Canadian History Sampler Trivia Quiz

Answer: Quebec

The settlement grows into Quebec City, capital of la belle province, as Quebec is sometimes known. The site chosen by Champlain is the point where the St Lawrence River becomes more narrow, at Cap-Diamant. The very name of the the city (and the province) comes from an Algonquin (first nation) word meaning "where the river narrows".

Answer: British Columbia

Having already served under the command of Captain James Cook, George Vancouver is promoted to captain and given command of an expedition to explore the west coast of North America. This he does, from as far south as parts of California to as far north as the 56th parallel.

He gives names to several hundred places, and is himself remembered by the name of British Columbia's largest city and the island upon which the provincial capital (Victoria) is situated.

Answer: Ontario

York, Upper Canada is better known as the city of Toronto, Ontario. In 1813 it is the site of the Battle of York, an engagement of the War of 1812 during which the Americans attempt to gain a victory, and control of Lake Ontario, by attacking a more lightly defended position than Kingston. Both sides suffer casualties, and the outcome is far from cut and dry.

In 1814, British troops retaliate for damage done to York by burning buildings in Washington DC.

Answer: New Brunswick

The Aroostook is a tributary of the St John River, and both the colony of New Brunswick and the US state of Maine believe that the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris give the surrounding land to them. Both sides send in troops to defend their claim to the forests rich in timber, but major confrontation is avoided by compromise.

The boundary is finally settled by the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty.

Answer: Prince Edward Island

Ironically, PEI is not one of the first four provinces to be called "Canada" in 1867. Those are New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec, with the host of the formative conference not joining until 1873. The conference in 1864 brings together delegates later to be known as Fathers of Confederation, including John A. Macdonald, Charles Tupper and two (unrelated) men named John Hamilton Gray, one from New Brunswick and the other from PEI.

Answer: Saskatchewan

The Metis* leader of the Red River Rebellion of 1870, and the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, remains a controversial figure. To some he is the founder of Manitoba and a national hero; to others he is an insane murderer. The truth may be somewhere between the two extremes. He is tried for treason after the 1885 rising and, some say, hanged for his part in the murder of Thomas Scott fifteen years earlier. Both trial and execution take place in Regina, then in the Northwest Territories, later capital of Saskatchewan.

*Metis: People who trace their ancestry to both First Nations and European roots.

Answer: Alberta

Already weakened by its very makeup and subsequent glaciation, mining for coal adds even more instability to the place that local indigenous people call "the mountain that moves". On April 29, 1903 it moves violently, depositing 82 million tonnes of rock into the Crowsnest River Valley, in the space of ninety seconds. Part of the coal mining town of Frank is buried, and a stretch of the Canadian Pacific Railway line is destroyed.

At least ninety people die in what becomes the country's deadliest rockslide.

Answer: Nova Scotia

The city is Halifax, the ships are Mont Blanc and Imo and on December 6, 1917 the former is carrying a volatile cargo of explosives, destined for the battlefields of the Great War. The explosion kills 2000 people, injures at least 9000 more and destroys the homes of over 20000.

Many of the injured are blinded by shards of glass. Families are nearly wiped out. A blizzard the following day causes even more misery for survivors. Help arrives by train from other parts of Canada, and from the US city of Boston.

Answer: Newfoundland & Labrador

The Dominion of Newfoundland, as it is then known, holds two referenda on the topic of joining Canada, with premier Smallwood arguing that this would improve living standards for the population of the region. Confederation narrowly defeats responsible government as an option, and Newfoundland becomes the tenth province of Canada.

In 2001 the name of the province is changed to include the mainland region of Labrador in the official title.

Answer: Manitoba

During World War II, Gimli Flying Training School is part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, preparing aircrew from all parts of the commonwealth for service overseas. Reactivated in 1950, it again closes in 1971, and on 23 July in 1983 is being used by a sports car club for racing and partying. Due to a miscalculation, using pounds instead of kilograms, Air Canada Flight 143 is running out of fuel while only about halfway to its destination, and is about to become the Gimli Glider. Skilled flying by the crew (Bob Pearson, Maurice Quintal) allows the aircraft to land safely, with no major injuries to passengers, crew or sports car club members.