Photo via National Post

Half of Canadians say it’s hard to stay friends with people who disagree on international conflicts: poll

Read the original at National Post ↗
Cite

Oliver, K. (2026, September 19). Half of Canadians say it’s hard to stay friends with people who disagree on international conflicts: poll. National Post. https://nationalpost.com/news/half-of-canadians-say-its-hard-to-stay-friends-with-people-who-disagree-on-international-conflicts-poll

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

National Post · collected 2026-09-19 · by Kenn Oliver

Quick Summary

A new poll from the Association for Canadian Studies indicates that over half (52%) of Canadians find it increasingly difficult to maintain friendships when there are disagreements about international conflicts, compared to only 21% who do not feel this way. The poll surveyed 1,538 respondents and found that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is seen as the least reconcilable issue among those polled, with only 14% believing it can be resolved amicably. Association president Jack Jedwab emphasizes the importance of thoughtful dialogue to address these divisions effectively.
Written by AI on 2026-09-19, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

A new poll conducted by the Association for Canadian Studies reveals that 52% of Canadians find it increasingly difficult to maintain friendships with people who hold differing opinions on major international conflicts, such as Russia and Ukraine, Russia and the U.S., Iran and Western countries, and Israelis and Palestinians. In contrast, only 21% feel it's not more challenging to stay friends over these issues. The poll indicates that 27% are unsure about this trend, with higher uncertainty among women (33%) and older demographics (ages 55-65: 32%, ages 65-plus: 31%). The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was deemed the least reconcilable by respondents at just 14%, highlighting the deepening polarization in Canadian society over international disputes.

Written for “Friendship And Political Disagreement…” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Friendship And Political Disagreement…
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Bulwark
Hedges 1 of 3 claims
“The articles discuss different topics: one focuses on Canada's diplomatic relationship shifts with Europe due to deteriorating relations with the U.S., while the other reports a poll about interpersonal difficulties arising from differing opinions on international conflicts.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
60/100
National Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

National Post · 1242 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Kenn Oliver
26 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Smith said it was too early to determine if the home was targeted or the suspect’s motive, though she did imply it could be another case of a home invasion for the purpose of stealing a high-end vehicle, incidents of which she said are on the rise.
🔮 “The main concern is that this is unknown terminology, it might bring up legal uncertainty and expectations from other third countries,” an unnamed diplomat said.
🔮 Four years after narrowly losing Hamilton’s mayoral election, Keanin Loomis completed his political comeback Monday night.
🔮 With residents in 444 Ontario cities and towns deciding who will lead them for the next four years, today is Canada’s busiest day in municipal politics.
2026-10-26 · assertive framing · Three Ontario elections to watch that are not Toronto
🔮 During his interview, the self-described “constitutional lawyer” and co-founder of the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) estimated that, by night’s end, anywhere from 600,000 to 700,000 people will have voted in favour of starting the formal process of Alberta seceding from Canada.
🔮 Health care facilities in Wainwright itself, a town of less than 7,000, were “completely overwhelmed,” an ER doctor at the Royal Alexandra told CBC, noting the number of incoming patients “would overwhelm the city of Edmonton.” “It is more patients than any of us want to count right now,” Dr. Warren Thirsk said.
🔮 Grégoire Trudeau recounted keeping herself and her ex grounded when ordinary people they would encounter in their official capacity started “losing it.”
🔮 Hinton, a 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics co-recipient alongside John Hopfield for their work on machine learning, has had a lot to offer recently about the field he advanced while working for Google, a company he quit in 2023 so he could speak more freely about its potential ramifications for humanity.
🔮 The Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) has issued a safety alert that 48-year-old Keith Theodore Constantin, “who poses a significant risk to the community, especially children,” will be living at an undisclosed location in the region effective Sunday.
🔮 Although the decision does not mention it, under Canadian law, Udup Bang, a permanent resident who immigrated to Canada from Ethiopia with his family in 2017, could face deportation after serving his time.
Also by Kenn Oliver
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 26 articles by Kenn Oliver →

