Canadians feel sexy, polite and patriotic, but not very modest: poll

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Canadians are feeling more confident than ever.

A day before Canada Day, a new poll finds most of us think we’re sexy, cool, and polite. But the survey done by Ipsos Reid for Historica Canada also shows we may need to brush up on our history knowledge.

Three quarters of people asked say they think Canadians are sexy; 89 per cent say they’re proud of Canadian heritage. Anthony Wilson-Smith, president of Historica Canada, says there has been a surge of patriotism.

“For years, Canadians had a reputation as modest to the point of being too buttoned-up and not wanting to say anything good about ourselves. What we’re seeing now is a lot more swagger, saying ‘I don’t have to measure myself against anybody else… I like me fine. And I think that’s good,” he tells us.

“We’re feeling, in general terms, as buff and happy with ourselves as I can remember. Certainly the data shows that we’re headed in the right direction in virtually every way. We certainly like ourselves. If anything, we almost seem to like ourselves too much, at times,” adds Wilson-Smith.

But it looks like we don’t know as much about our country’s past as we could.

“Not as many people know Sir John A. MacDonald was the first prime minister as we should like. I’d be astounded if you found five per cent of Americans who didn’t know George Washington was their first president. It’s significantly more Canadians who don’t know that,” says Wilson-Smith.

According to the poll, one in ten Canadians don’t know the opening lyrics to O Canada. Only half of people asked knew that in 2017, we will mark our country’s 150th birthday.

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