Strictly Canadian: Canadian People Quiz

Answer: John Moodie

Not only did John Moodie own the first car in Ontario he was the first car owner in Canada. In 1898 he purchased for $1000 a "single cylinder runabout" Winston. In 1903, Moodie founded the Hamilton Automobile club, the predecessor to the CAA (Canadian Automobile Association.) Moodie was notable for many first including having the first piano in Hamilton, the first motorboat, and the first bicycle in Canada. (http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/John-Moodie)

Answer: July 1904

Constable William Irving Jr. of Webbwood Ontario was killed on July 17, 1904; his death made him the first provincial police officer (not the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) but the predecessor) to be killed in the line of duty. He had been an officer for several years when he had got shot. For more detailed information see http://www.oppa.ca/honour_roll/officers/l0039.html.
In September 1792 the parliament of Upper Canada created a police system that would allow police officers to be responsible for specific regions. The Constable Act of 1871 allowed the police officers to be able to police throughout the whole province not just a specific area of it.
October 13, 1909, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) was officially formed. Originally it consisted of 45 men, each having an annual income of $400. Today the OPP is now the third largest police force in North America. To date, there have been approximately 94 OPP officers killed in the line of duty. The first OPP officer to die in the line of duty was Sergeant John Urquhant in 1923.

Answer: The Friendly Giant

The Friendly Giant ran on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) from 1959 until 1985. Bob Homme, who played Friendly, the giant, would start every show with the phrase "look up, look waaaaaay up". He would then invite everyone into his castle, after lowering the drawbridge, and rearrange the furniture "one little chair for you, a bigger chair for two to curl up in, and for someone who likes to rock, a rocking chair".

The show consisted of Friendly, his friends, Jerome the Giraffe and Rusty the Rooster.

The show would end with the drawbridge being raised up, the night sky and a cow jumping over the moon. Bob Homme and the Friendly Giant, was unique television because, there were no writers for the show, Homme and the puppeteer Rod Coneybeare, created the show without a script. Homme's idea was that his show would be a consistent in children's lives.

The environment of the show remained the same, it was constant, not changing in the 26 years it was on the air (over 3000 episodes.) For more information about "The Friendly Giant" or Bob Homme see the website http://www.cbc.ca/lifeandtimes/growingupcanadian.html.

Answer: Ryan Hreljac

Ryan Hreljac started raising money and awareness while he was still in the first grade. His idea was to bring fresh water wells to places in Africa that did not have access to fresh water. By grade 2 he had raised $2000 and the first fresh water well was built in Uganda. In 2001, a non-profit foundation called Ryan's Well Foundation was created, co-founded with the Canadian International development agency. Since then over two million dollars have been raised and over 330 fresh water wells have been created. Hreljac created a program called "youth in action" which is a "clean water education program" in 2007.

This program was for school children, both elementary and secondary students. Hreljac has received several awards, including being the youngest member of the Order of Ontario. For more information the foundation's website is www.ryanswell.ca.

Answer: Mr. Dress-Up

Between 1967 and 1996 Mr. Dress-Up and his friends Casey and Finnegan have entertained Canadian children. Ernie Coombs came to Canada to work on Mister Roger's Neighbourhood in 1963 and ended up with his own show called "Butternut Square". After that show was cancelled his new show was Mr. Dress-up. The show taught arts and crafts, life lessons, family values, safety and had singing and laughter. Mr. Dress-up's famous trunk, the Tickle Trunk, contained everything imaginable (and needed for that particular show) which including costumes. The Tickle Trunk got its name because originally when the trunk refused to open, Mr. Dress-Up would have to sing to it, which would tickle the lock, and it would open.
Ernie Coombs is the recipient of the Earl Grey Award which is awarded to a person who shows excellence in Canadian television. For years of dedication to entertaining Canadian children on May 9th 1996 Ernie Coombs became a member of the Order of Canada.
Gobo is a Fraggle off the show "Fraggle Rock," Rusty is the Rooster from the show "The Friendly Giant" and Big Bird is from "Sesame Street." For more information on Mr. Dress-up or Ernie Coombs himself see the CBC's Life and Time web site dedicated to Ernie Coombs at http://www.cbc.ca/lifeandtimes/coombs.html.

Answer: Sir John Abbott

Alexander Mackenzie was born in Dunkeld Scotland, Sir Robert Borden was born in Grand Pre, Nova Scotia in 1854 and Sir Mackenzie Bowell was born in Rickinghall England. Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott of the liberal/conservative party became Prime Minister in June 1891 after the death of Sir John A MacDonald.

He was born on March 12, 1821 in St. Andrew in Lower Canada (present day Quebec). Prime Minister Abbot was a familiar person in politics; he was the Solicitor General in 1862, a Senator, a Cabinet Minister, the mayor of Montreal, as well as the President of the Privy Council in 1891.

He remained Prime Minister until November 1892, he resigned because of health problems. He is noted for saying "I hate politics" for the whole quotes see http://www3.sympatico.ca/goweezer/canada/abbott.htm for more information on Prime Minister Abbott or any of the Canadian Prime Ministers see the website http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/government/pms.html

Answer: John William and Alfred J

The first Canadian Tire store was opened in September 1922 in Toronto, John William and Alfred J (AJ) Billes purchased the beginnings of this superstore for $1800. According to the Canadian Tire website (http://www2.canadiantire.ca/CTenglish/corpidx.html) the majority of the Canadian population (85%) lives within a 15 minute drive of a Canadian Tire store.

