<p>CBC Manitoba wanted to know what Winnipeggers thought about race and racial issues - so we asked.</p><br />
<p>In February 2006, Probe Research polled more than 1,000 Winnipeg residents about everything from the jokes they've heard, to their feelings about immigration.</p><br />
<p>The results of the telephone survey were surprising, and sometimes shocking. In general, the survey suggests Winnipeg is a tolerant city.</p><br />
<p>"To tell you the truth, I was surprised to the degree in which Winnipeg society seems to be well integrated between racial minorities and the majority population," says Scott MacKay with Probe Research. "There are not any massive glaring issues when it comes to relations, at least sort of on a citizen-to-citizen level</p><br />
<p>"There are some more important issues ... with institutions, but it seems that Winnipeg is a very tolerant and open society when it comes to dealing with racial minority groups. I was kind of surprised by that."</p><br />
<p>The survey of 1,002 respondents is considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error is higher within each of the survey's population sub-groups. For instance, among the 202 respondents identified as visible minorities, the margin of error rises to plus or minus 6.9 percentage points of what the results would have been if all of the city's visible minorities had been interviewed.</p><br />
<p>Modified random-digit dialling was employed to ensure that all Winnipeg adults would have an equal opportunity to participate in the survey. Minor statistical weighting was applied to this sample so age and gender characteristics properly reflect Winnipeg's population.</p>
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<p>Survey Limitations:</p>
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<p>While efforts were made to ensure the population surveyed reflected Winnipeg's population, MacKay notes that it's important to acknowledge that certain segments of the population are always underrepresented in telephone surveys.</p>
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<p>For example, MacKay said, such surveys can't reach the people who are most economically disadvantaged, because they don't have phones. In addition, Statistics Canada indicates Winnipeg residents in that category tend to be visible minorities and aboriginal people. </p>
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<p>"[This] means that we probably have an under-expression of some of the people who have faced the most serious discrimination," MacKay said. "There's nothing really we can do about this, but it's important for us to acknowledge that there, in fact, may be more racism than we've been able to measure."</p>
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<p>MacKay also noted that an appropriate proportion of the survey's respondents were aboriginal - compared with the proportion of Winnipeggers who are aboriginal - but the aboriginals who responded to the survey tended to be more affluent and better educated that statistics indicate is true in the larger aboriginal population in Winnipeg. </p>
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<p>"The fact that we probably did not represent the lowest, sort of bottom end of the socioeconomic strata of Winnipeg, especially in some of these minority groups, and the fact that we have sort of a higher level of respondents in the same groups as far as education and income go, are important to consider ... because in some ways the experiences and attitudes we're seeing will be affected by that sampling," MacKay said.</p>
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<p>In other words, although the Race and Racism in Winnipeg poll showed relatively low levels of racial intolerance in the city, the poll may not have reached the people on the receiving end of the worst discrmination and racial intolerance. </p>
