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Updated: Okanagan MP says Canada being looked to by the world

Kelowna-Lake Country MP says survey is right, Canada has greatest positive influence on world today
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Kelowna-Lake Country MP Stephen Fuhr has taken to Facebook to reiterate his contention Canada is being looked to in the world as it has not in a very long time.

And he is pointing to a survey conducted during the summer as proof of that.

“I have mentioned, on a number of occasions, I felt Canada was enjoying a period of global influence it hadn’t in many decades,” wrote the Liberal MP on his Facebook page Monday.

“This is good news for us economically and diplomatically. It’s something we should all be very proud of.”

The survey, by Ipsos MORI and reported by Statista.com, polled 18,000 people in 25 nations asking them which country currently has a strong, or somewhat positive, influence on world affairs.

Canada came out on top, cited by 81 per cent of respondents. It led second-place Australia (79 per cent) and third-place Germany (69 per cent). France (59 per cent) came in fourth with the U.K and the European Union tied for fifth with 57 per cent. The rest of the top 10 included India (53 per cent) China (49), the U.S. (40) and Russia (35).

“Canada, Germany and France are seen as remaining relatively neutral amid a global tidal wave of nationalistic populism,” said the Statista.com report on the rankings.

It described Canada as “setting a good global example,” compared to the ninth-place U.S., which dropped 24 percentage points compared to its previous ranking. Statista.com blamed the drop on faltering global confidence in U.S. President Donald Trump’s leadership and rising skepticism about his America First policies.

Fuhr’s local Conservative counterpart, Central-Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola MP Dan Albas said Canadians are always honoured when the country is positively recognized in the international community.

But he took issue with Fuhr about how long it has been since Canada was viewed in such a positive light internationally.

“In fact, between 2010 and 2015, The Reputation Institute consistently named Canada as having one of the best reputations in the world,” said Abas.

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