by Darlene Ryan
I’m asked a lot of questions about Canada and Canadians on a fairly regular basis. That’s because I’m the token Canadian among my writing collegues. I have American writing friends, French writing friends and British writing friends. I’ve answered questions about money, maple syrup, health care and the common loon. And I’ve discovered that other people don’t know a lot about us. I did a little survey this past week, asking non-Canadians what they knew about Canadians and found out that—at least among the people I asked—we’re thought of as polite people who drink a lot of Tim Horton’s coffee and watch a lot of hockey. And maybe that’s the reason the rest of the world doesn’t know much about Canada. Instead of talking about ourselves we’re standing in line at Tim’s, talking about last night’s game and telling the young woman at the counter, “No, I think he was here first.”
Thanks to everyone who commented or emailed about The Great Canadian Quiz. Here are the answers:
1. Who is Don Cherry? Former coach of the Boston Bruins and commentator on CBC TV's Hockey Night in Canada. Known for his outlandish suits.
2. What is dulse? Dried seaweed. (You eat it.)
3. What is a double-double? A Tim Horton's coffee with two cream and two sugar.
4. What’s a two-four? A case of 24 (Canadian) beer.
5. What are the Original Six? The original six teams in the National Hockey League: Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers
6. What do you do with fiddleheads? Eat them. Well, not me.
7. Name the Canadian president. Trick question. We have a prime minister. Bonus points if you know his name is Stephen Harper. Extra bonus points if you know our federal election campaign began today and will end when we vote October 14.
8. How long is a CFL field? 110 yards
9. What piece of hockey equipment was Jacques Plante the first person to use in a regular season NHL game? Face mask.
10. How many provinces and territories are there? 10 provinces and 3 territories
11. Where is the CN Tower? Toronto
12. If it’s ten o’clock in New Brunswick, what time is it in Newfoundland? 10:30
13. What color is the $50 bill? Red
14. What color is the one dollar bill? Another trick. We have a one dollar coin. It's gold colored.
15. What is a loonie? The afore-mentioned one dollar coin
16. If you’re in Cavendish, PEI and the weather forecast says it’s 32 degrees outside will you be going swimming or tobogganing? We use the Celcius scale. Swimming
17. When is Thanksgiving in Canada? Second Monday in October.
18. Name Canada’s major league baseball teams. Sort of a trick, there's only one: Toronto Blue Jays
19. When is Canada Day? July 1
20. When is tax day in Canada? April 30.