Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Know Your Onion

"Know your onion" is a strange expression, but for all its silliness it's still spoken in serious and somber tones by savvy and sophisticated people in the know. Being recognized for knowing one's onion is to be complimented for your expertise.
58378_l

"Know your onion" is a strange expression, but for all its silliness it's still spoken in serious and somber tones by savvy and sophisticated people in the know. Being recognized for knowing one's onion is to be complimented for your expertise. Being advised to know one's onion is also the best advice you'll ever get.

While there are some practical reasons to discerning the difference between a Sweet Imperial and a Vidalia, the phrase runs much deeper than that, implying that to truly know one's onion - whatever your metaphorical onion may be - you must possess a certain level of experience, wisdom, and erudition, a knowledge that goes beneath the layers.

This country of Canada is most certainly not an onion, although a well-performed rendition of "O Canada" can still brings tears to eyes, like a photo of a flag-draped coffin returning from Afghanistan - but it's still a good analogue for this country.

Onions are strong, sweet and savoury, just as Canada can be. Tears tend to flow when someone suggests carving it up, and there are layers upon layers to explore.

Onions are also diverse, just as there are many different varieties of Canada, from East Coast to West, from the tip of southernmost Ontario to the farthest Arctic reaches in the north. Montreal and Toronto are just five hours apart by road but they are as different in character as New York and Paris. Halifax and Vancouver are on opposite sides of the country, over 6,000 kilometres apart, but still have many things in common.

While we hope this Canada quiz challenges and entertains, we always hope it enlightens as well. So - how well do you know your onion?

(Rules: Give yourself a point for every question you get right. Add up your points. If you did better than your friends, strut. If you did poorly then eat an onion.)

Geography - It's bigger than it looks.

1) Summertime means road trip time. If you were on a cross-Canada trip and you passed Bacon Cove, Come By Chance, Heart's Desire, Joe Batt's Arm, and Butter Pot Provincial Park, what province would you be driving in?

2) Still in Newfoundland on your summer road trip, you stop by the Newfoundland Museum in St. John's at 8:30 a.m. to admire the extensive Indian art. Suddenly, you remember you need to call your sister in Calgary. You walk outside and dial her number. She picks up sounding groggy. Why? What time is it in Alberta?

3) "...Next to the Pacific Ocean scenery

Rests Victoria, BC.

Next stop, near the oil

You find Edmonton on Alberta soil.

From there, you pass prairies and farms

As you take in Regina, Saskatchewan's charm...."

Every good Canadian geography quiz has at least one question about provincial capitals. Here at Pique Newsmagazine , we're not prepared to let tradition slide just yet. So, in ode to Geography 101, we have to ask: what is the capital of New Brunswick?

4) Back on your road trip, you decide you have seen enough of the East Coast. You do a U-turn on the Trans Canada Highway and make your way home to Whistler. But on your way back, you decide you want to see the famous Canadian Shield. In what provinces and territories could you find it?

5) Wars may have been fought on her soil, and dinosaur bones may be lodged in her rocks, but at only 142 years old, the country of Canada is still a teen compared to the rest of the world. The last territory added to her ranks was Nunavut, located in the very, very, very northeast of the country in the high arctic. What year did Nunavut officially become the 13 th province and territory?

6) Mountains are a big deal in Canada, no pun intended. You can ski and snowboard somewhere in almost every province and territory, and it wouldn't be a far stretch to proclaim skiing and snowboarding as Canada's unofficial national pastimes. If you wanted to see the highest mountain Canada, where would you go?

7) British Columbia and California often draw comparisons; both are known for their laid-back mentality, temperate weather, and salmon cuisine. But while West Coast Living is the mantra of the Pacific-hugging population, several key differences still distinguish the north from the south. Like population. It would be easy to guess which place has a larger population, California or British Columbia, so we at the Pique came up with a spicier question. Can you tell us, instead, whether more people live in California or ... Canada?

