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A majority of Canadians say the country needs government policies to protect Canadian culture from being subsumed by American and other foreign influences, although 24 per cent of people say there’s no such thing as a unique Canadian culture to begin with, according to a new Angus Reid Institute report published Wednesday.

The numbers underline the ongoing anxiety among Canadians about the country’s cultural identity — an anxiety that is itself a defining characteristic of life in Canada.

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Respondents in Atlantic Canada are most convinced Canada makes important cultural contributions, with 88 per cent saying there is a unique Canadian culture, while only 63 per cent of Quebecers are of that view. The national average is 76 per cent.

Asked about the country as a whole, 69 per cent of respondents said they are emotionally attached to Canada and love what it stands for, but the rest were more subdued in their patriotic fervour; 25 per cent said they are attached to Canada “only as long as it provides a good standard of living,” and the remaining six per cent said they don’t much care and would rather see the country split into two or more smaller nations.