It's Not Only Americans That Know Nothing About Canada - We Don't Either!
In another embarrassing study conducted by the Dominion Institute, Canadians simply don’t know much about Canada or Canadian politics. A national survey has found that approximately 2 in 5 Canadians don’t know who our first prime minister was. For you 40%, it was Sir John A. Macdonald.
I’m not really surprised. Right after the recent fiasco that took place in our government, another study was released that showed a majority of Canadians don’t know we don’t directly elect our Prime Minister, who our head of state is, or how to describe our system of government. Let me be even more specific for you: 51% of Canadians were unaware that we don’t directly elect our Prime Minister. 51%! No wonder this past federal election recorded the lowest voter turnout in election history, no one cares about Canadian politics! If you’ve ever bothered to exercise your democratic right to vote, you’d notice that nowhere on the voting ballot is the name of any of the Prime Minister’s running for the position.
Finding out that Canadians are so ignorant about such basic facts when it comes to their own government is not only embarrassing, but downright scary. I wonder how many Americans wouldn’t be able to tell you they directly elect their president, or that they live in a republic. My guess is the figures wouldn’t be nearly as bad as they are here.
Yes, the ignorance of Canadians is actually quite amusing, but it presents a serious problem. While I did not support the attempted Liberal-NDP coalition of this past month, I think Stephen Harper was able to largely dodge the bullet by riding on our lacking knowledge. As the idea of a coalition began to haunt Harper, he was able to convince Canadians that the attempt to overthrow the government was contrary to what democracy stood for. He was largely able to get away with that because too many Canadians don’t understand how their own system of government works. As Marc Chalifoux, president of The Dominion Institute stated, “Canadians certainly were interested by what was going on in Ottawa but lacked, in many cases, the basic knowledge to form informed opinions.”
He also stated that “our school system needs to be doing a better job of training young people to be citizens,” and I can’t see how one can disagree. If we’re going to call ourselves a democracy, then it’s time to understand the most basic principles of how our government works.
Education aside, I think multiculturalism has had a lot to do with bringing about these alarming statistics. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for multiculturalism, besides, if Canada weren’t so open to diversity we wouldn’t be here today. But I think the huge surge in immigration to Canada over the last few decades has created an increasingly large population that just isn’t loyal to Canada. It would seem reasonable to say that many of these immigrants know a heck of a lot more about their birth country than Canada. And the statistics seem to agree.
So what can we do about this problem? I’m not really sure. Perhaps better education could help, as Chalifoux seems to think, but I’m not convinced that’s the miracle solution to this issue. What do you think? Whether you believe we should shut down our border altogether or don’t think this issue is worth finding a solution for, make your opinion known in the discussion below.
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Tags: canada, election, harper, ignorance, multiculturalism, politics, Voting
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January 12th, 2009 at 4:10 am
This has been a problem in Canada for a while now, it’s just been getting more attention since we recorded the lowest voter turnout in history. In my opinion, it all starts with education.
January 12th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
A lot of Canadians who were born here don’t care to vote as well as those who immigrated. People just don’t think their vote makes a difference and therefore they don’t bother divesting themselves into Canadian politics at all. Many immigrants come here as a means of escape as the living standards and conditions here are supposed to be better. They don’t care about politics because what they have here is already better than where they came from, and they think, “Why bother themselves with something that doesn’t affect me?”
Plus, even though we have the immigration test, it is just one test. Most knowledge that they had going into the test ends up being forgotten after the test is over and the knowlegde and our rich history is lost from their minds. If we want people to understand and get involved, they need to have political information drilled into their heads over and over again. Maybe a test every two years? Or maybe when you go to the polls, in order to vote, you have to answer a random multiple choice quiz of 5 questions and get at least 3 right so that the only way you can make your voice heard is if you prove you are knowledgeable. (Obviously these solutions need some work, but something needs to be done).