8) A few weeks later on your trans-Canada road trip you enter British Columbia from the east side. Glancing at your map, you see a place called Bountiful, B.C. It sounds vaguely familiar. Why?

9) Debt! Election threats! Increased involvement in Afghanistan! It's time to exercise your Charter Rights and give our head of state a piece of your mind. After you finish penning your polite, 5,000-word letter about the problems of the world, what address should you write on the envelope to make sure it ends up on the desk of Prime Minister Stephen Harper?

10) Canada may be the second largest country in the world, yet most of its population is clustered around the U.S. border. For the final geography question, please name the percentage of Canucks who live within 150 kilometres (93 miles) of the Yankee border?

Geography Answers

1) You would be driving through Newfoundland and Labrador, on Canada's left coast (her left, our right). Up until 2001 the island-like landmass that contains these six places was called "Newfoundland," when the name of the province changed to include the Labrador area of the mainland. Likewise, postal abbreviations have also changed from NF to NL. It's only fair, as Labrador occupies an areas of almost 300,000 square kilometres, approximately the size of New Zealand.

2) It is 5 a.m. in Calgary. Located in the Mountain time zone, Alberta runs three and a half hours behind Newfoundland. In fact, because Canada is so large, a total of six time zones (or five and a half to be more accurate) span the country from east to west: Newfoundland, Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific.

3) New Brunswick's capital is Fredericton. Originally called Pointe-Sainte-Ann, the capital was founded in 1732 by a group of Acadia French settlers who fled from Nova Scotia after the British took over. About 50 years later, the town was re-dubbed "Frederick's town" in tribute to the second son of King George III. Today, about 85,000 residents and worker-bees habit the city centre, and the Greater Fredericton Region has 124,000 people. French and English are both spoken widely and New Brunswick is a bilingual province.

4) The Canadian Shield is found in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Labrador, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. The Shield is one of the world's largest geological shields, spanning eight million square kilometers (3 million square miles) within Canada. Bits and pieces of the shield can also be found in Greenland and the northern United States. And it's old - the Shield dates back somewhere between 4.5 billion and 540 million years.

5) Nunavut (or " ᓄᓇᕗᑦ " as it is known in Inuktitut) breathed its first breath as a territory on April 1, 1999, just ten years ago. The territory was carved out of the Northwest Territories during the land claims negotiations between the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the federal government to better reflect Inuit land use and occupancy in the area.  

6) You would go to Mount Logan, located in the Saint Elias Mountain range in the Yukon Territory. At 5,959 metres (19.545 feet), Mount Logan stands taller than any of Canada's arching domes. And if big mountains are your thing, the Saint Elias Mountains are not a bad place to spend some time; the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and yes, eighth highest mountains in Canada are all located in this non-volcanic range.

7) It's a close call, but when you count up the numbers the state of California beats the country of Canada by roughly three million people. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 36,756,666 people called California home in 2008. Meanwhile, above the 49 th parallel, the latest and greatest data from Stats Canada pegs Canada's entire population at only 33,504,680.

8) Bountiful has been in the media a lot recently. All of the 800 to 1,000 people living there are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a religion that supports polygamy. Over the past five years several of Bountiful's members have been charged with polygamy and sexual abuse. In 2005, the RCMP began a full-scale investigation into these allegations, and officially laid charges on two of the community's leaders this January.

9) Stephen Joseph Harper lives at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, Ontario. Almost every prime minister sine Louis St. Laurent have called this chateau, built in 1868, home, and our 22 nd prime minister is no exception.

10) About 72 per cent of Canadians live near the 49 th parallel. The border is officially known as the International Boundary and is the world's largest common border between two nations. Including the coastal portion between Canada and Alaska, the divide spans 8,890 kilometres (5,524 miles.)

Canadian Politics - Sometimes a blood sport.

1) No one said you couldn't be a lush and a Prime Minister at the same time. There was once a Father of Confederation who showed up at an election debate and vomited at the Speaker's Forum. His opponent said, "Is this the man you want running your country? A drunk!" This Father of Confederation replied, "I get suck not because of drink, but because I am forced to listen to the ranting of my honourable opponent." Which Father of Confederation famously said this?

