Almost half of Canadians say Carney ‘stood up’ for country in Trump meeting: poll

By Canadian Press on May 15, 2025.

OTTAWA — A new poll suggests nearly half of Canadians think Prime Minister Mark Carney “stood up” for Canada in his recent face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Leger poll says 48 per cent of poll respondents think Carney “clearly stood up for Canada’s interests” in his meeting with Trump, while another 24 per cent say Carney should have taken a “stronger stance.”

Leger reports 80 per cent of Canadians say they watched, read or heard about the first in-person bilateral meeting between the two world leaders on May 6.

During that meeting, Carney publicly rejected Trump’s calls for Canada to become part of the United States.

A plurality of 40 per cent told Leger they believe the meeting had no impact on bilateral relations, while a quarter said the meeting likely improved the Canada-U.S. relationship and 13 per cent believe it actually worsened relations.

The poll, which reached 1,500 Canadians between May 9 and 11, can’t be assigned a margin of error because it was conducted online,

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press