Follow Me, Eh? - Leadership By Integrity Quiz

Answer: The Suez Crisis

Britain, France, and Israel secretly invaded Egypt in 1956 after Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, triggering a dangerous standoff that risked drawing in the United States and the Soviet Union. As fighting escalated and great‑power confrontation loomed, the UN was paralyzed because the aggressor states were themselves Security Council members. Lester B. Pearson recognized that the only way to stop the conflict was to insert a neutral, international force that neither side could claim as an enemy.

UN peacekeepers were deployed only with Egypt's consent, arriving in mid‑November 1956 and reaching full strength (~6,000 troops) by February 1957. They were stationed entirely on Egyptian territory-Sinai, Gaza, and along the Suez Canal-to supervise the withdrawal of British, French, and Israeli forces and act as a neutral buffer. Their deployment successfully ended the fighting, enabled foreign troop withdrawal, stabilized the frontier, and allowed the UN to reopen the blocked canal. Pearson received the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for "saving the world from war".

Answer: Spinal Cord Injury

Rick Hansen decided to raise money for spinal cord injury (SCI) research because his own paralysis at age 15 transformed his life, exposed him to the severe lack of accessibility and medical progress, and convinced him that people with disabilities deserved far better opportunities, treatment, and hope. He raised $26M for spinal-cord injury research by completing a 40,000‑km world tour from 1985 to 1987- crossing 34 countries over 26 months. He wheeled through deserts, mountains, and war zones - including the Sahara, the Great Wall of China, and parts of the Middle East during conflict.

Rick became a global accessibility leader - influencing building codes, public‑space design, and disability‑rights policy worldwide. He returned to every country he visited - to follow up on accessibility commitments made during the tour and never accepted personal profit from the tour - all funds went directly to research and accessibility initiatives.

Answer: Insulin

In 1923, after insulin had transformed diabetes from a fatal diagnosis into a treatable condition, its discoverers - Frederick Banting, Charles Best, and James Collip - made one of the most extraordinary decisions in medical history: they sold their patent to the University of Toronto for just one dollar. They believed no one should own a cure for a deadly disease, and the university agreed, issuing non‑exclusive, royalty‑free licenses so any qualified manufacturer could produce insulin.

This move prevented any single company from monopolizing the original insulin formula, and for decades it kept prices low. But while the $1 patent blocked profiteering on the original discovery, it couldn't stop pharmaceutical companies from later patenting new insulin formulations, delivery devices, and incremental modifications - a strategy known as patent evergreening, which is why modern insulin prices can still soar despite the founders' altruistic intent.

Answer: Iran Hostage Crisis

Canada's rescue of six American diplomats during the Iran Hostage Crisis was a discreet act of courage: while the U.S. could not safely operate inside Tehran, Canada sheltered the diplomats in private homes and engineered their escape without payment or fanfare.

Canada, in contrast with the US, had a neutral reputation, a smaller diplomatic footprint, and no history of interference in Iran, making its actions far less suspicious - allowing Canadian officials to provide real passports and a safe exit in what became known as the Canadian Caper. The U.S. Congress subsequently passed a resolution thanking Canada.

Answer: Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney rallied supportive Commonwealth partners such as Australia, India, and numerous African and Caribbean states, while confronting opposed leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, to start the end of apartheid in South Africa. Following the sanctions in the 1980s, apartheid ended in South Africa between 1990 and 1994, when the racist legal system was dismantled and democratic rule under Nelson Mandela began.

South Africa later recognized Mulroney by awarding him the Supreme Companions of O.R. Tambo, the highest award for foreign nationals who made exceptional contributions to South Africa's liberation and democracy.

Answer: anti‑personnel landmines

Anti‑personnel landmines kill and injure civilians long after conflicts end. By the mid‑1990s, landmines were causing 20,000+ civilian casualties per year, overwhelmingly children and farmers. Canada intentionally created a fast, open, humanitarian‑driven process outside traditional slow UN disarmament channels.

The moral logic: "If the major powers won't lead, we will - and we'll invite the world to join us". 164 countries, including Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Brazil, Indonesia and Nigeria, joined. Thirty-four countries have not signed it, including the United States, China, India, and Russia. Large military powers resist treaties that impose absolute constraints on weapons they consider essential.

Answer: Mark Carney

As Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney prioritized public safety over political popularity during the 2008-2009 Financial Crisis by enforcing higher bank capital requirements, leverage limits, liquidity buffers, and transparency even under extreme pressure to relax them.

This was a principled approach that kept Canadian banks stable while major institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, and several EU states collapsed after choosing politically convenient, weaker safeguards.

Answer: SARS Crisis

During the 2003 SARS outbreak, Canada was the first country to chose full transparency, rapid reporting, and strict public‑health measures, even though doing so damaged tourism, hurt the economy, triggered WHO travel advisories and created political backlash. The outbreak‑management procedures developed in Toronto - especially hospital infection‑control protocols, case‑tracking systems, and real‑time reporting - were later used by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and several other countries to contain the problem. Canada's transparency gave the U.S. early warning and prevented wider spread while countries that suppressed information faced wider transmission, economic damage, and international criticism.