2) Would you believe that the Canadian flag went through several iterations before finally being adopted in 1965? Parliament put out a call to Canadians to use their imagination and talent to put one together. There were as many as 5,900 designs submitted. Some included a design where a beaver against a white background was flanked by two red bars. Another had three maple leafs flanked by two blue bars before finally settling on the single maple leaf. Which Prime Minister oversaw the adoption of the Canadian flag?

3) He looked FLQ terrorists in the eye and said "just watch me." He helped bring Canada's constitution home. He forever alienated the Province of Alberta with his idea of a National Energy Program that would see energy revenues directed back to Ottawa, increasing regional tension throughout the country. But one thing for which he's most remembered is that he did a pirouette behind the back of Queen Elizabeth II. Which Prime Minister did this?

4) "O Canada" is this country's national anthem - but it wasn't always so. Many years passed between it first being sung and its being made the nation's official anthem. Now one of its sentences has been copyrighted by the 2010 Olympics and you have to say "registered trademark" each time you sing it (just kidding, we hope). It's still our anthem. But exactly how many years passed between the first singing and official acceptance?

5) Canada faced one of its great landmark events in Quebec City, a fortress city that has preserved its heritage down to a "T." There was once a great battle between the British General James Wolfe and the French Marquis de Montcalm that officially established British empirical hegemony over Canada. Today you can have picnics on the site where it took place. Where exactly did that famous battle take place?

6) Brian Mulroney suffered a major career setback when he tried to open up the constitution to recognize Quebec as a "distinct society." He also aimed to give Quebec a constitutional veto, as well as increased provincial powers regarding immigration and provincial input in selecting Senators and Supreme Court judges. All provinces needed to approve of it, and the accord meant to make all this happen was defeated in the Manitoba legislature as one of its members, Elijah Harper, defeated it by holding up a feather and stopping it in its tracks. Which national accord was defeated with a feather?

7) "Vive le Quebec libre" was a quote that launched a thousand ships in the direction of sovereignty in Quebec. It touched off a heated debate that rose to become a conflict that led to the suspension of civil liberties through the War Measures Act - implemented by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The quote came on a visit by a French President. Who was that president who helped sow the seeds of separatism in Quebec?

8) On the morning of November 5, 1995, Canada almost bore witness to its first Prime Ministerial assassination. It was shortly after the referendum on Quebec sovereignty. The Prime Minister and his wife, snugly asleep in their home at 24 Sussex Drive, were preparing to go to Israel to attend the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin in Israel the next morning. They heard footsteps. The Prime Minister's wife confronted a man with a large knife outside their bedroom door, and quickly closed and locked the bedroom door. It's believed the Prime Minister grabbed a sharp-edged Inuit carving to defend himself, but their RCMP guards responded to a panic alarm before that was necessary. Which Prime Minister was it who narrowly avoided death on that fateful morning?

9) If nothing else, Canada's Prime Ministers are unique characters. One in particular used to talk to spirits - specifically those of Leonardo da Vinci, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and several of his deceased dogs. He'd also communicate with his dead mother - just like Norman Bates. He was nevertheless one of the most successful Prime Ministers in Canadian history, holding power for a whopping six terms, a tenure as yet unrivalled in this county's history. Who was this quirky, yet ultimately successful Prime Minister?

10) Canadians enjoy a great privilege through their health care system. Our publicly-funded system allows virtually everyone to get medical care. It unfortunately puts people through a lot of lineups but it at least gives everyone a chance. It came to Canada thanks to the efforts of a former Saskatchewan Premier who helped pioneer the idea of public health insurance. It was later adopted at the federal level and now we all enjoy its fruits. Who was that Saskatchewan Premier who helped make this happen for all Canadians?

