Fog And Fish

In Maclean's 14th year-end (CBC) News Poll, Newfoundlanders' win the championship in the nation's bedrooms. This year, fully 77 per cent of the island's respondents describe themselves as sexually active ... well above the national average of 64% and far above British Columbia's average of 56%. Prodded for an explanation, Rick Mercer, the sharp-tongued co-star of CBC TV's This Hour Has 22 Minutes, is uncharacteristically at a loss for words. "Fog and fish make us horny. Fog and fish make us want to ...."

In Canada, the latest polling also associates better levels of education, higher incomes and a more optimistic outlook on life with an active sex life. "Canadians who are in fixed relationships continue to report higher levels of sexual activity than those without partners."

On the other hand, there is an inverse relationship between sex and other forms of social intercourse. The more often people go to bars, attend concerts or eat out in restaurants, the less likely they are to engage in sex. Observes pollster Alan Greg: "It's not the ones who are out and about who are boffing like mad; it's the people who are staying home."

There is also an inverse relationship between sexual activity and age. While 82% of respondents between the ages of 30 and 39 say they are sexually active, only 25% of respondents 65 and older claim an active sexual life.

Asked whether Newfoundlanders are perhaps guilty of some embellishment, Rick Mercer said, "They are not lying. Newfoundlanders are, by and large, a humble lot. If anything, we're probably understating the facts."

(MACLEAN'S, December 29th - January 5th, 1998)