Most Saskatchewan residents don't believe their political leaders, and this province has the third highest feeling that the federal government is irrelevant, members of Weyburn's Rotary Club was told on Thursday.

The club hosted Jane Ebbern, a director with the Canadian Unity Council, who shared the results of a recent survey they conducted across Canada, including a break-down of the responses from Saskatchewan.

The survey shows 83 per cent of residents believe most political leaders don't tell the truth or keep their promises, and 62 per cent stated that politicians do not do a good job of serving the interests of the community.

Ebbern shared these and many other statistics about how Canadians feel about the state of politics at this time, with the intent to start a dialogue with Canadians about how we can improve our political system.

Not surprisingly, only 26 per cent of Saskatchewan residents believe this province is treated with the respect it deserves in Canada; the only province that feels worse treated is Newfoundland-Labrador.

When posed the statement, "The federal government has become virtually irrelevant to me", 44 per cent of Saskatchewan residents agreed, with only Nunavut, New Brunswick and Newfoundland at higher levels.

Asked to rank what should the top priorities for the federal government, western Canadians said protecting the environment was first, maintaining a balanced budget came second and spending on health care placed third.

Asked what would "fundamentally change Canada" if it were taken away, 85 per cent of respondents said health care, 73 per cent said having two official languages, 69 per cent said peace-keeping, and 60 per cent said the loss of the CBC would change the country.

Support for the two official languages was lower in Saskatchewan, as only 60 per cent felt the country would be fundamentally altered, while in Alberta the figure was 72 per cent.

Ebbern noted that Canada promotes immigration to help our population grow, as our birth rate is insufficient to do so, but support for visible minorities was not very high.

"We are promoting immigration, but how do we integrate them when a quarter of the country is uncomfortable with that move?," she said, pointing to the recent riots in Paris, France, which arose because their immigration policies were not well thought out.

On issues dealing with public security and terrorism, the survey found Canadians are not yet willing to sacrifice personal liberties in order to have greater security, such as allowing searches without a warrant, or having terrorist suspects held without charge for a period of days.

Asked which figures surprised people, member Gary Anderson said the numbers on national security surprised him. Another member, Mal Barber, suggested it would be interesting to compare the figures on the trustworthiness of politicians before and after the Gomery report.

Member Barry Spencer asked if there has been research pinpointed to the feelings of western separatism, and Ebbern admitted this has not been studied very much to this point, other with questions relating to Quebec separatism. She noted in the referendum vote that came close to supporting separation, "we know now that 40 per cent of those that voted yes did not want separation, but they wanted a better deal with Canada."