Politics Answers

1) That would be Sir John A. Macdonald, who's face graces our always popular $10 bill - behind Queen Elizabeth II ($20), William Lyon Mackenzie King ($50) and Sir Robert Borden, but ahead of Sir Wilfrid Laurier ($5), polar bears, waterfowl, caribou, sailing ships and beavers. Sir John A. Macdonald was our first Prime Minister and reigned for 18 years, off and on. These days we're lucky to keep the same PM for 18 months.

2) Lester Bowles Pearson served as PM for almost six years, and is also credited with universal health care, student loans, the Canada Pension Plan and the Order of Canada. I wonder what he would have accomplished given Macdonald's 18 years.

3) Pierre Elliot Trudeau, an elbows-out, middle-finger-up, debate destroying political animal that served as PM for more than 15 years. To say he dominated Canadian politics is an understatement, as I think even the media was a little scared of him. His motto was "reason before passion," but he never applied it to himself.

4) It took 100 years, from 1880 to 1980. Up until then our anthem was God Save The Queen - that nice lady on our $20 bill.

5) The Plains of Abraham, located in Quebec's Battlefields Park. While Canadian history has a reputation for being boring, at least compared to most countries, this was a hum-dinger. There were actually several battles fought outside Quebec's walls leading up to the big September battles in 1759, where both General Montcalm (French and Canadian soldiers) and General Wolfe were fatally wounded. Now that's a battle.

6) The Meech Lake Accord. Elijah Harper was a First Nations representative in the Manitoba legislature, and they needed unanimous support in the house for the province to sign onto the accord. Some would label that feather a hero, others would accuse it of nearly breaking up the country when the separation movement forced a referendum on Quebeckers.

7) General Charles de Gaulle was a bit of a nationalist jerk, giving the French Resistance - of which he was a part - full credit for liberating France from the Nazi's, and maybe a second assist to the allied forces that lost so many men in the Invasion of Normandy.

8) Jean Chretien and his wife Aline were ready to do battle with the intruder for 10 whole minutes, because their RCMP guards couldn't find the right key to get into the building.

9) William Lyon MacKenzie King always knew he'd be on the $50 bill.

10) Tommy Douglas, also the winner of CBC's "Greatest Canadian" contest against legends like Wayne Gretzky and Terry Fox. To say that Canadians feel strongly about universal healthcare is a huge understatement.

Sports and Leisure - Who knew Canadians could move without skates?

1) This past NHL season Sidney "Sid the Kid" Crosby hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time with the Pittsburg Penguins, and next season he's a shoo-in for the Canadian Olympic hockey team. How well do you know the kid: How old was he when he hoisted the cup? How many years has he been with the Penguins? Where is he from originally? Where was he playing when he was drafted to the NHL?

2) Canada has sent relatively few pros to Major League Baseball teams over the years, but that has changed a lot recently. There are now a record 16 Canadian players that are active in Major League Baseball - can you name five of them? (Hint: Two of them are currently with the Toronto Blue Jays)

3) What Canadian swimmer recently won gold in the 100-metre freestyle races at the U.S. Grand Prix in Califonia - one spot ahead of Olympic superstar Michael Phelps?

4) Canada is in the midst of qualifiers for the 2011 World Cup of Rugby, and recently moved up two spots in the world rankings to 13 th after a win over Georgia. The team still has a long way to go to crack the top-10, but progress is slow and steady. What Sea to Sky athlete plays for Team Canada?

5) Ski Cross is a new Olympic discipline, and Canada is arguably the favourite to win medals with podium appearances at almost every event last season and a podium sweep for the men at the 2010 venue at Cypress. The team features several Sea to Sky athletes - can you name them?

6) Although Canada has produced some amazing doubles tennis teams over the years (most of them involving Daniel Nestor), but athletes have had a hard time cracking the top-50 in singles play. Recently a young woman from Montreal has been surging up through the rankings into the top-25 - who is she?

7) Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto is a permanent testament to Canada's art scene, but it also includes several athletes. Can you name three? How about three that aren't hockey players?

