Elected Leaders of Canada Trivia Quiz

Answer: 2 sons and 1 daughter

John A. MacDonald spent a total of nineteen years as Prime Minister of Canada. He was first elected on July 1, 1867 and held office until November 5, 1873. Then on October 17, 1878 he was re-elected Prime Minister and he held the position until June 6, 1891. During those nineteen years in office John A. MacDonald worked to unite Canada, bringing several of the provinces into Canada.

He also created the C.P.R (Canadian Pacific Railroad) as well as several other policies that benefited Canada. On a personal level, on September 1, 1843 he married his first wife Isabella Clark. With his first wife, they had two sons, who they named John and Hugh. Tragically their son John died in infancy. Isabella Clark died in 1857 and ten years later (on February 16, 1867) John A MacDonald took a second wife.

His second wife, Susan Agnes Bernard, only had one child, a daughter who they called Margaret.

Answer: Louis St. Laurent in 1951

Sussex Drive is considered to be the oldest street in Ottawa; the house at 24 Sussex Drive has been there since 1866. It was not always known as the official residence for Canada's Prime Ministers, originally the house was called "Gorffwysfa". This unusual name is Welsh and it means "place of rest", or "place of peace". By 1951, 24 Sussex Drive became the property of the crown and the first Prime Minister moved in. Louis St. Laurent was the first Prime Minister to live there in 1951, but by 2008 all but one of the elected Prime Ministers have used this as their official residence. Louis St. Laurent was elected on November 15, 1948, and it was during that election that the Liberal Party won a record number of seats (190). During his term in office Louis St. Laurent did many great things for Canada, personally I think one of the most notable was to petition and work for membership into NATO for Canada. Louis St. Laurent held office until June 21, 1957.

Answer: Jean Chretien

Jean Chretien was sworn into office with a majority Liberal party, as Prime Minister of Canada, on November 11,1993 and he held that position until he resigned. His successor (Paul Martin) was sworn in on December 12, 2003. Jean Chretien entered into politics in 1963, from that time right up to his retirement, he performed in many different positions for the Canadian government. During his time as Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, accomplished many things but what he will be remembered for most was that he was "a street fighter with fine political instincts". Jean Chretien was not one to stand back to let others stand in front of him. Stories of incidents where he dealt with the problems himself were quite popular with the press and news media. One incident that I remember, from the news, is when intruders broke into his home.

When this happened the press informed us how he prepared to defend his home, his wife and himself with a statue, while his wife (Aline Chretien) called for back-up. My first thought when I heard this on the news (since the PM was obviously fine) was to wonder where the people who were supposed to be protecting him were.

However they got that incident sorted out as well as all the others and Jean Chretien enjoyed a long term in office.

Answer: Physician

Sir Charles Tupper was one of the Father's of Confederation; he lived to be the last surviving one. In 1843, at the University of Edinburgh, Tupper graduated with a medical degree. He returned to Canada to start practicing medicine. On May 1, 1896 he was elected Prime Minister and this gave him the distinction of being the only Prime Minister who was also a doctor.

Although he was Prime Minister for only sixty nine days (July 8, 1896) he spent many years, before and after becoming Prime Minister, in politics. Charles Tupper is credited for joining Nova Scotia with Canada.

Answer: Joe

Until I began researching for this quiz (I'm a bit sheepish over this,) I didn't realize that his given name was not Joe. His full name is Charles Joseph Clark, perhaps he was called 'Joe' because his father's name was also Charles. When Joe Clark was sworn in as Prime Minister in June of 1979, he was Canada's youngest Prime Minister.

He held office with a minority Conservative government until March, 1980. Although his term as Prime Minister was brief his work in politics hasn't been. Joe Clark is a well-known, and in many circles, a well respected figure in Canadian Politics.

Answer: A Bennett buggy after Richard Bennett

Between 1929-1939 the world entered a Depression. During the majority of this time period in Canada Richard Bennett was the Prime Minister. While in office Richard Bennett did try to alleviate the suffering brought on by the Depression. He tried to help by issuing many Acts in parliament, such as the Relief Act on 1932, unfortunately the effects of the Depression were too widely felt. So instead of providing nationwide help (although he probably did reach a minority of people), he became the root of several jokes.

The Relief Act, was one of the first times Canada's government tried to step in and help the people.

Answer: All of these

Between June 25 and November 3, 1993 Kim Campbell made history, serving as the first female Canadian Prime Minister. During her career in politics, before and during the time period that she was Prime Minister, Kim Campbell was responsible for many changes.

While Minister of Justice, she made changes to cases concerning sexual assault. In her autobiography she felt that changes had to be made because "a sexual assault trial was as much a trial for the victim as it was for the accused".

Answer: Pierre Elliott Trudeau

During his first campaign for Prime Minister, Trudeau's popularity with the Canadian people was dubbed "Trudeaumania". He was elected Prime Minister, for the first time, on April 20,1968 and he served until June 3, 1979. It was during this time in office that Pierre Trudeau that he was forced to deal with the "October Crisis". "October Crisis" was when a British diplomat and a Quebec Cabinet Minister were kidnapped in 1970. This crisis caused Trudeau to invoke the War Measures Act, his policy during this time was to "act now" and he told the people through the press to "just watch me" when his actions were questioned. Not everyone was happy with his response which is why "just watch me" became a popular Trudeau comment. Pierre Trudeau was also Canada's Prime Minister from March 3, 1980 until June 29, 1984.

Pierre Trudeau told the world to "just watch me" and Canadians did. We watched him as his popularity soared and teen-age girls followed him around; we watched as he took office and as he left office; we watched as he got married and divorced; we watched as he fathered three children and as he gained custody of them; we watched as he rubbed elbows with other famous people and as he had affairs with celebrities; we watched him as he lived and as he died.

Answer: Alexander Mackenzie

Alexander Mackenzie was a unusual candidate for politics. He was of the working class, he was an architect and builder. On November 7, 1873, he was elected Prime Minister of Canada. During his time in office he made many changes to how the government was run, many of those changes became a permanent part of the government.

Some of the things that he created was the Office of the Auditor General in 1878, as well as the Supreme Court of Canada in 1875. Alexander Mackenzie left office on October 8, 1878.

Answer: Saskatchewan

On June 21, 1957, John Diefenbaker was sworn into office as the thirteenth Prime Minister of Canada. When he was elected into office it was with a minority conservative government. Shortly after his election, on March 31, 1958, he called another election in which he ran for the office of Prime Minister.

He won that election with one of the largest majority governments. John Diefenbaker ran in and won 3 general elections for Prime Minister. However on April 22, 1963 he lost office to Lester Pearson.