Topics

Canadians National Post Russia U.S. the Association for Canadian Studies

Subjects

Jedwab PERSON · 3× Russia GPE · 3× National Post ORG · 2× U.S. GPE · 2× the Association for Canadian Studies ORG · 2× Association for Canadian Studies ORG · 1× Canadians NORP · 1× Iran GPE · 1× Jack Jedwab PERSON · 1× Ukraine GPE · 1×

Narrative

“The polarity is probably confirmed by the fact that very few people think it’s reconcilable, which is interesting, because you do hear from many people that seem to, in their own sort of spaces, feel that these issues can be reconciled if both parties would do this or that,” Jedwab told National Post in an interview.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-19
🔮 “The polarity is probably confirmed by the fact that very few people think it’s reconcilable, which is interesting, because you do hear from many people that seem to, in their own sort of spaces, feel that these issues can be reconciled if both parties would do this or that,” Jedwab told National Post in an interview.

Claims (17 extracted, 1 hedged)

There’s no denying that digital and social media have only amplified the identity politics, erosion of trust and geopolitical shifts that have polarized mankind this century. asserted
that → deny → mankind
New polling by the Association for Canadian Studies shows that polarization is emerging at the interpersonal level. asserted
polarization → show → level
More than twice as many Canadians (52 per cent) think it’s getting harder and harder for people with differing opinions “on major international conflicts to remain friends” than those who feel it’s not more difficult (21 per cent). asserted
it → think → cent
“These issues are increasingly divisive and polarizing,” Association for Canadian Studies president Jack Jedwab told National Post in an interview. asserted
Jedwab → tell → interview
More than a quarter (27 per cent) are unsure, a feeling expressed by a third of women (33 per cent) and close to a third of the oldest demographics — 55-65 (32 per cent) and 65-plus (31 per cent). asserted
quarter → express → demographics
Respondents were asked about the reconcilability of four conflicts — Russia and Ukraine; Russia and the U.S.; Iran and Western countries; and Israelis and Palestinians. asserted
Respondents → ask → conflicts
It didn’t surprise Jedwab then that the latter conflict emerged as the least reconcilable (14 per cent) among respondents. asserted
conflict → surprise → respondents
“The polarity is probably confirmed by the fact that very few people think it’s reconcilable, which is interesting, because you do hear from many people that seem to, in their own sort of spaces, feel that these issues can be reconciled if both parties would do this or that,” Jedwab told National Post in an interview. asserted
Jedwab → confirm → interview
“So if you think that’s the case, one can only imagine how challenging it is for reconciliation with people who are living the experience on the ground where they happen to be, in this particular case, the Middle East.” asserted
they → think → case
Only the mostly dormant Russia-U.S. conflict is seen as more reconcilable (35 per cent) than not (29 per cent), but the largest percentage (36) are unsure. asserted
percentage → see → not
Polling found a consistent pattern regardless of respondents’ language, whether anglophone, francophone or allophone, “suggesting that the polarizing effects of international conflicts cross linguistic boundaries,” Jedwab wrote in the poll. asserted
Jedwab → find → poll
That consistency is “something that we can all build as a consensus around the extent to which this thing is divisive,” he added in conversation. asserted
he → build → conversation
Reducing polarization, he said, begins with “thoughtful” conversations about complex subjects that involve the realities of the people on the ground for whom reconciliation is most difficult and for whom the situation is evolving. asserted
situation → reduce → whom
“We need to sort of identify parameters for how these conversations can be done in the most thoughtful way possible, recognizing that… many of us, even though we may have disproportionate degrees of connections to what’s going on there, we still need to engage and find thoughtful ways of engaging in dialogue.” uncertain
we → need → dialogue
The poll of 1,538 respondents, conducted by Leger on behalf of the Association for Canadian Studies, was conducted Sept. 4-6. asserted
poll → conduct → Studies
A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey for comparison purposes. asserted
margin → associate → purposes
However, a probability sample of this size would have a margin of error of 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20. asserted
sample → have → 20
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support