Three-Quarters (77%) of English Canadians Say That Changing The Lyrics of O Canada Is A "Bad Idea"

Toronto, ON - Amidst recent attention to a petition raised by women's groups and their representatives to change a line in the lyrics of O Canada, a new CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid shows that three-quarters (77%) of English-speaking Canadians think that changing the line in the national anthem from "in all our sons command" to wording which does not refer to only one gender is a "bad idea". Two in ten (21%) think changing the line is a "good idea".

The survey question which informed English-speaking Canadians (the French translation of the anthem does not have the same reference) that some people feel the lyric "in all our sons command" from Canada's national anthem O Canada is inappropriate because it refers only to one gender, and that recently a petition is being circulated to change this line in the anthem to wording which does not refer to only one gender. Two statements were then rotated and survey respondents were asked to choose which is closest to their personal point of view: Some people say that it is a good idea because this change would include everyone in Canadian society, and other people say that it is a bad idea because O Canada is historic and should not be changed.

• Despite being raised by women's groups and their representatives, there is no significant difference between the opinions men (20% say "good idea", 79% say "bad idea) and women (22% say "good idea" and 74% say "bad idea") regarding the petition.
• English-speakers from Alberta (87%) are most likely to say changing the lyric is a "bad idea", while those from British Columbia (74%) and Ontario (74%) are least likely.
• University graduates (32%) are more likely say changing the lyric is a "good idea" compared to those with some post-secondary education (15%), high school graduates (16%), and those with less than a high school education (13%).

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted between July 31st, 2001 and August 2nd, 2001. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Public Affairs
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900