LABOUR DAY QUIZ CHAPTER 5
Celebrating, Canadian Style
LABOUR DAY QUIZ
Canadians have officially been celebrating Labour Day since 1894 but in modern times the last statutory holiday of the summer is often associated with festivals, fairs, and season-ending visits to the cottage or a favourite campground.
Whatever your reason for celebrating, the holiday remains rooted in workers’ struggles in the 19th century to improve conditions for all employees which ultimately led to such perks as paid holidays, safe work places, employment insurance, even the time off on weekends we now take for granted.
As a tip of our cap to workers past and present, we’ve devised a quiz that we hope won’t make you work overtime.
1. In 1901, the first annual report of the federal Bureau of Labour criticized the continued employment of children under what age?
a) 8
b) 12
c) 16
d) 18
2. The first labour parade in Canada took place in 1872 in what city?
a) Montreal
b) St. Catharines
c) Toronto
d) Winnipeg
e) Ottawa
3. Match these working songs with the artist who had the hit.
| a) “Working for the Weekend” | i) Jim Croce |
| b) “Working in the Coal Mine” | ii) Johnny Paycheck |
| c) “Workin’ at the Car Wash Blues” | iii) Loverboy |
| d) “Take this Job and Shove It” | iv) Leo Dorsey |
4. True or false? One of the fallouts from the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike was a government motion to disband the RCMP for its bad handling of the affair.
They Said it!
“When I’m looking at an issue like the economy, or globalization, or plant closures, I always think of what will happen to families.”
— former union leader Bob White on why workers were his main focus
5. The New Democratic Party has historically been linked with labour since the party’s founding. In what year was the NDP founded?
a) 1959
b) 1961
c) 1963
d) 1965
6. Unscramble the letters below to spell words that signify a form of union security whereby employers deduct a portion of the salaries of all employees within a bargaining unit, union members or not, to go to the union as union dues.
udmhatelrroafn
7. NUPGE is short form for which Canadian union?
a) National Union of Provincial Government Employees
b) Native Union of Provincial Gamefarm Employees
c) Northern Union of Parking Garage Employees
d) National Union of Public and General Employees
8. In which Canadian city did former Canadian Auto Workers leader Bob White join his first trade union?
a) Woodstock, New Brunswick
b) Oshawa, Ontario
c) Woodstock, Ontario
d) Lethbridge, Alberta
Victoria Day Quiz
Victoria Day was originally celebrated to honour the famous British queen of the 19th century, but these days it has the added significance for many Canadians of being the official start to summer.
That can mean cracking open a cold beer or two, a trip to the cottage, planting gardens, or watching fireworks and parades. Most of all, it means an enjoyable long weekend.
To add to your enjoyment, we’ve come up with 12 terrific trivia puzzlers about Victoria — the name, the queen, and the holiday itself.
1. Given that many Canadians refer to Victoria Day as the May 2-4 holiday, it’s appropriate that a famous Canadian brewer is said to be responsible for introducing the idea of celebrating it as a national holiday. Was it
a) John Molson
b) Thomas Carling
c) John Labatt
d) Alexander Keith
2. According to organizers, the annual Island Farms Victoria Day parade in Victoria, British Columbia, with more than 155 entries and 35 American marching bands is the largest annual parade in Canada. Which city boasts the second largest?
a) Calgary, the Calgary Stampede
b) Toronto, the Santa Claus Parade
c) Ottawa, the Gay Pride parade
d) The city hosting the annual Grey Cup
3. Queen Victoria was not only Empress of the British Empire but was queen of her household too. How many children did she have?
a) four
b) nine
c) six
d) 10
4. What British rock band had a Top 10 hit in Canada in 1970 with the song “Victoria?”
a) The Rolling Stones
b) The Who
c) The Moody Blues
d) The Kinks
5. When she was a girl, what was Queen Victoria’s nickname?
a) Drina
b) Tory
c) Vicky
d) Princess
6. True or false? Thomas Ricketts, the youngest soldier to ever receive the Victoria Cross, the British Empire’s highest military honour, also happened to be from Victoria.
7. Whom did Queen Victoria succeed when she came to the throne?
a) George III
b) William IV
c) Edward VI
d) Anne I
8. When Queen Victoria died in January 1901, who was prime minister of Canada?
a) Robert Borden
b) Charles Tupper
c) Wilfrid Laurier
d) Mackenzie Bowell
9. For much of the 20th century, Victoria Day was celebrated on May 24, regardless of what day it fell on, unless it was a Sunday. An amendment to the Statutes of Canada stated that the holiday would always be on the Monday before May 25. In which of the following years was the amendment introduced?
a) 1945
b) 1952
c) 1960
d) 1967
RIDEAU CANAL SKATING QUIZ
You haven’t had a true taste of Ottawa’s annual Winterlude festival until you’ve skated on the Rideau Canal, touted by the National Capital Commission as the world’s largest skating rink.
