Aboriginal Television Network Would Build Bridge of Understanding between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Canadians, Says Majority

Ottawa, Ontario, February 6, 1998 — Two thirds (66%) of Canadians believe a nationally-distributed aboriginal network would build a bridge of understanding between Canada's aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples and would encourage aboriginal self-sufficiency.

These are some of the findings of a poll commissioned by Television Northern Canada (TVNC) and conducted by the Angus Reid Group. The poll was conducted by telephone between January 26th and February 2nd, 1998 among a representative cross-section of 1,510 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, one can say with 95% certainty that the results are within ±2.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled.

TVNC commissioned the national survey to gauge interest among Canadians for receiving an aboriginal television network.

Survey Highlights:

All respondents were provided with the following details regarding the proposed network: "This network would feature aboriginal programs on a wide range of subject areas relating to Canada's Aboriginal communities, including cultural and current affairs, traditional outdoor skills, educational programming, children's programming, political coverage of aboriginal issues, and documentaries. The network would broadcast in the English and French language, and in aboriginal languages with English and French subtitles".

The survey asked respondents about their interest in watching a national aboriginal network. Nearly four in five (79%) indicated some interested in viewing the channel by reporting that they would watch it on at least an occasional basis.

Two thirds (66%) of Canadians believe an aboriginal network would build a bridge of understanding between Canada's aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples and would encourage aboriginal self-sufficiency, and therefore support making this aboriginal network available on all Canadian cable and satellite television systems. This is in contrast to three in ten (30%) who feel that Canada's aboriginal population is too small to justify a national aboriginal network, given that it might mean replacing another cable or satellite channel that is currently available. These results are consistent across all regions of Canada, varying only within the margin of error.

The most commonly mentioned reasons Canadians gave for supporting a national aboriginal network include that it would help the non-aboriginal and aboriginal communities understand one another better (48%), that the aboriginal communities deserve to be recognized (12%), and that it would be a recognition of the first national status of aboriginal Canadians (9%).

This Canada-wide poll was conducted by telephone between January 26th and February 2nd, 1998 among a representative cross-section of 1,510 adult Canadians.

The data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's age composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data.

With a national sample of 1,510, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results are within ±2.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within the various sub-groupings of the survey population.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Jennifer David
Communications Coordinator
TVNC
(613) 567-1550

or

Jeff Vidler
Vice President
Angus Reid Group, Inc.
(416) 324-2900