Canada Day Quiz Answers by Will Ferguson

1. Nokomis, Saskatchewan (pop. 436) is the hometown of which iconic Canadian figure?
Answer: D) All of the above, Max Braithwaite, Kenny Shields and Elmer Lach

2. Who was the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel?
Answer: C) A retired schoolteacher named Annie Taylor (She went over the Falls in 1901 on her 63rd birthday—and survived)

3. What is the oldest newspaper in Canada—and North America?
Answer: A) The Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (Quebec City’s English-language newspaper is not only the oldest paper in Canada, but in all of North America. The papers here are listed in order of publication—The Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph: 1764, The Montreal Gazette: 1778, The Kingston Whig-Standard: 1834, The Globe & Mail: 1844)

4. The self-proclaimed “polar bear capital of the world” is located in which province or territory?
Answer: D) Manitoba (Churchill, Manitoba has tundra buggy tours to the hungry polar bears that gather every year on the shores of Hudson Bay. Highly recommended!)

5. Why on earth is there a statue to Jumbo the Elephant in St. Thomas, Ontario?
Answer: B) Jumbo died in St. Thomas (During a dark rainstorm in 1885, en route to a performance in London, Ontario, Jumbo was killed by a locomotive while crossing the tracks outside of St. Thomas. For this, the town celebrates.)

6. Rosebud, Alberta (pop. 112) welcomes as many as 40,000 visitors every year for what event?
Answer: A) Year-round live theatre (answers B and D are both close, though. The Badlands Passion Play is in nearby Drumheller, and the Running with the Bulls is in Strathmore).

7. Sable Island, little more than a sandbar off the coast of Nova Scotia, is known for what?
Answer: D) All of the above, it's a moving graveyard with wild horses.

8. As part of their “screeching in” ceremony, the cruel inhabitants of St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, torment visitors by forcing them to do what?
Answer: A) Kiss a cod (eating seal flipper pie without gagging is impossible).

9. In Dawson City, Yukon, an equally cruel initiation involves what?
Answer: A) Dawson’s notorious Sourdough Cocktail includes an actual dried human toe as its garnish.

10. In Meanwhile, Back in Nokomis, Will Ferguson describes which early job of his as being as easy as “selling water to someone whose hair is on fire”?
Answer: B) Selling Anne of Green Gables tours to Japanese tourists (though Ferguson did also work as a tour guide at the CN Tower back in those carefree days known as “the 80s”).

Results

7 – 10 correct: Congratulations, you’re as Canadian as maple syrup and frostbite!
5 – 8 correct: As Canadian as poutine and parliamentary paralysis
2 – 5 correct: Hmm... You need to get out more and meet the neighbours
0 – 1 correct: Nice try, pal. You’re clearly an American trying to fob yourself off as a Canuck. The authorities have been contacted.