Ten Provinces -- Ten Questions Quiz

Answer: Columbia River

The mighty Columbia delivers 7400 cubic metres of water to the Pacific every second, making it the the most powerful river on the west coast of North America and the second most powerful (after the Mississippi) anywhere in North America. It is the origin of the province's name, but the southern portion of it became part of the United States in 1846, when Columbia was divided between Britain and the U.S. by the Oregon Treaty.

The river rises in the Canadian Rockies, but then flows south through the states of Washington and Oregon, finally entering the Pacific near Astoria, Oregon.

Answer: Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, 4th daughter of Queen Victoria

Princess Louise's husband, the Marquess of Lorne, was Governor-General of Canada from 1878 to 1882. Louise came to Canada with him. She took her duties as Vice-Regal Consort seriously, and toured Canada extensively, becoming quite popular. Besides the province of Alberta, other things honouring her name include: Mount Alberta, the village of Caroline, Lake Louise, and three regiments of the Canadian Army.

Answer: crude oil

Surprise! It isn't wheat. Most people think of Saskatchewan as one gigantic wheatfield, but in actual fact it has a very diverse economy. Although it still produces half of Canada's wheat, that has long ago ceased to be Saskatchewan's leading product.

As of 2003, Saskatchewan exported three billion dollars' worth of crude oil, making that its leading export. Potash was in second place, at $1.8 billion. Wheat (including durum) toddled along in third place, at a value of $1.3 billion. Uranium is another famous export from this province, but this metal is only needed in small quantities, so although Saskatchewan is the world's leading producer this only translated into $140 million.

Other major products include wood pulp and paper, lumber, legumes, and grains (besides wheat.)

Answer: Churchill

Strictly speaking, Manitoba is not in the middle of the Great Plains, but at the northeastern edge of them. It does indeed have a seaport, the town of Churchill on Hudson's Bay. Although this port is closed for much of the year due to ice, in the summer it is a more direct path to Europe than the St. Lawrence Seaway, and over 600,000 tonnes of goods (mainly agricultural, including some of that famous Saskatchewan wheat) are exported through it.

Answer: Erie Canal

The Erie canal connects Lake Erie to the Hudson River, and is entirely within New York State, although at the Buffalo end it does come within a quarter mile of the Canadian border.

The Welland canal connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It's a major part of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Rideau and Trent canals were both built for 19th century barges. They are too small for modern ships and no longer carry freight, although they are still used by pleasure craft.

Answer: 69

The Quebec average of 69 percent was FAR higher than the national average of 39 percent! In fact, only two other provinces, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, had a majority of respondents identify themselves as being of Canadian origin. In Ontario it was only one third, and in Manitoba less than a quarter! In British Columbia there were more people calling themselves "English" than "Canadian" and in Saskatchewan there were more people who identified themselves as "German" than "Canadian." The census results seem to indicate that far from being the disloyal separatists that the media wants us to think they are, most Quebeckers are comfortable with and confident in their identity as Canadians.

Answer: New Brunswick

Yes, New Brunswick is the most westerly of the four Atlantic provinces. The mainland (Labrador) portion of Newfoundland goes almost as far west, but not quite. At the westernmost point of New Brunswick is the pretty Blue River (Riviere Bleu) which flows down from Quebec and then forms a three-way border between Quebec, New Brunswick, and the U.S. state of Maine.

Answer: Portuguese

Labrador is named after Joao Fernandes Lavrador, a Portuguese explorer who first sighted it in 1498. "Lavrador" means "landowner" in Portuguese. Joao Fernandes added the "Lavrador" to his name to signify that he was given ownership of the land, so paradoxically you could say it is named after him, and he is named after it.

This was a huge surprise for me when I was researching this topic. I had always assumed the name was French in origin. There is a lake in Cape Breton called "Bras d'Or" (Arms of Gold, denoting the sunrise reflecting off its waters.) I had always assumed the name Labrador was an Anglicization of La Bras d'Or, given the similar waters there. When I found out the real origin, I would not have been more surprised if I just found out it was Swahili!

Answer: Bedford Basin

The Bay of Fundy is on the north side of Nova Scotia, famous for its tides. The Minas Basin is part of the Bay of Fundy. Margaret's Bay is close to Halifax, but not part of Halifax harbour.

Large, deep and well-protected, the Bedford Basin was ideal for the convoy assembly role. German U-boats entered the outer parts of Halifax harbour, but they never penetrated the narrow passage into the Basin. In 1917 a British munitions ship exploded due to purely accidental causes. The resulting explosion was the largest man-made detonation on earth prior to the invention of the atom bomb.

Answer: red sandstone

Relatively young as landforms go, Prince Edward Island was formed no more than 300 million years ago. The sandy loam soil based on the sandstone is excellent for many crops, which has made the island very successful agriculturally, especially at growing its famous potatoes.

Yes, we're still moving west to east. Even though P.E.I. is the third province in Canada going east to west, it is tenth when going west to east. Because it is so small, the two provinces that are east of it are also west of it.