Newspapers and newscasts love polls. Every single day we wake up, there's a brand new set of numbers telling us what the average Canadian thinks, how the average Canadian is going to vote. I find it very entertaining. One minute Harper's numbers are down, the next minute they're up. Same with Dion, one minute they're down, the next minute, well, they're usually down, but you get my point.

But they're not just entertaining. Believe it or not polls actually matter. Governments decide when they're going to have elections based on the polls. Public policy is dictated by polls, and sometimes Canadians decide how they're going to vote based on the polls. The problem is, it's very easy for the average Canadian to avoid being polled; because, while polling has not changed since the 1960s, the average Canadian certainly has.

For starters, these polling companies, they only call land lines. They don't call cell phones. So right off the bat, if you're under the age of 30, you don't get called. Your opinion doesn't count. And then of course a lot of Canadians, I'd go so far as to say the average Canadian, just doesn't like to pick up the phone if they don't know who's on the other line. That's why God invented call display. And keep in mind, most of these calls are all made in the evening between five and nine pm. So if you have a social life or small kids, or you do shift work, or you happen to like Jeopardy, your opinion doesn't count.

Now personally, I would love to be polled. I've been waiting for that phone call for 15 years - the phone has never rang. Now granted, I would spend the entire time lying and saying things like "I believe the Green Party is best suited to manage the economy" but at least I'd take the call. Everyone else I know, they'd just hang up.

So who are these people? Who's taking the calls? Who are these people that are affecting public policy? I have no idea, but I know this: when it comes to polling, the average Canadian is far from normal and well below average, give or take 3 percent, 19 times out of 20.