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This article was published 26/12/2010 (3566 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA -- Don't take it personally if you're not feeling particularly revered by your patient, passenger or pupil.

The reputation of some well-known professions has been declining for years and the instant respect other jobs commanded no longer exists, suggest the results of a poll released Sunday.

The survey asked Canadians to rank the levels of trust held toward certain professions, including lawyers, church leaders, accountants and plumbers.

Comparing results from this year to those from 2003, pharmacists, doctors, airline pilots and teachers experienced the largest drops in trust.

But despite the decline, those professions still top the list -- ranked second through fifth -- of most trusted professions, with 66 per cent, 63 per cent and 62 per cent and 58 per cent of Canadians polled expressing trust in them.

Canadian soldiers hold the top spot in the poll with 68 per cent of Canadians indicating trust in them.

That's a surge of 11 per cent since 2003.

"There has generally be a steady decline in the reputations of just about every institution and profession," said Darrell Bricker, a spokesman with Ipsos Reid, which conducted the poll for Postmedia News. "And the reason for that is because people don't deify certain groups the way they used to. They don't instantly trust someone because they're a doctor or a pharmacist."

Essentially, Bricker said, the public is beginning to see the fallibility of people, regardless of how they make a living.

"In the past, doctors were regarded as the pillars of the community, to be respected at all times," the pollster said. "But now, there's perhaps a tendency to place doctors in the same box as the entire health-care system and all the problems associated with it."

At the bottom of the list are chief executive officers, with 20 per cent of Canadians indicating trust; national politicians with 25 per cent, and car salespeople, with 20 per cent.

But trust in each of those professions increased since 2003.

"Basically, the ones that are going up are the ones that really didn't have much farther to go down," Bricker said. "I mean, car salespeople went up 10 points, but they were only at 10 before."

All in all, Bricker said it looks a bit like there's a regression toward an intermediate level of support for just about everything.

-- Postmedia News

Profession-by-profession rankings

Profession Trust level Change since 2003

Canadian soldiers 68 per cent +11 per cent

Pharmacists 66 per cent -25 per cent

Doctors 63 per cent -22 per cent

Airline pilots 62 per cent -19 per cent

Teachers 58 per cent -21 per cent

Police officers 55 per cent -18 per cent

Judges 51 per cent N/A

Daycare workers 50 per cent -8 per cent

Accountants 47 per cent -5 per cent

Church leaders 45 per cent N/A

Chiropractors 43 per cent +3 per cent

Plumbers 41 per cent -1 per cent

Financial advisers 40 per cent unchanged

Charity leaders 37 per cent N/A

Auto mechanics 33 per cent unchanged

Journalists 32 per cent +1 per cent

Lawyers 31 per cent +2 per cent

Local politicians 30 per cent +16 per cent

TV/radio personalities 29 per cent -7 per cent

Union leaders 29 per cent N/A

New homebuilders 28 per cent +1 per cent

Environmental activists 28 per cent N/A

CEOs 25 per cent +4 per cent

National politicians 25 per cent +16 per cent

Car salespeople 20 per cent +10 per cent