The SoapBoxers

Canadian Fun and Facts

August 23, 2009

Tyson Turner - See all 11 of my articles

First off, in a bit of a follow up to last week, my kudos to a contestant on Trivial Pursuit this week who correctly answered the question “What is the capital of British Columbia”? While most would have went with the obvious choice of Vancouver, she correctly responded with Victoria (a very beautiful city and year in year out voted best city to live in Canada). So, well done, restoring my faith in the geography skills of Americans.

So the big deal this week in Canadian sports was the unveiling of Canada’s hockey team’s jerseys for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The jersey is actually fairly boring to look at on the surface, just standard red and white with a big maple leaf. However within the maple leaf contains some images of past Olympic successes. The jerseys are selling for about $130 Canadian. I really think if the country won gold in men’s hockey but didn’t win another medal the games would still be a success. Prognosticators are predicting this could be Canada’s best medal haul ever, with hockey, curling, speed skating and snowboarding being at the top of the list where Canada has some legitimate contenders. Given the lack of success our athletes had in Calgary in 1988 (no gold medals), the pressure is definitely on.

Otherwise, I found some fascinating Canadian trivia this week which I felt just had to be passed on. This includes:

• The Trans-Canada highway is the longest national highway in the world, measuring in at 7821 kilometres.
• Canada has some famous roadside attractions, including world’s largest coke can, world’s largest beaver, and world’s largest tin soldier.
• Quebec City is North America’s only walled city.
• Toronto’s CN Tower is the world’s largest free-standing structure. I have stood on the glass floor before, and it is quite the experience.
• The highest waterfall in Canada is actually not Niagara Falls. It is Della Falls in British Columbia, with a height of 440 metres.
• The legal drinking age in Canada is actually 19 in all provinces and territories except for Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta, where it is just 18! So you young Americans who want to experience the bar for the first time (legally) should make the trip up!

I am currently out at Lake of the Woods for the last time this summer. We finally have some nice weather, so I am going back out to enjoy it. Next Saturday I am off to Grand Forks for the day, so I will report back with details of my latest American experience!

North of the Border
2010 Olympics, Trivia