Thread: Most Canadians would fail own citizenship test

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Most Canadians know so little about their own country that they would flunk the basic test that new

immigrants are required to take before becoming citizens, according to a poll released on Friday.

The Ipsos-Reid survey showed that 60 percent of Canadians would fail the test. A similar poll done in 1997 showed a failure rate of 45 percent.

"Canadians appear to be losing knowledge when it comes to the most basic questions about Canadian history, politics, culture and geography ... (they) performed abysmally on some questions," the firm said in a statement.

Only 4 percent knew the three requirements a citizen had to

meet to be able to vote while only a third could correctly identify the number of provinces and territories. Just 8 percent knew that Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state.

The survey was carried out for the Dominion Institute, which aims to boost knowledge of Canadian history and values. It said all high school students should have to pass a special citizenship exam before they can graduate.

"It is frankly disheartening to see the lack of progress made by our group and the countless other organizations working

to improve civic literary of Canadians over the last 10 years," said institute co-founder Rudyard Griffiths.

The Ipsos-Reid survey of 1,005 adults was conducted between

June 5 and 7 and is considered to be accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070702/od_nm/ignorance_odd_dc;_ylt=AvavDUyYzZxMOjZoBxtCv2QSH9EA

I wonder if I could pass the US citizen test.
These start out pretty easy but quickly get tough
;D

http://usgovinfo.about.com/blinstst.htm

In IL, where I went to college, you had to either pass a general government class or take a test on it, which basically amounted to the citizenry test.
I thought it was a great idea, and I wish more states would implement it.

It killed me to find out how many people had no idea how the electoral college worked, or what was actually said in the bill of rights.

"NodakPaul" wrote:

In IL, where I went to college, you had to either pass a general government class or take a test on it, which basically amounted to the citizenry test.
I thought it was a great idea, and I wish more states would implement it.

It killed me to find out how many people had no idea how the electoral college worked, or what was actually said in the bill of rights.

In Iowa, we took a government class during your senior year and you had to pass the class and an associated exam or you didn't graduate.

=Z=

"Zeus" wrote:

"NodakPaul" wrote:

In IL, where I went to college, you had to either pass a general government class or take a test on it, which basically amounted to the citizenry test.
I thought it was a great idea, and I wish more states would implement it.

It killed me to find out how many people had no idea how the electoral college worked, or what was actually said in the bill of rights.

In Iowa, we took a government class during your senior year and you had to pass the class and an associated exam or you didn't graduate.

=Z=

Cool.
I actually like that better, because it affects a larger number of people.

"NodakPaul" wrote:

"Zeus" wrote:

"NodakPaul" wrote:

In IL, where I went to college, you had to either pass a general government class or take a test on it, which basically amounted to the citizenry test.
I thought it was a great idea, and I wish more states would implement it.

It killed me to find out how many people had no idea how the electoral college worked, or what was actually said in the bill of rights.

In Iowa, we took a government class during your senior year and you had to pass the class and an associated exam or you didn't graduate.

Cool.
I actually like that better, because it affects a larger number of people.

The test was a joke.
Everyone passed.

=Z=

"Zeus" wrote:

"NodakPaul" wrote:

"Zeus" wrote:

"NodakPaul" wrote:

In IL, where I went to college, you had to either pass a general government class or take a test on it, which basically amounted to the citizenry test.
I thought it was a great idea, and I wish more states would implement it.

It killed me to find out how many people had no idea how the electoral college worked, or what was actually said in the bill of rights.

In Iowa, we took a government class during your senior year and you had to pass the class and an associated exam or you didn't graduate.

Cool.
I actually like that better, because it affects a larger number of people.

The test was a joke.
Everyone passed.

=Z=

Well that pretty much defeats the purpose.

"NodakPaul" wrote:

"Zeus" wrote:

"NodakPaul" wrote:

"Zeus" wrote:

"NodakPaul" wrote:

In IL, where I went to college, you had to either pass a general government class or take a test on it, which basically amounted to the citizenry test.  I thought it was a great idea, and I wish more states would implement it.

It killed me to find out how many people had no idea how the electoral college worked, or what was actually said in the bill of rights.

In Iowa, we took a government class during your senior year and you had to pass the class and an associated exam or you didn't graduate.

Cool.  I actually like that better, because it affects a larger number of people.

The test was a joke.  Everyone passed.

Well that pretty much defeats the purpose.

Now that I think about it, the test was multiple-choice, very simple (now, I carried a 3.93 GPA, so my view of "simple" may have differed from others) and included an "Identify the Picture" portion which had pictures of Reagan, Bush I, our senators and Warren Berger.

=Z=