The organization behind Canada鈥檚 Heritage Minutes says provincial education systems need to do a better job of teaching students about the country鈥檚 most historically significant women, pointing to a new poll that suggests the majority of Canadians have a lot to learn.

An Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Historica Canada posed a dozen true or false questions about Canadian women鈥檚 history.

Some of the questions included statements such as 鈥淐anada has never elected a party with a female leader to form the federal government鈥� and 鈥淢argaret Atwood, Alice Munro, and Lucy Maud Montgomery are among Canada鈥檚 best-known authors鈥� 鈥� both of which are true.

Historica says 55 per cent of those who took the quiz failed, with only three per cent answering well enough to score an A.

A regional breakdown indicated 62 per cent of Alberta respondents failed the quiz, followed by 57 per cent of British Columbia respondents and 56 per cent of both Ontario and Quebec residents polled. Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Atlantic Canada all tied with the lowest fail rate of 45 per cent.

The organization鈥檚 Chief Executive Officer Anthony Wilson-Smith said the poll鈥檚 findings, similar to other such surveys, point to persistent gaps in the various provincial education systems.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very hard to expect people to know things which they have not been taught,鈥� Wilson-Smith said in an interview. 鈥淣ot only do we feel that there鈥檚 an ongoing absence of focus on Canadian history, but certainly it鈥檚 even more pronounced when it comes to the teaching of accomplishments by women.鈥�

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Wilson-Smith noted that his organization wasn鈥檛 鈥渨agging a finger at anyone鈥� with the results of the survey.

鈥淓ducation is a provincial jurisdiction and that鈥檚 what prevents us from having the kind of national narrative that would make people more familiar,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e do see evidence that once people are made aware of and given the opportunity more easily to learn about them, that they do retain.鈥�

Historica says the fail rate for its survey was highest among women, with 59 per cent of those polled getting at least half the questions wrong. It says 52 per cent of men surveyed did not pass.

The most recent poll echoes findings of a survey conducted earlier this year that asked respondents to name the specific accomplishments of women such as Emily Carr and Montgomery. Once again, the majority of survey participants were unable to do so.

Only 37 per cent of respondents could identify Carr鈥檚 status as an acclaimed painter, while only 27 per cent knew that Montgomery鈥檚 fame sprang from her authorship of such Canadian literary classics as 鈥淎nne of Green Gables.鈥�

If given the option to sit down for a meal with these historical figures, the most recent survey indicates the majority of respondents would take a pass.

The survey asked participants to name the Canadian woman they would most like to share a table with, regardless of whether she was alive or dead. Present-day pop-culture luminaries were the most popular choices, with 10 per cent of respondents picking Quebec singer Celine Dion, six per cent choosing country-pop star Shania Twain and four per cent opting for Atwood.

Other women chosen as prospective dinner guests include Gov. Gen. Julie Payette, actress Rachel McAdams, Carr, and Margaret Trudeau, mother of the current prime minister.

The online survey, conducted between Sept. 27 and Oct. 1, surveyed 1,003 people from across Canada.

The polling industry鈥檚 professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error as they are not a random sample and therefore are not necessarily representative of the whole population.

Michelle McQuigge , The Canadian Press

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