The common wisdom among the chattering elites in our country is that Canadians place more trust in their governments than do our American cousins. But according to a poll that was quietly released earlier this month, that's not necessarily the case.

A survey of 2,000 people in Canada and the U.S. commissioned by the School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas was conducted in early April. The poll revealed that slightly more than one-half - 51% of the Canadians surveyed - said they have little or no trust at all in their federal government, compared with just 30% of those polled in the United States. On the flip side, a total of 46% of Canadians said they have a great deal or a fair amount of trust and confidence in the federal government to do a good job, compared with 68% in the U.S.

Interestingly, only 51% of respondents in Canada said they trust their provincial governments, versus 65% of Americans who said they trust their state governments.

But there were some remarkable regional differences within Canada as well. Many observers might pick Alberta as the one place in our own country where you might expect suspicion and mistrust of government to be the highest. Not so - according to this new poll. Almost two-thirds (64%) of Albertans said they trust their provincial government.

Further down the food chain, the poll revealed a greater degree of consistency in the views of citizens from the two countries when it comes to municipal governments: 64% of Canadians said they trust local government compared with 67% of Americans.

In fact, on many other public policy issues, the poll found a high correlation or common ground between the two nations. The majority of Canadians and Americans, for instance, agree that border security is more important than easing cross-border trade in the wake of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks (59% of Canadians and 72% of Americans). Residents of the two countries were even closer on to agreeing on the idea of a common border security policy, with 66% of Canadians saying it is a good idea along with 69% of Americans.

On the other hand, when considering issues of taxation, the differences between Americans and Canadians were again quite striking. In Canada, respondents cited sales taxes, including the GST, as the worst taxes. In the U.S., however, local property taxes were rated as the least favored tax.

Theories will abound about the reason for the divergence of opinion between Canucks and Yanks in certain areas of public policy. Nowhere is the gulf more apparent than the polling numbers that show a stronger faith in government by citizens in the U.S. Perhaps it's a sign of intense American patriotism. Or maybe it's simply a reflection of the general malaise in Canada about government and the political process that has permeated the nation for the past two decades. (It's little wonder, considering the flagrant disregard and arrogance our federal government has often displayed towards the hard-working taxpayers of our country.)

Whatever the reason, it can no longer be said that our neighbors to the south mistrust their governments more than we do north of the border. But it likely also signals that the need to renew and reform our political institutions in Canada to restore people faith in their governments has never been greater.