The 2004 Priceless Index finds Canadians proud of their nation and citing freedom as the most priceless Canadian value. When asked what it is about Canadian values that is most priceless to them, the most frequent response was freedom (24%) followed by tolerance (6%), and multiculturalism (5%.) More than half (55%) of Canadians consider themselves first and foremost as a citizen of Canada, rather than a citizen of the world (15%), or of their province (13%) or local community (13%.) What keeps Canadians up at night? The times they are a changing When asked to name the biggest threats to Canadas future, almost one third (31%) of Canadians cited war and terrorism. This marks a significant shift from the first Priceless Index in 2002 when economic issues (25%) were seen as the greatest threat and terrorism was selected by only 18 per cent of respondents. What makes Canada priceless? As Canada Day quickly approaches, one-third of Canadians (31%) identified the Canadian flag as the most priceless Canadian symbol. - Only Quebecers identified the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (35%) above the Canadian flag (23%.) - Western Canada will have to wait another year to honour their national symbol - 18 per cent believe hockey truly is Canadas national symbol. When considering how Canadians are perceived internationally, 30 per cent believe the one word that best describes them is friendly. This holds true in all regions, with Atlantic Canada most in favour (39%.) While Quebecers also support that friendly feeling (20%), peaceful was ranked a close second (18%.) Give peace a chance Almost one-third (30%) of Canadians believe Canadas peacekeeping and peacefulness is the greatest contribution we have to offer the world; a point of view that has strengthened since 2002 when 25 per cent cited it. Humanitarian aid was the second most popular response this year at 14 per cent. About the survey This national survey of 2,000 Canadians 18 years of age and over was carried out by telephone between April 26 and May 7, 2004 by Environics Research Group on behalf of MasterCard Canada. Results to a survey of this size can be considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.2 percent, nineteen times out of twenty.
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