The Questions!

1. 2017 kicked off with a political bang when, on January 10th, Justin Trudeau shuffled his cabinet -- in large part to respond to the election of Donald Trump in the United States.

Name the three new members of cabinet sworn in that day.

Three ministers were left out of cabinet: John McCallum and Stephane Dion became ambassadors overseas. Name the third one.

2. On January 20th, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. How big was the crowd?... No, just kidding! I have a couple of questions for you.

Trump started following through on some of his campaign promises, and on the 24th, the President signed executive memos that get noticed on this side of the border, involving two pipelines: Keystone XL and… Name the other one.

3. At the end of January, the federal government, and new Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, are forced to respond to Donald Trump's first travel ban. On the 28th, the Prime Minister sends out a tweet that gets a lot of attention.

It reads:

"To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength"

What is the hashtag at the end of that tweet?

4. February 1st, the new mandate letter to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Karina Gould, confirmed that the Liberals were abandoning their promise to change the electoral system. Justin Trudeau later admitted that he thought proportional voting would be too divise for Canada… and that he preferred which system of voting?

5. On February 13th, Trudeau went to Washington, D.C., to meet with Donald Trump. ​The two leaders participated in a roundtable discussion that day. What was the topic of that roundtable?

6. February 24th marked the one year anniversary the Phoenix Pay system going live.

Multiple choice question. How much does the Auditor general warn that it could cost to fix Phoenix now?  

A) 250 million

B) 540 million

C) 1.2 billion

7. On March 8th, a former Prime Minister spoke in the House of Commons. Who was it and what was the occasion?

8. On March 22, Bill Morneau presented his 2nd budget. The finance minister took heat from the opposition for projecting that the deficit for the coming year would rise to what?

Three quick bonus questions, each worth one point:

-No Netflix tax in that budget, but there's a measure to start collecting GST on what popular service?

-New sin taxes of one cent more on a bottle of wine, and how many cents on a 24 case of beer?

-The 2017 budget also announced the end of what formerly popular investment instrument. What was it?

9. On April 3rd, there were 5 federal by-elections. Name 3 of the 5 MPs who were being replaced.

9b. Bonus point if you can name TWO of the 5 winners that night.

10. On May 9th, British Columbia held it's provincial election. Christy Clark's Liberals fell one seat short of a majority, winning 43. John Horgan's NDP won 41, and the Greens under Andrew Weaver hold the balance of power… by winning how many seats?

11.  On May 27th the Conservatives elected their new leader, Andrew Scheer. How many rounds did it take to elect the new leader?

Bonus point if you can tell me who finished last.

Answer: Deepak Obhrai with less than ½ a percent.

12. June 1st, Philippe Couillard announced that he wants to start a national conversation about what?

13. On June 6th, a major speech in the House of Commons outlined what?

14. June 7th, the government's controversial choice to be the next Official Languages Commissioner took her name out of the running. Who was that person?

15. July 1st, Canada celebrated its 150th birthday. Justin Trudeau gave a speech as part of the festivities on Parliament Hill. Which province did he fail to mention?

16. On July 7th, the federal government formally apologized to former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr. Along with the apology came a financial settlement to end ongoing legal action. How much did Ottawa give to Omar Khadr?

17. July 11th, one of five commissioners named by the Liberal government last summer to examine the root causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls announced she would resign. Who was that commissioner?

18. July 13th, the Prime Minister confirmed that Julie Payette would become the country's next Governor General. Payette, a former astronaut, was the second Canadian woman to go to space. Who was the first one?

19. July 17th, three Indigenous leaders announced they would not attend a planned meeting with the country's premiers, because they didn't agree with the format… and wanted to be full participants. Name two of the three.

20. It was a busy July… on the 22nd, Alberta's Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose party agree to merge after years of battling each other.

Jason Kenney eventually became leader of that new party… named what?

21. Early August, the asylum seekers situation reached a new level. Hundreds of people were crossing the border on Roxham Road, near Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle. Which famous Montreal landmark had to be used to temporary house them?

22. August 10th, the country's longest serving Premier announced he would be stepping down. Brad Wall is the leader of what party?

Bonus point if you can tell me who will become the longest serving premier once Wall steps down.

23. August 24th, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario passed a controversial motion calling for what?

24. August 28th, a long-rumoured summer shuffle finally happened. It included the decision to split the department of Indigenous Affairs into two, each with its own minister. The move came 20 years after it was suggested by whom?

25. September 28th, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly unveiled Canada's new cultural policy… which immediately faced criticism, particularly for its handling of the streaming giant Netflix. What financial commitment did Netflix make, as part of this strategy?

26. On October 1st, Jagmeet Singh won the leadership of the NDP on the first ballot. Who finished 2nd? Who finished second?

27. October 5th, which energy project got abandoned?

28.  In early October, National Revenue Minister Diane Leboutillier came under fire because of a document posted on CRA's website that suggested what?

29. November 5th, Denis Coderre is defeated. He didn't get a second term as Montreal of Montreal. Who beat him?

30. November 10th, the so-called TPP11 - the countries trying to reach a new trade deal after the collapse of the first Trans Pacific Partnership - reached an agreement on core principles of an agreement. But Canada got criticized for not agreeing to a full deal. Other than Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Mexico, name two other TPP 11 countries.

31. Multiple choice question coming up. November 22nd, the Liberals unveiled their national housing strategy. A strategy that included the promise to build how many NEW housing units over the next decade:

A) 100-thousand

B) 125-thousand

C) 150-thousand

32. December 11th, the country's finance ministers agreed on a plan to share marijuana tax revenues. What will be the federal-provincial split?

33. December 12th, the federal government announced it would be purchasing used F-18 fighter jets as a stop-gap measures, before finding permanent replacements for the country's CF-18s. From which country will those jets be purchased?

34. On the same day, December 12th, the government's choice to become the new ethics commissioner, Mario Dion, tells a Commons committee he won't commit to finalizing two high-profile investigations. Which ones?

35. December 18th, Richard Wagner was sworn in as the Supreme Court's new chief justice, succeeding Beverley MacLachlin. Wagner is from Quebec. Who was the last chief justice from that province before him?