8) The 2010 Olympic Games are now less than eight months away. What is Canada's goal for medals in the Olympics and Paralympics?

9) The Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club (soccer to us Canadians) will make its Major League Soccer debut in 2011, although they already play the top MLS teams as part of their rotation in the United Soccer League including Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact. Where will they play?

10) The IOC is currently considering applications for seven sports, and will pick two of them for inclusion in the 2016 Summer Games. Can you name two of the sports?

Sports and Leisure Answers

1) Sidney Crosby was all of 21 years old hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup, and in his fourth year in the NHL after playing his first game - and scoring his first goal - in October 2005. He hails from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, and worked his way up through the ranks to be selected first overall by Rimouski Oceanic in the midget draft of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

2) Position Players: Jason Bay (Boston), George Kottaras (Boston), Adam Loewen (Blue Jays), Russell Martin (L.A. Dodgers), Justin Morneau (Minnesota), Peter Orr (Washington), Matt Stairs (Philadelphia), and Joey Votto (Cincinnati Reds). Pitchers: Erik Bedard (Seattle), Jesse Crain (Minnesota), Ryan Dempster (Chicago Cubs), Jeff Francis (Colorado), Rich Harden (Cubs), Shawn Hill (San Diego), Scott Richmond (Blue Jays), R.J. Swindle (Milwaukee).

3) Vancouver's Brent Hayden took the win, though to be fair the 100-metre is not Phelps best event. The win did kick off a minor controversy as commentators accused Hayden of rubbing Phelps' face in the win at the finish, but Hayden says he was celebrating his time and that he and Phelps have a good professional relationship.

4) Squamish's Jamie Cudmore, a big forward, played in his first World Cup for Canada in 2007. The moment he was injured in their match against Wales was the moment the tide turned against Canada, which was winning at that point. When he isn't knocking bodies around for Canada, he plays professionally for ASM Clermont Auvergne in France. His nickname there is "Cuddles," in recognition of his physical play.

5) Squamish's Aleisha Cline, and Whistler's Davey Barr, Ashleigh McIvor and Julia Murray - all of them finishing on the podium this year.

6) Aleksandra Wozniak has made it to the third round in more tournament than before, including the Birmingham Open and French Open against top tour players. She has also made the finals in North American series events, and at just 21 years old she may be Canada's best hope of ever winning a singles major.

7) Bobby Orr, The Crazy Canucks (Dave Murray, Dave Irwin, Ken Read and Steve Podborski), Ferguson Jenkins, George Chuvalo, Gordie Howe, Harry Winston Jerome, Jacques Villeneuve, Jean Beliveau, Jim Elder, Johnny Bower, Kurt Browning, Mario Lemieux, Maurice Richard, Nancy Greene, Rick Hansen, Scotty Bowman, Steve Nash, Toller Cranston, Wayne Gretzky.

8) Through Own The Podium 2010 the Canadian Olympic Committee has sets its sights on placing first among nations in total medals in 2010 - something that may be possible after winning more medals in world championship events than any other nation this past winter. The Paralympic goal is to place in the top-three.

9) There was talk of building a new stadium for the 'Caps, but in the end the owners decided the best thing was to move into B.C. Place stadium - which is undergoing significant renovations for the Games, and is looking at alternatives to the inflatable (and sometimes deflatable) roof.

10) Submissions have been made on behalf of golf, baseball, softball, karate, rugby sevens, squash and roller sports - basically speed skating with inline skates.

Olympics - Have you heard we're hosting the Olympics?

1) What 2010 Winter Olympic venue was home, very briefly to the "tyto alba?"

2) On the same theme, what creature had to be collected and re-located during the construction of the 2010 alpine downhill at Creekside in Whistler?

3) Can you name the three Olympic mascots? And for a bonus point do you know which one is also the Paralympic mascot?

4) At the first Olympic games what metal was the medal made out of for first place?

5) What year did Canada first compete in the Winter Games?

6) When was Canada's first ski club formed?

7) When did the sport of luge make its Olympic debut?

