1998 CANADA DAY QUIZ

Only Half Of Canadians Pass (50%) The Test

Tuesday, June 30, 1998

- Results Show A Wide "Knowledge Gap" In Canada: 63% Of Those With A High School Degree Or Less Failed The Test, While 31% Failed Among The University Educated - - Canadians' Knowledge Of Their History And Culture Remains Regionalized - THE DOMINION INSTITUTE / CANADIAN COUNCIL FOR UNITY NATIONAL ANGUS REID GROUP POLL

Only Half Of Canadians Pass (50%) The Test
One In Four Canadians Think "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" Is Canada's Constitutional Slogan

30 June 1998 - Exactly half - 50% - of Canadians surveyed in a new poll failed their 1998 Canada Day Quiz. The poll consisted of 20 questions on Canadian history, politics and culture. Older Canadians and those with higher levels of education outperformed other demographic groups. Regional variations were pronounced, with Manitoba and Saskatchewan receiving the highest provincial averages (60%) and Quebec the lowest (37%). Overall Canadians were very aware of their national symbols, heroes and celebrities but demonstrated a poor knowledge of Canadian geography and political history.

ANALYSIS OF THE SURVEY RESULTS

Overall Results

In total, 50% of respondents passed the quiz (conducted between May 20th and 26th, 1998) -i.e. half of those surveyed answered 10 out of the 20 questions correctly. Overall breakdowns include:

One in ten (13%) got 5 correct answers or less, while 37% answered between 6 and 9 questions correctly.

Of those who passed the test, 39% answered between 10 and 15 questions correctly, while the remaining 11% answered between 16 and 20 questions correctly. (See Table 1)

These are some of the findings from a national survey conducted by the Angus Reid and released today by The Dominion Institute and The Council for Canadian Unity (CCU). The telephone survey interviewed a randomly selected and proportionately representative cross-section of 1,500 Canadian adults. The survey has a ± 2.5% margin of error 19 times of 20.

For more information on this news release, please contact: