What were they thinking?

I have been reading the comments posted on various articles on the CBC web site. These articles have mainly been related to the political scene in Canada.

"A new survey for the Dominion Institute taken in the aftermath of this month's political crisis suggests Canadians are woefully ignorant when it comes to their system of government."
Canadians Lack Basic Understanding of our Country's Parliamentary System
For detailed survey results, visit: http://dominion.ca/polling.htm.

The point is that just those who are willing to take part in the survey are counted. I personally will not take part in a survey if I am not sure I know the answers. Something about this fear of looking stupid. I doubt if I am that much different than most people in that regard. So, this is probably a survey of people who are sure they know the right answer. Scary is it not?

A second survey O Canada: Our Home and Naïve Land is even scarier. It claims we know more about the USA than we do about Canada, all-be-it not that much about either.

But there is a history here:

30 June 1997 - Canadian Youth Score average 34% Correct Answers on Basic Canadian History Quiz
30 June 1998 - Exactly half - 50% - of Canadians surveyed in a new poll failed their 1998 Canada Day Quiz.
29 June 2001 - 5th Annual Canada Day History Quiz - 39% of Canadians passed
01 July 2003 - The 2003 Annual Dominion Institute Canada Day Poll - 50% of Canadians Pass Quiz of Canada's Participation in World Organizations and Events Since World War II
30 June 2005 - The 2005 Annual Canada Day History Quiz - Most Canadians Fail Canada Day History Quiz (40%) (Only 1 of 1,000 Respondents Got all 20 Questions Right)
30 June 2005 - 69% Canadians agree that part of what makes Canada a successful society is that Canadians share common history, heroes and national symbols.
09 Nov 2007 - 82% Canadians age 18 to 24 fail basic Canadian history exam – 1% more than failed in 1997
01 July 2008 - Canadians score better on American questions than on Canadian
questions… Canadians averaged 4.2 correct answers overall on the Canadian questions, and 4.7 correct answers overall on the American questions.

Sad isn't it.
W. C. Fields - "I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food."