8) How fast can athletes travel at the Whistler Sliding Centre, considered the fastest and most technical track in the world? How many Gs - a measure of G-Force pressure whereas one G is equivalent to your body weight - do the athletes absorb around the hairpin turns

9) When did Skeleton return to the Winter Games?

10) What are the origins of the Paralympic Games?

Olympic Answers

1) First of all, bravo if you knew the Latin name for the common Barn owl. During construction of the Richmond Oval the owls flew in through the large equipment doors and nested inside. They were lured out with food, and barred from getting back in.

2) The three-centimetre long coastal tailed frogs were found in Boyd's Creek, temporarily suspending construction of the Olympic runs until the amphibians could be relocated to another creek. The species is considered at risk in B.C., but populations appear to be somewhat stable in the Whistler area - know that we know they're here.

3) The Olympic mascots are Miga, Sumi and Quatchi, while Sumi doubles as the Paralympic mascot. Mukmuk, the toque-wearing marmot, isn't an official mascot at this point - he was supposed to have an online presence only - but he's found a lot of success as a plush toy.

4) The first gold medal of the modern Olympics was actually made out of silver, while second place got bronze. The ancient greeks actually gave athletes coins instead of medals, with actual gold, silver and bronze prizes. It's not a matter of historical record, but it's widely believed that the gold coin winner could get extra coins if someone asked them what they were going to do next and they said "I'm going to Mykonos!"

5) Canada started to compete in 1924. We've traditionally done well as a nation in the Winter Games, finishing in the top-10 of the medal count 13 times.

6) It's fitting given the terrain, but the first ski club in Canada was formed in Revelstoke in 1891, with just six members.

7) While bobsleigh has been with the Winter Games since the beginning, the luge event - which features athletes sliding down an icy track face up and feet down, laying on a fiberglass and steel sled - wasn't included until 1964.

8) Every sliding sport is setting new speed records on the course, but the highest speed yet is from the Latvian bobsleigh at just over 150 km/h. Athletes can experience up to five Gs, or pressure equaling five times their body weight, on some corners, which is more than a space shuttle crew member or fighter pilot experiences on takeoff.

9) Skeleton returned to the 2002 Olympic program in Salt Lake City for the first time since 1948. Skeleton is basically the opposite of luge, as competitors head down the track head first and belly down on their custom sleds. Only a handful of countries were competitive in the sport until recently, which explains why it's been dropped and resurrected twice in Winter Games history.

10) The Paralympics date back to 1948 when Sir Ludwig Guttman staged the International Wheelchair Games to coincide with the 1948 London Olympic Summer Games. At the time sports were identified as a way to boost morale for disabled veterans of World War II, and the idea caught on like wildfire as the athletes pushed each other and their limitations in ways that the organizers never expected.

Arts and Culture: Believe it or not we have both

1) This Canadian entertainment company was originally known as Les Échassiers (which translates to "The Waders") when it was initially founded in 1980 by a folk musician/busker. (Hint: think Vegas.)

2) Which Canadian-born and raised musician with a heart of gold directed and co-directed a number of films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey?

3) According to Molson's infamous "I am Canadian" rant, which animal is truly proud and noble?

4) Who are the three stooges of Atlantic Canada (a.k.a. The Trailer Park Boys)?

5) Which Canadian television show has successfully fooled professors at Colombia, Harvard and Stanford into exposing their ignorance of Canadian culture with discussions about things like the Saskatchewan Seal Hunt?

6) Which B.C.-born and bred actor referred to his parents as "radical Jewish socialists" in The Guardian in September 2007?

7) This Canadian folk musician died from an incident on an airplane in 1983.

8) Who is the top-selling Canadian musician of all time?

9) What gigantic video game company has studios in Vancouver and Burnaby, and focuses on sports titles and racing games?

10) The Pemberton Festival took place over three incredible days and nights. Can you name the headliners from each night of the concert?

