68
If it's ever going to be voted the most popular kid in the class, Canada has some PR work to do in Turkey.
Canada finished second only to Germany in a survey of public opinion worldwide, according to a worldwide BBC poll released today that relied on 13,000 citizen interviews in 21 countries.
In 19 countries, a majority of respondents spoke favourably of Canada. Opinions were mixed in one other country, but there was just one detractor: Turkey, where negative views more than doubled since opinion of Canada there was last polled in 2007. The two countries maintain normal relations, but Turkey recalled its ambassador in 2006 shortly after Canada's recognition of the Armenian genocide of 1915, wartime killings Turkey contends were over-reported and didn't amount to genocide.
Views of Canada are now "predominantly negative in Turkey," the BBC report found.
Egypt was the next most skeptical of Canada, with an essentially split view. Positive views dropped in Russia, but overall opinion remained slightly in favour of Canada.
Canada's reputation improved in other places since last polled in 2007. In the Philippines, the United States, Italy, China and Britain, Canada's approval rating jumped.
The survey, conducted after the election of Barack Obama, also saw an increase in respect for the United States, although numbers remain low. About 40 per cent of respondents outside the United States had a "mainly positive" view of it.
The big losers were Russia and China. Out of 20 respondent countries, 14 had an overall negative view of Russia. The actual effect may be worse, as polling began before Russia interrupted gas service to Europe. "The more it acts like the Soviet Union, the less people outside its borders seem to like it," said Doug Miller, chairman of GlobeScan, which conducted the polling for the BBC.
But in the survey, all hearts were with Germany, of which 61 per cent of the world holds a positive view. No country had a negative majority view. Germany's ascent was led by jumps in positive opinion in the two countries snubbing Canada - Turkey and Egypt.
They really like us
59%
Amount of respondents with a 'mainly positive' view of Canada
14%
Amount with a 'mainly negative' view of Canada