Or maybe people are just not as intelligent as we think they are and the situation is hopeless? I would agree that Harper definitely dodged the bullet due to a lack of education on the part of Canadians. What the coalition was doing was not undemocratic, in fact, it was a provision set forth in our constitution but Harper convinced Canadians it was undemocratic because the opposing view was too difficult to understand. Even prior to the election, for example, many economists called Dion’s economic plans (including the carbon tax/green shift) very financially sound. However, because most Canadians could not understand the complexities of this plan (nor did Dion explain it too well), that ended up being the downfall of the Liberals in the election. The Liberals overestimated the intelligence of Canadians.
January 13th, 2009 at 2:42 am
Good article, but I think you should cover the other side of the topic in the post too…
January 15th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
I don’t agree that multiculturalism or immigration has anything to do with it.
“It would seem reasonable to say that many of these immigrants know a heck of a lot more about their birth country than Canada. And the statistics seem to agree.”
I don’t know why that would seem reasonable to you. And you say the statistics seem to agree, but where are the statistics? Where are the statistics that show that immigrants know more about their home country than their new country?
January 15th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Hi David. What I said about immigrants is just my opinion and wasn’t meant in a negative way. My entire family consists of immigrants, and based on personal experiences with friends and family, it seems that many are more loyal to their birth countries which could be a factor contributing to the lack of political knowledge among Canadians. I havn’t come accross any facts or statistics that show immigrants know more about their home coutry than Canada, it is just a hypothesis of mine.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Sorry Tamir, but you lose all credibility when you say something like “the statistics seem to agree”, and then when called upon, you admit you haven’t come across any such statistics. So, with all due respect, keep your hypotheses to yourself, because they’re worthless.
January 15th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Maximo – Then you misunderstood my post. The statistics I refer to are the one’s gathered by the Dominion institute. And why do you say “with all due respect” when your sole objective in being a part of the discussion is to disrespect? A blog is a medium for people to express their opinions. I suspect, like others, that diversity in Canada has had its effect on a lack of political knowledge among Canadians. If you have other ideas please share them with everyone.
January 16th, 2009 at 2:53 am
Tamir, I totally agree with your last comment. But Maximo’s point was that you should pass off your hypotheses as fact as you did when you said “the statistics seem to agree.” Granted, the word “seem” makes it sound like more like an opinion that fact backed up by statistics. I don’t mean to dog-pile on you, it was a great post otherwise and thank you for summarizing the study for us.
January 16th, 2009 at 3:57 am
Canadians need a strong sense of culture (beyond hockey and beer) to really feel a part of a nation. A unique culture to promote social and political involvement, rather than individualist economy-focused isolation. A culture that must not promote a negative form of nationalism (ie. “We’re Canadian and we’re better than everyone else”) but a more positive form (ie. a culture where the epitome of a Canadian individual is to be socially and politically involved, and to contribute not only to one’s country but one’s planet).
This culture does not necessarily have to be a melting pot producing a specific Canadian way of life, and forcing any other culture to be rejected. It should be the constant amalgamation of new and different styles and thoughts. Start with a proper Native Canadian base with mixes of Inuit, First Nations, Metis, Cree, Haida, etc. Build upon it a magnificent Quebecois history and that of European (yes British as well) influences. Top it off with more recent achievements by Canadians and the plethora of influences brought by the immigrants (much from the Third World).
Blended together, Canadians can form a unique and amazing culture. A culture that promotes helping one another, being socially and politically active, thinking critically, accepting differences, and once again not only doing good for oneself, or family, or community, or country, but our entire planet. A proper culture can make Canada a model for what our whole world should aspire to be.
And with this culture in mind, every Canadian will get out and vote… and of course cast two votes, one for the riding, one for the party
Yay MMP. Lol.
January 17th, 2009 at 12:44 am
I definitely think that this situation must be adressed!! It simply freaks me out!!
I think that the official medias in Canada are the ones to blame. It’s like they have been sold to the establishment… What can we expect when our national broadcasting is only worried about entertaining ignorant people and saying everything is alright.
I think we must put a BIG pressure on RCA/CBC network.
January 17th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Josh – You bring up a good point. If a foreigner were to ask me to describe Canadian culture, I would be at a loss for words. I’d probably have to think about my answer for quite some time.
January 18th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
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January 20th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
I am unable to understand this post. But well some points are useful for me.