The first associate store was opened in 1934 and today there are over 450 Canadian Tire stores across Canada. Originally the store was automotive based, but has expanded to include tools, home and yard products, camping and sports products and more. Canadian Tire is also known for their "Canadian Tire money", in 1958 Alfred's wife, Muriel, suggested that a "cash bonus coupons" program that would be a loyalty reward program. For every purchase at Canadian Tire, a percentage of what was spent would be given back to the customer in Canadian Tire money.

This "money" never expires, and can be used to purchase anything that is sold in the store, the fictional character that appears on this money is named Sandy McTire. Canadian Tire's newest program, which started in February 2005, is a community charity organization that is apart of "Foundations for Families" it is the Jumpstart program.

This program allows children of financially unable families to participate in sport activities. Under the tag line "giving kids a sporting chance" the belief is that children that are participating in sports are more healthier, happier, more productive, focused, show more confidence and are better in school.

Answer: Stompin' Tom

Know for Canadian oriented songs, such as "Bud the Spud," "Little Wawa," "Margo's Cargo," "The Hockey Song" and many many more, Stompin' Tom is a strictly Canadian singer. Stompin' Tom was the winner of the Juno's Male Country Singer award from 1970-1975.

In 1978 he returned his awards, saying that he disapproved of the trend of Canadian artists leaving Canada and resettling in the United States. "I feel that the Juno's should be for people who are living in Canada, whose main base of business operations is in Canada, who are working toward the recognition of Canadian talent in this country and who are trying to further the export of such talent from this country." (http://www.stompintom.com/stompintomtimes/rpm.html) After stating that he would no longer accept any awards he removed himself from the music industry for over ten years. In 1993 Stompin' Tom received a lifetime achievement award from the East Coast Music Association.

He is a recipient of the Order of Canada, as well as the Queen's Jubilee medal.

In his childhood home town of Skinner's Pond, Prince Edward Island, in 1999, an road was renamed the Stompin' Tom Rd. In 2004, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) program called "The Greatest Canadian" came up with a list of who Canadian's (based on their votes) thought was the greatest Canadian(s) and Stompin' Tom ranked thirteenth.

Answer: The Dionne Quintuplets

Born during the depression on May 28, 1934, the Dionne Quintuplets, Yvonne, Cecile, Marie, Annette and Emilie were the first surviving identical quintuplets. Their father, Oliva, and their mother, Elzire, already had five other children (six actually but one died) after the quints they had three more children.

The Ontario government stepped in and created the Guardianship Act, making the quints wards of the crown. This was done because there was a concern that Oliva Dionne was going to exploit the quints since he had been considering putting them on display at the Chicago's World Fair.

The Guardianship Act gave the government and Dr. Dafoe (the doctor who was present at the quints' birth) custody until the quints reached 18 years old. The intent of the Ontario government was to avoid family exploitation of the quints. Except the Ontario Government did do exactly that, exploit the quints. With the creation of Quintland, "The Dafoe Hospital and Nursery" it became the world's first theme park.

The main attraction was these five identical little girls. Quintland had a horseshoe shaped viewing area, which showed the girls' playground. It is estimated that approximately 6000 people visited Quintland daily, between the years 1936 and 1943 Quintland had approximately 3 million visitors. The quints made product endorsements, commercials, and movies, they made approximately half a billion dollars, for the government, and local businesses. After living in Quintland with no real contact, other than Dr. Dafoe and nurses for almost nine years, the girls were returned to their family in 1943. As adults the quints authored two books called "We Were Five" and "Family Secrets." In 1994 the surviving quints (Annette, Yvonne and Cecile) received four million dollars from the Ontario government. The original Dionne home was moved to North Bay, it is now the Dionne Quintuplet Museum, and was opened in 2002. For more information on the Dionne Quintuplets see the following websites: http://www.quintland.com, http://www.cnn.com/US/9711/19/dionne.quints/ and http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/bios/Dionne.html

Answer: October 18, 1929

Until 1929, women in Canada were not considered persons. Emily Murphy was told that she could not run for a senate position because she wasn't a person. This issue was taken to Prime Minister Borden who agreed women are not persons. A legal loop hole that said "any five citizens, acting as a unit, had the right to petition the Supreme Court for clarification of a constitutional point." With Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby (later to be known as the Canadian Famous Five) an appeal was put before the Supreme Court asking if the word person included women.

The Supreme Court decision was returned on April 24, 1928, saying the word person did not include women. With the encouragement of the new Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, the five women took their case to the highest level of appeals available to Canadians, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England.

The question remained the same, does the word person include women. October 18, 1929, became an significant important date for all Canadian women.

The Privy Council, consisting of 5 Lords, said that yes, women are persons. "That the exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would not ask why the word "persons" should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?" (http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/women/a/personscase.htm) Women as persons now could run for office, could now be in politics, and had the same rights and freedoms that all Canadian males had. For more information on the Persons case or the Famous Five see the websites http://www.albertacentennial.ca/news/viewpost.aspx~id=364.html and http://www.famous5.ca/frames/frame_education_about.htm