Greatest Canadians Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Ranked as #1, Tommy C. Douglas was born in Falkirk, Scotland in 1904. As a child, he injured his right knee which developed osteomyelitis. He underwent a series of surgeries to treat the condition. Later in Winnipeg, the osteomyelitis returned and a doctor told his parents that Douglas would need his leg amputated, however, a well-known orthopedic surgeon offered to operate for free, if his parents agreed to allow medical students to observe. His leg was ultimately saved. This led Douglas to believe that healthcare should be free to everyone. He became instrumental in the creation of universal health care in Canada. Many years later, Douglas told an interviewer, "I felt that no boy should have to depend either for his leg or his life upon the ability of his parents to raise enough money to bring a first-class surgeon to his bedside."

Terry Fox was ranked as the #2 greatest Canadian. Terry developed osteogenic sarcoma in his right leg as a teenager, and had his leg amputated. He saw many sick people in the hospital and wanted to help. He decided to run across Canada on his artificial leg to raise money for cancer research, and the Marathon of Hope was born. Terry Fox ran for 143 days, covering 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles), and was forced to stop just outside Thunder Bay, Ontario, because the cancer had returned. Now there is an annual Terry Fox run in over 60 counties that has raised over $950 million dollars for cancer research.

Pierre Trudeau was voted #3 on the list. He was prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984. He repatriated the Canadian constitution from the UK and implemented official bilingualism and multiculturalism. Many people consider him to be the father of modern Canada.

Sir Frederick Banting was voted #4. He isolated and purified insulin along with his colleagues Charles Best, J.J.R. Macleod, and James Collip, at the University of Toronto in 1921. The first human treatment was administered in 1922. Prior to that, diabetes was a fatal illness, but thanks to him it is now a manageable condition. Banting was awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this discovery.

David Suzuki was voted as the #5 greatest Canadian. He is known for his environmental activism and science broadcasting. He hosted the CBC show, "The Nature of Things", from 1979 to 2023. Susuki has won many prestigious awards including Officer of the Order of Canada in 1976 and Companion of the Order of Canada in 2006.

Our #6 greatest Canadian is Lester B. Pearson. He served as the Prime Minister from 1963-68. He oversaw the creation of the current Canadian flag, the Order of Canada, the Canada Pension Plan, and the Canada Student Loan Program. Pearson has schools, landmarks, parks, streets, and Canada's biggest airport named after him.

Coming in at #7, is Don Cherry. He is a retired professional hockey player and an NHL coach. He hosted "Coach's Corner", a commentary and analysis segment that aired from 1982 to 2019 during the first intermission of the Hockey Night in Canada.

The #8 pick was Sir John A Macdonald. He was Canada's first Prime Minister, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. Macdonald was instrumental in the building of the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway), which united Canada from east to west. Many parks, libraries, schools, and an airport are named after him.

The #9 greatest Canadian is Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. Bell's mother and wife were deaf, and this led him to conduct research on hearing and speech, which resulted in his experimenting with hearing devices. This eventually led to his being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone.

#10 is Canada's Wayne Gretzky, hockey player extraordinaire. He was adept at dodging checks from opposing players, he anticipated where the puck was going to be, and executed the right move at the right time. Gretzky became known for setting up behind his opponent's net, an area that was nicknamed "Gretzky's office".