A Little Taste of Canada Trivia Quiz

Answer: Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol was first signed in 1987, and it was amended in 1990 and 1992. The treaty stated that chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, and halons, which are all chemical compounds hazardous to the ozone layer, had to be phased out by the year 2000. The treaty further stated that methyl chloroform, another chemical compound hazardous to the ozone layer, was to be phased out by 2005.
Kofi Annan, who served as the Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1997 to January 1, 2007, has been quoted as saying about the Montreal Protocol that it is "Perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date."

The Ottawa Treaty of 1997 is also known as the Mine Ban Treaty. This treaty bans the use, stockpiling, and production of anti-personal mines. As well as stopping development and production of anti-personnel mines, countries which sign the treaty must destroy all of their anti-personal mines within four years, except for a few to be used in training for mine clearing and mine detection. In addition, signing countries must have cleared all mined areas with ten years. In 1997, only 122 countries had signed the treaty. By August of 2007, the treaty had been signed by 157 countries.
The Geneva Convention, adopted for the first time in 1864, is a treaty about the treatment of prisoners of war.
The Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, brought an end to the War of 1812.

Answer: all of them

Monty Hall, host of "Let's Make a Deal", was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on August 25, 1921. Monty Hall hosted "Let's Make a Deal" from 1963 to 1967, from 1980 to 1981, from 1984 to 1986, and for a short time in 1990. Other game shows hosted by Monty Hall included "Split Second", from 1972 to 1975, and "The All New Beat the Clock", from 1979 to 1980.
Howie Mandel was born in Toronto, Ontario, on November 29, 1955. Howie is well-known for being the host of "Deal or No Deal", which debuted on December 19, 2005. Howie Mandel is also well-known for his Boston Pizza commercials, as well as his role as Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the television series St. Elsewhere. He played this role for six years, beginning in 1982. Howie may be best known, however, for his stand-up comedy, especially his bit about himself as a young child, Bobby. That comedic bit was so popular that it was made into a cartoon called "Bobby's World", which ran from 1990 to 1998, and for which Mandel supplied the voices of both Bobby and Bobby's father.
Alex Trebek, host of "Jeopardy!, was born in Sudbury, Ontario on July 22, 1940. Trebek hosted "Jeopardy" starting in 1984. Other television shows hosted by Alex Trebek include "Reach for the Top", a trivia game show for high school students, from 1966 to 1973, and "Classic Concentration" from 1991 to 1993. In 1991, Trebek became the only host by that point in US game show history to host three national game shows at once. Those shows were "Jeopardy!", "Classic Concentration", and "To Tell the Truth".

Answer: Ben Mulroney

"Canadian Idol" is a reality television series in which aspiring singers compete for the top spot. The show is based on Britain's "Pop Idol" and "American Idol" from the United States.
Ben Mulroney was born in Montreal, Quebec, on March 9, 1976.
Ben's father, Brian Mulroney, was Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.

Answer: smoking

In September of 1988, a smoking ban came into effect on Canadian commercial flights. The ban, which covered nearly 65% of all Canadian flights, covered short distance airline flights within Canada, as well as those going to the United States. In December of 1989, the ban was expanded to cover flights of up to six hours in duration, which affected flights to the Caribbean and Bermuda.

As of July 1, 1990, the ban included flights of more than six hours, affecting international flights to Europe.

Answer: Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky won the Hart Trophy for MVP for the first time in 1980, when he played for the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky won the trophy seven more times in a row.
Jose Theodore, playing with the Montreal Canadiens, won the Hart Trophy in 2002. He was tied with Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames, and a tie-breaker was needed to determine the winner.
Joe Thornton, playing with the San Jose Sharks, won the Hart Trophy in 2006.
Sidney Crosby, playing with the Pittsburgh Penguins, won the Hart Trophy in 2007, becoming the youngest MVP in the NHL since Wayne Gretzky.

Answer: Prince Edward Island

The movie was based on the book of the same name, which was written by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, and published in 1908.
The story, set in the town of Avonlea in Prince Edward Island, is about a middle-aged brother and sister who want to adopt a young orphan boy from an asylum in Nova Scotia, to help them on the farm. Instead, they end up with an imaginative and fun-loving eleven-year-old girl named Anne Shirley. "Anne of Green Gables" follows Anne through childhood and into early adulthood.

