'People are confused': Survey suggests Canadians need education on Charter rights

While one-third of Canadians say they have read the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, many fail to distinguish between its text and that of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, a new survey suggests.

While one-third of Canadians say they have read the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, many fail to distinguish between its text and that of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, a new survey suggests.

There is also significant division when it comes to whether Canadians agree with the opening line of the Charter, which sets the tone for the rest of the document.

"They feel they know it better than they actually do," said Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies, which commissioned the poll along with the Metropolis Institute.

"We need more Charter education, if you'd like. Or more Charter literacy."

The results are based off of a web survey of 1,502 Canadians in September by the Leger polling firm. Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they are not considered truly random samples.

Jedwab's association released the findings to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the United Nations adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 1948.

The survey asked respondents whether they had read the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which was signed in 1982, and 33 per cent answered that they had.