Jack & Jacques

Canada has no single composite character like the U.S.'s "John Q. Public." The Dominion's "average man" is really two men: English-speaking "Jack" and French-speaking "Jacques." Last week a summary of all Canadian Gallup Polls taken up to Aug. 16, 1943 (since Dec. 2, 1941) compared Jack's thinking on major issues to Jacques'.* Result was probably the clearest short delineation of Canada's dual character yet published. Sample comparisons:

The War. Both Jack and Jacques are confident of victory, think Germany is the No. 1 enemy. But both have difficulty finishing the sentence: "Canada is fighting this war because . . ." Jack favors compulsory savings to put the war on a pay-as-you-go basis, but Jacques, being a voluble foe of anything remotely like compulsion, does not. Isolationist Jacques, unlike Jack, thinks Canada's armed forces should be kept at home, for defense.

Domestic Affairs. Neither votes as regularly as he should. Both oppose Prohibition. Jack long ago wanted diplomatic relations with Vichy France severed, but Jacques thinks the ties should have been maintained. Catholic Jacques thinks divorce is too easy, while Protestant Jack feels that the law is too strict.

Postwar. Both yearn avidly for social reforms (their primary goal: job security). But Jacques wants these things achieved through private enterprise, Jack favors Government controls.

Jack wants to see the Dominion's population swelled through immigration; Jacques would close the door. Jack hopes Canada will remain an integral part of the British Empire. Jacques would prefer to be a citizen of an independent nation.

* A booklet: Jack & Jaques (Ryerson Press; 50-c-).

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