TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
With the election just a week away, Jamie Bradburn tests how well you know Canada’s political past
1. Which of the following is not true about the first post-Confederation federal election, held in 1867?
a) It was held concurrently with Ontario’s first provincial election
b) Judges, postal workers and tax collectors were among the professions forbidden to vote
c) Staggered voting allowed some losing candidates to run elsewhere before the election was over
d) The private ballot was introduced, freeing voters from intimidation at the polls
2. Female candidates ran federally for the first time in 1921. Of the two women who ran in Toronto that year, why did Toronto East Liberal candidate Elizabeth Bethune Kiely step aside during the campaign?
a) Faced angry anti-suffragette protestors during candidate meetings
b) Gave birth a week before Election Day
c) Threw her support behind the Progressive Party candidate, who was a decorated soldier
d) Won a seat on the Toronto Board of Education
3.
Historically, election night offered plenty of diversions offered by newspapers alongside the results in numerous spots across the city. For example, in 1930, the Star provided voting results, comedic movies, a band and ladies’ softball games in which east end park?
a) East Lynn b) Fairmount c) Monarch d) Withrow
4. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the predecessor to the NDP, gained its first federal seat in the Toronto area when Joseph Noseworthy won a 1942 by-election in York South, defeating which former Prime Minister trying to make a political comeback?
a) Lester Pearson
b) R.B. Bennett
c) William Lyon Mackenzie King
d) Arthur Meighen
5. In 1963, Toronto Maple Leafs star Red Kelly was re-elected to a second term as Liberal MP for the riding of York West. Which sports figure was his Progressive Conservative opponent during that campaign?
a) Argonauts coach Nobby Wirkowski b) Maple Leafs executive Stafford Smythe c) Hockey agent Alan Eagleson d) Pro wrestler Whipper Billy Watson
6. Which Torontobased journalist and commentator served as the English moderator for the first televised leaders debate in 1968?
a) Pierre Berton
b) June Callwood
c) Ron Haggart
d) Charles Templeton
7. What was unusual about the Star’s federal election endorsement in 1972?
a) It supported a Conservative leader (Robert Stanfield) for the first time since the First World War
b) It supported an NDP leader (David Lewis) for the first time ever
c) It supported all three major leaders
d) It supported none of the three major leaders
8. Contesting the riding of Eglinton during the 1972 federal election, Hardial Bains became the first South Asian Canadian candidate to run for Parliament. Which party did he lead during that campaign?
a) Communist
b) Marxist-Leninist
c) Social Credit
d) Socialist Labour
9. Magician Doug Henning ran in Rosedale in the 1993 federal election, finishing well behind notable candidates Bill Graham, David MacDonald and Jack Layton. Which party did Henning run for?
a) Green
b) Natural Law
c) Reform
d) Rhinoceros
10. What was the Liberal campaign slogan during the 2015 federal election, the first to elect Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister?
a) “A Canada That Works Together”
b) “Ready for Change”
c) “Real Change Now”
d) “The Land Is Strong”