_ Page 56, May 30, 1979 - North Shore News

By. Ww. , ROGER WORTH

ae ‘When’ glib-tongued heavy-

weight | Knowlton Nash. of

_The.“National informs
dians:: thaf a poll
‘conducted . for: CBC.

‘television..“has: placed -the
Conservatives ahead of the
- Liberals, he’s believed.

“Two : : nights, later, Nash
oadblushingly -refers to a
Gallup poll: that gives the

Ae clees a five. -point edge in

omg the public, it might
‘appear: ” _ that someone . is
terribly wrong in these
seemingly | contradictory
assessments. Not so, say the
experts., There is no ‘real

difference between the

results. Both polls are
correct. .

“Canadians: don’ t _un-
derstand the significance of
the sophisticated polls that

now take place,” intones one.
—-~--pollster.—“Everything ‘is

computerized and we take
great pains -to: get the
broadest possible input. The
public simply hasn’t ac-

cepted the fact that there isa -

margin of error built into the
system.” : Z

coal

That nifty - - explanation

.. May be quite legitimate. But

” by publicizing ‘such results.

the media can be accused of —

blatantly misleading

_ Canadian voters.

Worsé,* - the
“sophisticated” poll results
may end up affecting the
outcome of elections,
pushing Canadians to
support the party that ap-
pears to be winning.

For this reason, British
Columbia has outlawed polls
during . election campaigns,
forcing voters to decide for
themselves which party to

support, without” an in-
dication of what their
neighbours think.

opinion n polls? |

- networks
- organizations conducting
. polls believe the ban unjustly
‘restricts freedom of: the.
press. Many are :concerned=

The burgeoning number of
newspapers, television-
and private.

that legislation ‘similar to

that in British Columbia will - }

be introduced at the federal
level.

To many y laymen, though,
media treatment. of poll
results simply increases the
credibility of something that,
in at least.some cases, verges
on the absurd.

Consider the privately
operated Gallup poll, the

most widely used in the -
country.

i

_In an April election poll,
Gallup interviewed only
1,014 Canadians. In this
case, the views of each
polled voter represented a
mind-boggling
people. wart

Effectively, the public is
asked to believe that five
electors polled in Prince
Edward Island (population,
110,000) provided. a fair
indication .of the party
supported by most Islanders.

Extended across. the
country, this is the sort of
thing Canada’s normally
hard-nosed media is more
and more flogging as up-
front news, giving the
material an. authenticity it
may not deserve.

What's clear is that voters
are influenced by polls,
perhaps to- such a degree
that even an incorrect poll
result becomes a. self-
fulfilling prophecy.

Roger Worth is Director,
Pablic Affairs, Canadian
Federation of Independent

Business.

Beavers off
to Paddletail

The Mount Seymour
Beavers, junior members of
the Boy Scouts, will be
attending, a day camp on
June 9, from 10 a.m. to 6
p-m.

The camp, known as
Camp Paddletail, will be

held at the site of the
Maplewood Mud Flats, with
over 200 boys participating.

The theme of this year's
camp will be “Space” and
will feature all kinds of
games and crafts relating to
this theme, as well as a
display by a rocketry club.

Guide for seniors

Latest edition of SPARCS'
handy booklet ‘Senior
Citizen’s Guide to Services
in B.C.” available in all
North Shore Information
Centres. There is a small
charge to cover printing
costs.

For the location of the
Centre nearest you call

Regional Information &

Referral Service, 985-7138.

14,000 -

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