Arts and Culture Answers

1) Guy Laliberté started Cirque du Soleil after quitting college and touring Europe. What was originally known as Les Échassiers eventually evolved into Cirque du Soleil in 1984, as the group made their first performance of Le Grand Tour in Gaspé, Quebec. The first ever blue-and-yellow big top sat only 800 spectators. Today, the company employs more than 4,000 people from over 40 countries, and has entertained almost 90 million people spanning five continents. This year Cirque presents 19 shows simultaneously throughout the world as it celebrates its 25th anniversary with the theme "the dream continues." And it looks like conquering the world's entertainment scene isn't quite enough for Laliberté - in early June, he announced that he would be the first Canadian space tourist, flying aboard the Russian Space Agency's Soyuz TMA-16 in late September.

2) Neil Percival Young was born on November 12, 1945 in Toronto. While the Canadian rock legend (also referred to as the Godfather of Grunge) is best known for his folk rock hits like "Heart of Gold" and "Harvest Moon," he has also directed films like "Journey Through the Past" and "Rust Never Sleeps" under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey. Young is also an advocate for environmental issues and is particularly passionate about agricultural issues. In 1985 he co-founded the Farm Aid benefit concert. Although his projects and music often focus on American themes and subjects, Young is still a Canadian citizen and in an interview with Time in 2005 he stated that he would never relinquish his Canadian citizenship. Keep on rockin' in the free world!

3) The beaver. But since Molson retired the popular nationalistic ad in 2005 shortly after they merged with American brewer Coors, here's a refresher for Canada Day: "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 'aboot.' 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 touque 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."

4) Ricky (Robb Wells), Julian (John Paul Tremblay), and Bubbles (Mike Smith.)

5) The CBC's political satire, This Hour Has 22 Minutes , included a popular segment called "Talking to Americans" which features comedian Rick Mercer interviewing Americans on the street and convincing them to agree with ridiculous statements. Sample topics include persuading Americans that Canada is getting a five-dollar coin which will be called the "woodie" and congratulating the Canadian government on building a dome over its "national igloo" (a downsized version of the Capitol building, made out of ice) to protect it from global warming.

6) Seth Rogen. Since being discovered by Judd Apatow at the age of 16 he worked on the television series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared . His film credits include lesser known voice roles with Horton Hears a Who , The Spiderwick Chronicles and Kung Fu Panda , although he's probably best known for his work on frat boy comedies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin , Knocked Up and Superbad . He also wrote for the final season of Da Ali G Show .

7) Stan Rogers died alongside 22 other passengers of smoke inhalation caused by an in-flight fire on June 2, 1983, on Air Canada Flight 797 traveling from Dallas, Texas to Toronto after the Kerrville Folk Festival. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nova Scotia. Rogers' songs "Northwest Passage," "Barrett's Privateers," and "Watching The Apples Grow" were featured on the TV show Due South , Adrienne Clarkson highlighted his work in a 1989 television documentary, and when CBC's Peter Gzowski asked Canadians to pick an alternate national anthem, "Northwest Passage" was the overwhelming choice. Today, The Stan Rogers Folk Festival is held every year in Canso, Nova Scotia.

8) Songbird Celine Dion has sold more than 200 million albums since 1981, including 13 French-language albums and 10 english albums. #1 on the list is Neil Young with 40 to 70 million albums (whether you give him full or partial credit for collaborations). Number 3 is Bryan Adams with about 65 million albums, followed by Shania Twain with just under 65 million, and Alanis Morissette fifth with 60 million. Her debut as a grunge star (she was a pop singer in her earliest years) was Jagged Little Pill, which remains the number one selling debut album of all time by any artist.

9) EA, short for Electronic Arts, has a over 1,000 people on the payroll in the Lower Mainland, producing some of the most popular sports titles like NHL 2009, NBA Live 09, Need For Speed, and Skate. They also helped to produce The Sims 3, which has been heralded as the best Sims so far.

10) Friday: Nine Inch Nails. Saturday: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Sunday: Coldplay.



Comments