Before you strap on the blades for a leisurely skate along the 7.8-kilometre ice surface, try your luck at this Rideau Canal Skateway trivia quiz. If you get eight or more right, treat yourself to a Beaver Tail, a tasty treat served at kiosks along the frozen waterway. Enjoy. And stay warm!
1. Which came first, skating on the Rideau Canal or Winterlude?
2. Which of the following celebrities have skated on the canal over the years?
a) Hilary Clinton
b) Mitsou
c) Jean Charest
d) Brian Orser
e) all of them
3. How deep is the water beneath the canal ice surface?
a) 15.25 centimetres
b) 2.5 metres
c) 50 centimetres
d) from one to four metres
4. Clearing the canal for skating was the brainchild of Douglas Fullerton. What was Mr. Fullerton’s position when he dreamed up his scheme in the early 1970s?
a) mayor of Ottawa
b) Chairman of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton
c) Chairman of the National Capital Commission
d) president of the Ottawa District Minor Hockey Association.
5. How thick must the ice be before the canal is opened to skaters?
a) 12 centimetres
b) 35 centimetres
c) 45 centimetres
d) 25 centimetres
6. On February 14, 2004, the Ottawa Senators Alumni played a game of shinny on the canal against alumni from another National Hockey League team. Was it the Montreal Canadiens or the Toronto Maple Leafs?
7. Only once it its 27-year history has the Rideau Canal’s entire 7.8-kilometre ice surface been temporarily closed to the public for reasons other than poor ice conditions. What was the reason?
a) A major hockey festival took place on the canal
b) The canal was closed for security reasons when former United States president Bill Clinton visited Ottawa
c) Ottawa police were conducting a murder investigation
d) The canal was closed because of an earthquake warning
8. The canal’s skating surface is comparable to how many Olympic-sized hockey rinks?
a) 50
b) 80
c) 90
d) 175
9. While taking a leisurely skate along the canal you will pass Lansdowne Park, home of the Central Canada Exhibition and once the home of the Ottawa Renegades and Rough Riders football teams. Who or what is the park named for?
10. Unscramble the letters below to find four common sights found on or around the canal during Winterlude.
a) veabrelaist
b) cieoghs
c) souqet
d) etsepksadse
THANKSGIVING QUIZ
Turkey and pumpkin pie, family get-togethers, and the chance to celebrate and be thankful for Canada’s bounty are among the high points of Thanksgiving.
But there’s much more to this favourite holiday, which was first celebrated in North America more than 400 years ago. While the turkey’s in the oven and the potatoes are simmering on the stove, carve into our Thanksgiving quiz to get a better taste for this special day.
No fowl play, please!
1. From 1921 to 1930, Thanksgiving in Canada was observed on the same date as another day of significance. Was it:
a) Armistice Day
b) Labour Day
c) Yom Kippur
d) Halloween
2. I am an explorer who celebrated the first Thanksgiving in North America, more than 40 years before the Pilgrims in Massachusetts. Who am I?
a) Samuel de Champlain
b) John Cabot
c) Martin Frobisher
d) Jacques Cartier
e) Hernando Cortez
3. The first Thanksgiving Day in Canada after Confederation in 1867 was observed on what date?
a) October 12, 1867
b) April 15, 1872
c) October 19, 1867
d) November 11, 1868
4. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving on a Monday. On what day of the week do Americans celebrate their Thanksgiving?
5. During North American Thanksgiving celebrations in the early 1600s, why was the potato not part of the meal?
a) potatoes did not grow in North America at the time
b) blights eradicated much of the potato crop
c) the newly discovered potato was considered by many Europeans to be poisonous
d) the potato was considered to be a “dirty” food because it is was grown beneath the soil
6. The Horn of Plenty, or Cornucopia, which symbolizes abundance and is one of the most recognizable symbols of Thanksgiving, originated in what country?
a) Holland
b) Greece
c) The United States
d) Canada
e) Norway
7. True or false? Fresh cranberries are composed of almost 90 percent water.
8. What are Beltsville Small Whites, Slates, White Hollands, and Bourbon Reds?
9. Since 1931, Canadian Thanksgiving has been celebrated on the second Monday of October, with the exception of 1935, when it was moved to Thursday, October 24. Why was the date changed that year?
a) A general election was held on the second Monday of October
b) Canada’s stock of turkeys was depleted by disease
c) At the height of the Depression no one wanted to give thanks
d) King George V had died in early October
10. Who was prime minister on January 31, 1957, when Canada’s Parliament issued a proclamation that permanently fixed the second Monday in October as Thanksgiving?
11. In Canada, Thanksgiving and Christmas account for what percentage of whole turkey sales?
a) 98 percent
b) 93 percent
c) 86 percent
d) 64 percent
12. What are the origins of the word pumpkin?
a) from the Greek word pepon, which means large melon
b) from the French, who used the term “pompon”
c) from pumpion as it was referred to by the English
d) all of the above
