Nearly 90% of B.C. residents ‘very proud’ of the province according to new poll

It seems British Columbians have a lot to celebrate this B.C. Day.

According to findings from Research Co., 77 per cent of British Columbia residents believe they will stay in the province for the rest of their lives. An eye-catching 87 per cent say they are very proud of the province they live in.

On top of that, two-thirds of B.C. residents think they have more in common with the people of Seattle and Portland than with those in Toronto or Montreal. That Cascadia connection has grown from 58 per cent when a similar survey was done in 2016.

“When it comes to the way British Columbians feel about the residents of Washington state and Oregon, millennials are the driving force behind positive perceptions,” says Mario Canseco, president of Research Co. “Among residents aged 18 to 34, this sentiment reaches 72 per cent, compared to 65 per cent for those aged 35 to 54 and 64 per cent for those aged 55 and over.”

The results of the survey are based on an online study conducted from June 27 to June 29 among 800 adults in B.C. As is the case in most polls, the data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in B.C.

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A majority of those polled, 61 per cent, think the views of British Columbians are different from the rest of the country. But when it comes to the occasionally raised question of B.C. splitting off from Canada to join the coastal states as a country called Cascadia, only 17 per cent think that would be a good idea.

As for political history, 38 per cent of British Columbians did not pick a single person when asked who the best premier of the past three decades was.

For those who were picked, former NDP premier Mike Harcourt was named by 15 per cent of respondents. He was followed by former Liberal premier Gordon Campbell and current NDP premier John Horgan, each with 12 per cent, and recent Liberal premier Christy Clark with 11 per cent.

When it comes to the worst premier, 31 per cent of British Columbians chose Clark, followed by Horgan witth 17 per cent and former Social Credit premier Bill Vander Zalm with 11 per cent.