Amid 51st state taunts, King's popularity in Canada grows

King Charles is enjoying a popularity boost and there is considerably more support for maintaining Canada's ties to the Crown now than when he assumed the throne, according to public opinion polls released this week around his two-day visit to deliver a historic throne speech.

After the long-reigning and hugely popular Queen Elizabeth died in 2022, there was talk across the Commonwealth realms, including in Canada, about whether it was time to do away with the Crown and embrace republicanism.

The U.K.-based Lord Ashcroft firm released a poll ahead of Charles's coronation showing particularly dire levels of support for the monarchy in Canada, finding this country ranked close to last among the 15 countries that have the King as their head of state.

At the time, just 23 per cent of the 2,020 Canadian respondents surveyed as part of that poll said they would vote to keep the Crown if there was a referendum, Lord Ashcroft found.

The picture has changed dramatically in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's 51st state taunts and sovereignty threats, which has prompted a revival of national pride and newfound affinity for Canadian institutions and symbols, polls suggest.

Also, some people here have gotten to know Charles better and they like what they see, pollsters say.

Polling firm Pollara surveyed some 3,400 Canadians between May 20 and 24 and found Charles's popularity in Canada has risen substantially since the last time the firm polled on the issue in 2022, with the number of people holding a positive view of the sovereign up some seven percentage points to 44 per cent and those with a negative view down 10 points to 23 per cent.

That growth in personal popularity has fuelled support for Canada remaining a constitutional monarchy, Pollara found, with more respondents saying they want the country to keep the Crown (45 per cent) compared to the number who say they want it gone (39 per cent) — a reversal from the last poll the firm did when a plurality of people reported they want to cut ties.

In an interview with CBC News, Dan Arnold, the chief strategy officer at Pollara, said there has been a "statistically significant" increase in support for Charles and maintaining the Crown in Canada.

"Canadians are feeling better about the Crown and I would speculate that's probably because they're looking for a little bit of stability in a world that feels unstable right now. And there's nothing more stable than an institution that's been around for multiple centuries," Arnold said. 

"This is, to some extent, seen as an institution that gives us something in this fight with Trump."

He noted that while his numbers still aren't as high as his mother's were, "we see a clear increase in terms of the people who feel good about him and a sharp decline in his negatives."

Arnold says Charles's performance as King is part of the reason why.

"Charles came to power at a time when there was a lot of controversy around him — anybody who's watched The Crown or followed the news for the last 30 years knows all about that — and he's been able to put some of that behind him or at least tamp it down a bit during his time on the throne," Arnold said, adding Charles's cancer battle may also have prompted some sympathy.