Older Canadians are more likely to fly the national flag and reject the idea of dual citizenship while the younger generation is inordinately fond of the Timbit and has less problem with someone carrying two passports.
As Canadians prepare to celebrate the country's 140th birthday tomorrow, there are signs of a generational divide over what citizenship means.
A new poll commissioned by the Dominion Institute has found remarkably different attitudes among those between the ages of 18 and 34 and those 55 and older.
The schism emerges in several questions and it suggests that young Canadians have adopted what institute co-founder Rudyard Griffiths calls a "postmodern" approach to citizenship.
The most startling difference in attitude was found when respondents were asked why they thought Canada was a successful country.
Nearly three-quarters of older Canadians agreed with the suggestion that it was because Canadians share common history, heroes and national symbols. By contrast, 37 per cent of the those between 18 and 34 said it was because there was no "strong national identity that individuals and groups are expected to adopt."
Three-quarters of the young endorse the current policy of allowing Canadians to hold dual citizenship, while just 50 per cent of older respondents supported the idea.
The Maple Leaf flag is important to those 55 and over: 63 per cent of their households own a flag and a similar percentage of that group displays it in a window or flies it from a pole. By contrast, just one in two Canadians under 35 owns a flag and only 38 per cent of that group fly it.
Symbols are important to all age groups, but the preferred symbols vary according to age. Older Canadians share the fondness by all age groups for the Maple Leaf and beavers but haven't warmed to the idea that Tim Hortons represents the country. Just 22 per cent of those over 55 feel attached to the Timbit, compared to 32 per cent of those 35 to 54 and a whopping 40 per cent of those 34 and under.
The findings — which come on the heels of a companion poll that found Canadians are less knowledgeable now than they were a decade ago about their country's history, politics, culture and geography — saddened Mr. Griffiths.
He said the views of young people have been shaped a "culture of rights" in which they were raised. As a result, they have little idea of the obligations that a country sometimes requires for its survival. Those older than 55 have direct or indirect knowledge of the sacrifices the country required in the Second World War, he said, but the younger generation has known nothing of conflict or economic hardship.
Mr. Griffiths said the survey results suggest that those under the age of 34 have become "unconscious Canadians" because the debates about U.S. domination — most notably during the 1988 federal election — have been superseded by a complacency born of an economy fuelled by globalization.
He suggested that the reaction by many younger Canadians to demands placed on their grandparents 60 years ago would be to say "what a drag" because it would curtail their freedom to do what they wanted to do.
Mr. Griffiths noted that an attachment to national symbols such as Olympic hockey or the Timbit has remained strong even as knowledge of the country's history and practices — what he called "civic literacy"— has declined.
"Our nationalism becomes kind of sentimental," he said. "It becomes cheering for hockey teams, it becomes going to Timmy's."
The online poll of 3,164 Canadian adults was conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of the Dominion Institute from June 14 to 17. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
