6. If these questions were asked today, would you expect the responses to be similar to those reported here or would you expect them to differ substantially?

What elements, if any, go into a Canadian "national identity" has long been a ques- tion of interest to scholars and ordinary citizens alike. The Centre for Research and Information on Canada (CRIC), and the Globe and Mail newspaper attempted to answer this question in their public opinion poll on "The New Canada," conducted by Ipsos-Reid between April 21 and May 4, 2003, involving n = 2000 adults 18 years or older. The survey included a set of questions asking Canadians how proud (or not) 18 highly visible things or events made them to be Canadian. Do national polls con- ducted by the Ipsos-Reid and Decima organizations, the news media, and so on, really provide accurate estimates of the percentages of people in Canada who have various opinions? Let's look at some of the results of the poll survey methods that were used. Respondents to the poll were asked the following question about each of the 18 things or events: I will read you a list of things and events that some people say make them proud to be Canadian. I would like you to tell me whether each of these makes you feel proud to be a Canadian. Please use a scale of 0-10, where 0 means it does not make you feel proud at all, and 10 means it makes you feel very proud. You can use any number between 0 and 10. How about...?The following table shows how the public responded to this question for each thing or event, in descending order of the percentage indicating it made them proud to be Canadian, represented by a rating of 6 or higher on the 10-point scale.

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The CRIC-Globe and Mail Survey on "The New Canada" Proud (Rated 6-10) Neutral (Rated 5) Not Proud (Rated 0-4) Things or Event % % % The vastness and beauty of the land 585 95 3 92 4 2 4 When the United Nations ranks Canada as the best country in the world in which to live Canada's politeness and civility The fact that people from different cultural groups in Canada get along and live in peace Canadian scientific inventions, like the Canadarm When Canadian airports took in 87 87 99 81 87 7 9 87 7 6 10 American planes that were diverted on September 11th, 2001 Canada's participation in peacekeeping activities around the world The Charter of Rights and Freedoms Canada's participation in key battles of World War I or World War II Multiculturalism Canadian Olympic hockey team victories The success of Canadian musicians or actors or artists Canada's health care system The CBC Pierre Trudeau Having two official languages, English and French When Canada decided to not 86 7 7 83 8 80 10 66 222 79 79 78 122 11 11 10 11 12 ==2 10 1688 71 12 67 16 62 14 60 16 2728 2546 17 17 24 25 59 11 30 participate in the war on Iraq The Queen 43 15 2381 42