What defines Canada? A new survey suggests the answers are as diverse as the country itself.

The poll, commissioned by Historica Canada and conducted by Ipsos, asked a number of questions about various aspects of Canadiana ranging from inquiries about the preferred Canadian dinner companion to most effective single word to describe the country.

Almost across the board, the online poll found little consensus on any of the questions but instead elicited a wide variety of answers.

When asked what single word would describe Canada, the most popular answer was freedom or liberty, a choice made by just a quarter of respondents.

Participants were asked to choose which living or dead Canadian they含羞草研究社檇 most like to have dinner with, and the top choice 含羞草研究社� Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 含羞草研究社� earned just eight per cent of votes.

The survey even found dissent on some of the country含羞草研究社檚 most stereotypical national symbols, with one third of respondents admitting to a hatred of hockey and 37 per cent disputing the tastiness of ketchup chips.

Canadians did display more loyalty to animals that have come to be seen as national symbols, with 85 per cent of respondents standing by the beaver and 82 per cent expressing fondness for the Canada Goose.

Canadian beer also earned the support of 72 per cent of participants, who proclaimed it among the best in the world.

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Historica Canada President Anthony Wilson-Smith said the sheer diversity of survey responses speaks to the makeup of the country itself.

含羞草研究社淚 think it含羞草研究社檚 very reflective of Canada that there含羞草研究社檚 one or two core values that jump up 含羞草研究社� and then it含羞草研究社檚 kind of cool that there含羞草研究社檚 no great consensus on any other thing,含羞草研究社� Wilson-Smith said in a telephone interview. 含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e a country where people come from everywhere, have different views, and I think increasingly what defines Canada is you don含羞草研究社檛 have to fit a national stereotype.含羞草研究社�

The survey results hinted at what some of those core values might be, Wilson-Smith said, pointing to the only two findings to garner any kind of widespread support.

A quarter of respondents used the words freedom or liberty to describe Canada, while 20 per cent identified the word home as their descriptor of choice.

Wilson-Smith speculated that those words are particularly appealing to a diverse population, many of whom have routes in countries where freedom could not be taken for granted.

The variety of other responses on words to describe Canada, which included best, opportunity, equality, multicultural, and inclusive, attest to a diversity of national priorities, he said.

Consensus was even harder to attain when discussing famous Canadians that might make for good company over dinner.

Trudeau含羞草研究社檚 eight per cent support from respondents was followed by Quebecois singer Celine Dion, who secured five per cent of respondents含羞草研究社� support. Former Prime Ministers Sir John A. MacDonald and Pierre Trudeau and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky rounded out the top five, the survey found,

The poll also explored Canadians含羞草研究社� favourite home-grown inventions, finding a greatest appreciation for the electric oven (44 per cent of respondents), IMAX films (32 per cent), and the snowmobile (25 per cent).

One thing Canadians do seem to agree on is a desire to celebrate the country含羞草研究社檚 upcoming 150th birthday.

About 80 per cent of the survey含羞草研究社檚 1,003 respondents said they planned to acknowledge Saturday含羞草研究社檚 sesquicentennial in some way.

The Ipsos poll was completed using an online panel between June 7 and 8. The polling industry含羞草研究社檚 professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population

Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press

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