To revive confidence in tourism to Toronto, a SARS benefit concert was held in Toronto - officially Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto and popularly called SARSStock. It featured one of the largest and most star‑packed lineups ever assembled in Canada : The Rolling Stones (headliners who helped organize the event), AC/DC (major co‑headliner), Rush (Canadian rock legends), The Guess Who (classic Canadian rock band) and Justin Timberlake amongst others. Approximately 500,000 people attended the event.

Answer: Cancer

In 1977, Terry Fox was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of cancer that often starts near the knees. This ultimately led to having to have his right leg amputated. Having to undergo chemotherapy in 1977, the doctors gave Terry a 50% chance of living. He was told that two years before, his chance of living would only have been 15%. The improvement in survival rate from 15% to 50% impressed on him the value of cancer research. The results of medical research last forever, for the benefit of all people around the world. Terry Fox understood this and created the Marathon of Hope to raise money for this.

Terry's Marathon of Hope was an inspiration to millions worldwide and built one of the largest international charitable movements in history. More than 60 countries participate each year in Terry Fox charity runs to raise money for cancer research. On February 4, 2026, the Terry Fox Foundation announced that more than $1B had been raised in Terry's name.

Answer: Parkinson's Disease

Michel J. Fox, a Canadian actor known for roles in television and movie appearances (such as the "Back to the Future" trilogy) publicly disclosed his Parkinson's diagnosis in 1998. By opening up about the need for Parkinson's research, Fox directly influenced U.S. federal stem‑cell research policy, Canadian neurological‑research funding, NIH and global Parkinson's research priorities and paved the way for many international patient‑advocacy networks.

A true leader in generating support and awareness for Parkinson's research.

Answer: Richard Pound

Richard W. Pound is a Canadian lawyer, Olympic athlete, and long‑time IOC member who upheld anti‑corruption and clean‑sport principles under immense global pressure and became the founding president of the World Anti‑Doping Agency (WADA). He is internationally recognized for exposing corruption, challenging powerful sports institutions, and forcing accountability in ways few global leaders ever attempt. He exposed IOC corruption during the Salt Lake City bribery scandal, confronted national Olympic committees that hid doping and publicly criticized the IOC when it attempted to silence him.

Countries and organizations that resisted Pound's integrity standards faced suspensions, sanctions, stripped medals, loss of Olympic eligibility, reputational damage and forced governance reforms. Examples: Russia (state‑sponsored doping exposed, Olympic bans), U.S. Track & Field (sanctions for non‑compliance), cycling federations (forced reforms after doping scandals).

His policies are now followed by the IOC, FIFA, World Athletics cycling, swimming, skiing federations, and national Olympic committees worldwide.

Answer: 9/11

Gander, a town of approximately 10,000 people, received more than 6,600 passengers and airline crew members for up to six days until airspace was reopened. Gander's residents made decisions rooted in decency, responsibility, and moral clarity, not self‑protection.

They didn't wait for instructions. Every credible source describing the events emphasizes that food, shelter, medical care, transportation, and even private homes were offered entirely free, driven by volunteerism and community solidarity.

They led by doing what was right.

Answer: Norman Bethune

Bethune created the world's first mobile blood transfusion service while serving with the Republican forces in Spain because he saw a moral failure: wounded soldiers were dying simply because blood couldn't reach them in time. This was the first conflict where blood could be collected, stored, transported, and delivered directly to wounded soldiers in active combat zones instead of bringing the wounded to blood. It consisted of blood collection stations (volunteers donated blood in urban centers like Madrid), refrigerated storage (to preserve blood for transport), transport vehicles (ambulances outfitted with sterile equipment, transfusion kits, refrigeration boxes, medical supplies), and front‑line transfusion teams (administered transfusions within minutes of injury).

Norman Bethune led by integrity because he put human life above politics, innovation above ego, and truth above comfort - countries such as China, Spain, France, the UK, and the U.S. honoured him for saving lives, innovating ethically, and serving impartially in their greatest moments of need.

Answer: Joe St. Louis

Joe St. Louis was the bobsleigh expert who trained the Jamaican team in Calgary, ensured they had safe equipment, taught them technical skills other nations refused to share, advocated for their right to compete, protected them from ridicule and discrimination and insisted they be treated with dignity by officials and other teams, helping to turn them into a global symbol of sportsmanship.

He is remembered by athletes and officials as the Canadian who embodied pure Olympic integrity. He didn't help them for publicity. He didn't help them for Canada. He helped them because fairness matters.

Answer: Phil Esposito

After losing game 4 to the Russians in Vancouver, Phil gave this passionate speech defending his teammates, taking responsibility for the team's struggles, and urging Canadians to stand behind them - an act which rallied the entire country and inspired Team Canada to come back and win the Summit Series in game 8 in Moscow.

Small excerpt of his speech: "To the people across Canada, we tried, we gave it our best. For the people who booed us... we're disappointed in some of the people, we can not believe the bad press we've got, the booing we've gotten in our own buildings... every one us guys, 35 guys that came out and played for Team Canada, we did it because we love our country and not for any other reason... they can throw the money for the pension fund out the window, they can throw anything they want out the window, we came because we love Canada. And even though we play in the United States and earn money in the United States, Canada is still our home and that's the only reason we come. And I don't think it's fair that we should be booed."