, to consider how it has changed and to reflect on how it needs to adapt to current and pending challenges. To help inform these reflections, the Mowat Centre, in partnership with Alain-G. Gagnon, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Quebec and Canadian Studies and director at the newly-established Centre d’analyse politique: Constitution et Fédéralisme, based at UQAM, undertook a comprehensive study of public opinion in Ontario and Quebec. The survey, called Portraits 2017, focuses on a wide range of subjects, including federalism, the economy, social programs, international trade, immigration and diversity, and relations with Indigenous peoples. It provides valuable new evidence about whether and how citizens’ attitudes towards one another, to the federation and to Canada are evolving at a time of considerable change and uncertainty in the wider global political context. This report is the first in a series that will present and analyze the results from Portraits 2017. The subjects covered in this report include federalism, attachment and identity, and relations with Indigenous peoples