Maple Syrup, Celine Dion and
Newfoundlanders Equal a Priceless Canada Day

Canadians identify the food, music and humour that best defines Canada

MONTREAL – June 19, 2002 – Leading into Canada Day, a new countrywide study released today finds that Canadians identify maple syrup, Celine Dion and the humour of Newfoundlanders as among the most distinctly Canadian aspects of our culture.

For laughs
When asked which of Canada's provinces had the people with the best sense of humour, Newfoundlanders won out with 29 per cent of the national vote. However, when broken down by province, the results show that many provincial residents consider their own province the funniest with Newfoundland close behind.

• A resounding 98 per cent of those in Newfoundland picked their own province as funniest.
• 78 per cent of Quebecers picked Quebec and only 4 per cent said Newfoundland.
• Ontarians find Newfoundlanders more humorous (37 per cent) than their own residents (34 per cent.)

Study methodology
This survey of 2,028 Canadians 18 years of age and over was carried out by telephone between May 21 and June 5, 2002. Results to a survey of this size can be considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.2 percent, nineteen times out of twenty.

About MasterCard
MasterCard International has a comprehensive portfolio of well-known, widely accepted payment brands including MasterCard® , Cirrus® and Maestro® . More than 1.7 billion MasterCard, Cirrus and Maestro logos are present on credit, charge and debit cards in circulation today. An association comprised of more than 15,000 member financial institutions, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses, both large and small, in 210 countries and territories. MasterCard is a leader in quality and innovation, offering a wide range of payment solutions in the virtual and traditional worlds. MasterCard’s award-winning Priceless® advertising campaign is now seen in 90 countries and in 45 languages, giving the MasterCard brand a truly global reach and scope. With more than 24 million acceptance locations, no card is accepted in more places and by more merchants than the MasterCard Card. For the year ended December 31, 2001 gross dollar volume exceeded US$986 billion. MasterCard can be reached through its World Wide Web site at http://www.mastercard.com.

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Allison Morris, Tina Gladstone or Christopher Fox
Environics Communications for MasterCard Canada
416-920-9000
tgladstone@pr.environics.ca
cfox@pr.environics.ca