It’s Canada Day! Are you ready for our hardest quiz ever?
Sure, everyone knows about Canada’s longest outdoor skating rink, tallest building and largest mall, writes Bruce Deachman. But can you identify the country’s oldest doughnut shop or the number of Fathers of Confederation who were fathers? Take this quiz
1 How many of the original 36 Fathers of Confederation were actually fathers, and how many children did they have? (a) 14, 70 (b) 22, 70 (c) 35, 235 (d) 36, 149 2
Which of the following are NOT Canadian inventions? (a) Instant mashed potatoes (b) Jockstraps (c) Windshield wipers (d) The Snowstorm Mask, a clear plastic, cone-shaped mask to wear over your entire face in snowstorms 3
How many people have been sentenced to death in Canada, and how many of them were actually executed? (a) 95/36 (b) 211/68 (c) 1,481/710 (d) 6,770/2,906 4
What Canadian connection do Cuba’s centavos, New Guinea’s toea, Colombia’s peso and Norway’s krone coins share? (a) They are all minted in Canada (b) None can be legally brought into Canada (c) Each has had editions issued celebrating the discovery of insulin (d) All have, at one time or another, been accepted as legal tender in Canada 5
How many times would you have to empty Lake Ontario in order to fill Lake Superior? (a) 3.7 (b) 7.4 (c) 16 (d) 23.5 6
Where does the Ottawa River rank among Canada’s longest rivers? (a) 8th (b) 15th (c) 20th (d) 23rd 7
How many NHL rinks would it take to span its length? (a) 991 (b) 2,047 (c) 6,712 (d) 20,830 8
Approximately how many Canadian-born Japanese were placed in internment camps in the 1940s? (a) 2,000 (b) 6,500 (c) 14,000 (d) 20,830 9
With an area of just over 55,000 square kilometres, Nunavut’s Devon Island is the 27th-largest island in the world. What is its population density? (As a comparative aid, metro Ottawa’s population density is just under 200 people per square kilometre.) (a) 0 people per sq. km. (b) 10 people per sq. km. (c) 20 people per sq. km. (d) 30 people per sq. km. 10
The recent Ottawa sinkhole measured approximately 40 metres by 20 metres by 5.5 metres, for an estimated volume of 44,000 cubic metres. Approximately how many times larger was Canada’s deadliest sinkhole, which swallowed 35 homes, a bus and several cars, and claimed 31 lives, in St-Jean-Vianney, Que., in 1971? (a) 6 (b) 12 (c) 28 (d) 192 11
On Oct. 6, 1909, Vancouver’s first mechanized ambulance was taken out for its inaugural drive. What was so remarkable about that occasion? (a) It was Canada’s first motor-powered ambulance (b) Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, on a goodwill tour of British Columbia at the time, was the ceremonial driver (c) The car ran out of gas, as no one thought to fill the tank beforehand (d) It struck and killed an American tourist, who became its first customer 12
Who, upon completing a tour of the Buckminster Fuller-designed U.S. pavilion at Montreal’s Expo 67, allegedly said: “The homosexuals have had carte blanche”? (a) U.S. President Lyndon Johnson (b) Former prime minister John Diefenbaker (c) Singer and gay rights opponent Anita Bryant (d) Televangelist Jerry Falwell (e) Westboro Baptist Church pastor Fred Phelps 13
How many times larger than Ottawa is Prince Edward Island? (a) 2 (b) 8 (c) 20 (d) 31 14
Toronto’s Michal (The Joggler) Kapral holds the Guinness World Record for running the fastest full marathon while juggling three balls (and chewing gum, although that’s not part of the record). How long did it take him? (By way of reference, Ethiopian Dino Sefir won this year’s Ottawa Race Weekend marathon in two hours, eight minutes and 13.8 seconds.) (a) 2:08:15 (b) 2:50:12 (c) 3:38:11 (d) 4:22:31 15
Rank these doughnut shops from oldest to youngest: Country Style, Coffee Time, Robin’s Donuts, Tim Hortons. (a) Tim Hortons, Coffee Time, Country Style, Robin’s Donuts (b) Tim Hortons, Robin’s Donuts, Country Style, Coffee Time (c) Country Style, Tim Hortons, Robin’s Donuts, Coffee Time (d) Robin’s Donuts, Country Style, Coffee Time, Tim Hortons