Answer: Labatt's

Although Labatt's was the first Canadian brewery to use twist-off caps, the Terre Haute Brewing Company, in Indiana, USA, was the very first brewery to start using twist-off caps, in 1935.
Labatt's Blue and Labatt's Blue Light are two of the most popular beers in Canada, along with Molson's Canadian.

I try not to put personal opinions in my quizzes, but I have to say that the television commercials for Molson's Canadian are among the funniest commercials that I've ever seen.
Perhaps the best-known and most widely quoted of their commercials contains the famous "I Am Canadian" speech, often found printed on such things as T-shirts. Although this commercial is somewhat humourous, it inspires a feeling of patriotism, as well. Here are the words from that famous commercial:

"Hey.
I'm not a lumberjack, or a fur trader, and I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber, or own a dog sled, and I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada, although I'm certain they're really, really nice.
I have a Prime Minister, not a President. I speak English and French, not American, and I pronounce it 'about', not 'a boot'.
I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack. I believe in peacekeeping, not policing; diversity, not assimilation; and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.
A toque is a hat, a chesterfield is a couch, and it is pronounced zed: not zee - zed.
Canada is the second largest land mass. The first nation of hockey. And the best part of North America.
My name is Joe. And I am Canadian!
... Thank you."

Answer: Titanic

The Titanic, thought to be unsinkable, struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, and sank a few hours later on April 15, 1912. She had been on her maiden voyage. More than 1500 people perished, including millionaire John Jacob Aster IV and Benjamin Guggenheim, a wealthy industrialist. One of the survivors of the Titanic's sinking was Margaret Tobin Brown, who is perhaps better known as The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
The Edmund Fitzgerald, immortalized in a song by Gordon Lightfoot, sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975.
The Hamilton and the Scourge sank near Port Dalhousie, Ontario, on August 8, 1813, during the War of 1812.

Answer: Battle of Queenston Heights, October 13, 1812

Major General Sir Isaac Brock was well-loved by the military and civilians alike. His death at the Battle of Queenston Heights was mourned by many.
Isaac Brock was buried four times, along with his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell. Brock and Macdonell were first buried on one of the bastions at Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake (called Newark at the time), Ontario. That bastion, which is the northeast bastion of the fort, became known as Brock's Bastion. They were re-buried under Brock's Monument, in Queenston, Ontario, which was built to honour Brock. That monument was damaged by explosives in 1840. Brock and Macdonell were then temporarily buried in the Hamilton Family cemetery in Queenston, and buried for a final time when Brock's Monument was re-built.

As a result of trade restrictions imposed by Britain during her war with France, impressment of American sailors (Britain boarded American ships and forced men who had been born in Britain to join the British navy), and the belief that Britain was aiding the Indians (now more properly called Native Americans) to resist the spread of American settlement into Indian lands, the United States declared war on Britain, deciding that attacking Upper and Lower Canada was the best way to go about it. The United States of America was determined to gain control of the Canadas (as Canada was called during that time) and bring them under American control. The Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24, 1814, returning the border between the United States and Canada to its pre-war status. However, it took a while for news of the treaty to reach this side of the ocean. As a result, the Battle of New Orleans occurred on January 8, 1815.

Answer: The Terry Fox Story

Terry Fox had his right leg amputated above the knee in 1977 when he was sixteen years old, because of bone cancer. In 1980, he began what he called the "Marathon of Hope", which was a run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. Terry ran for 143 days, covering 5,373 kilometers (3,339 miles), beginning in St. John's Newfoundland, and coming to an early end outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario, where cancer was found in in Terry's lungs. Terry Fox passed away on June 28, 1981, when he was 22 years old.
There is still an annual Terry Fox Run on the second Sunday after Labour Day, as of 2007, when this quiz was written. Statistics from the Terry Fox Foundation show that as of September, 2007, over 400 million dollars has been raised in Terry's name.
The other movie names given as possible answers were made up.