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Money

Is the loon on the Canadian one-dollar coin only there because the original design got lost?

Yes. :

Initially, the Loonie as we know it was never meant to be. The original master dies of the one-dollar coin, which depicted the motif of a voyageur, were lost in transit on their way to Winnipeg in November, 1986. To preserve the integrity of the Canadian coinage system, the Government of Canada authorized a new design of the coin, which was of the loon.

Do Canada鈥檚 new plastic bills contain a special agent that makes them smell like maple syrup?

No. Though a lot of people seem to believe this, a quoted an 鈥渙fficial鈥� from the Bank of Canada saying 鈥渘o scent has been added to any of the new bank notes.鈥�

Did the old (1986-2001) Canadian bills depict a U.S. flag flying over parliament as prelude to some horrible New World Order annexation of Canada?

No. The flag depicted on the old money was the Red Ensign, Canada鈥檚 flag between 1922 and 1965. When shrunk down and turned monochromatic, it kind of looks like the American stars-and-stripes, since both flags feature a square in the top left corner.

Snopes has written a of this myth.

Is it against the law to cut a coin in half in Canada?

Yes. According to Section 11(2) of the , anyone who shall 鈥渕elt down, break up or use otherwise than as currency鈥� any Canadian coin is 鈥渓iable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months.鈥�

Symbols

Do the points on the maple leaf on Canada鈥檚 flag represent Canada鈥檚 ten provinces?

No. Officially speaking, nothing on Canada鈥檚 flag represents anything.

The of the national flag of Canada decrees only that Canada shall have 鈥渁 red flag of the proportions two by length and one by width, containing in its centre a white square the width of the flag, bearing a single red maple leaf,鈥� and does not designate any official symbolism. In any case, depending on how you count, the maple leaf on the flag has either nine points or 11, neither of which has any obvious Canadian symbolism given that the country has 10 provinces and (at the time the flag was made) two territories.

A from the federal government on the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag affirmed听鈥渢here is no special significance to the eleven points.鈥�

Is it illegal to pick trillium flowers in Ontario?

No. The White Trillium听(Trillium grandiflorum) is the official provincial flower of Ontario, which has led to a common assumption听that the flower enjoys special legal protections as a result. In reality, giving official symbol status to a specific species of plant (or a species of bird or animal) is simply a ceremonial designation, with no relevance to law. As the , “Contrary to popular belief, it is not illegal to pick a white trillium in Ontario.”

Variations on this myth are popular across North America, and there are similar urban legends in other provinces and American states that it’s illegal to pick the provincial/state flower. The trillium myth is probably common in Canada simply because it’s the well-known provincial flower of Canada’s largest province.

It should be noted, however, that disturbing certain kinds of plants can be a crime in some areas if the plant in question is endangered. In some rare cases, there may be overlap between an official plant and an endangered one (for example, the ) which is probably how the myth began.

Sports

Is Canada鈥檚 official national sport actually lacrosse, not hockey?

Actually, it鈥檚 both. According to the (1994), Canada has two official sports. Hockey is the 鈥渘ational winter sport of Canada鈥� while lacrosse is the 鈥渘ational summer sport of Canada.鈥�

Does the 鈥淗鈥� in the Montreal Canadiens logo stand for 鈥�les habitants,鈥� a nod to Quebec鈥檚 rural history?

No. This myth is heavily bound up in the fact that 鈥渢he habs鈥� or 鈥渓es habs鈥� has long been a popular nickname for the Quebec hockey team.

According to the , the 鈥淗鈥� in their logo simply stands for 鈥渉ockey鈥� and was added in 1916 after the team was purchased by an outfit called the Canadien Hockey Club. Prior to 1916, the team was owned by the Canadien Athletic Club and the logo featured a big letter 鈥淎鈥� instead.

No one really knows where the 鈥渉abs鈥� nickname comes from, other than it鈥檚 an allusion to les habitants, a term for early French-Canadian agricultural settlers. It鈥檚 unclear if the habs nickname came before or after the myth about the 鈥淗鈥� in the logo.

Is the name of the 鈥淭oronto Maple Leafs鈥� a hilarious typo?

It鈥檚 unclear. Why is the hockey team called the 鈥渓eafs鈥� and not the more grammatically correct 鈥渓eaves?鈥� No one really knows.

There is a common myth among Toronto fans that their team was named after something called the 鈥�Maple Leaf Regiment鈥� that fought during World War I (1914-1918), and that it鈥檚 not grammatically incorrect to pluralize a team named after a proper noun. The only problem? No听such regiment existed.

According to the , it鈥檚 鈥渘ot known鈥� why the team is called what it is, though they quote team founder Conn Smythe (1895-1980) saying he was inspired by the maple leaf badges many Canadians wore during the First World War.听This still doesn鈥檛 explain why he chose to pluralize the name in the way he did. Complicating matters further, there existed sports teams in Canada called 鈥渢he Maple Leafs鈥� before Smythe鈥檚 hockey team, and indeed, before World War I.

Did a Canadian invent penicillin?

No, though this is widely believed in Canada, for some reason. The discovery of the antibiotic penicillin is usually to a Brit, Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), a man with no evident ties to Canada. The which was given to honour “the discovery of penicillin” went to Fleming along with Australian Howard Walter Florey (1898-1968) and German-born British immigrant Ernst Boris Chain (1906-1979), neither of whom had any Canadian ties, either.

It is likely the myth that a Canadian had something to do with the invention of penicillin just arises from people getting penicillin confused with insulin, given insulin was discovered by a Canadian, Frederick Banting (1891-1941), who won the Nobel Prize in 1923. Fleming and Banting have vaguely similar biographies.

Monarchy

Does the British monarch own all the land in Canada?

No, not all, and no, not personally.

, around 90 per cent of all land in Canada is owned by either the federal or provincial governments (in a very rough 50-50 split) while the remaining 10 per cent is privately owned.

Because Canada is a monarchy, Canadian law refers to the legal authority of the Canadian government as 鈥�the Crown,鈥� and one often hears government-owned land described as 鈥淐rown land鈥� or land 鈥渙wned by the Crown鈥� as a result. Because Canada is a constitutional monarchy, however, the powers of the Crown are exercised by politicians and bureaucrats on behalf of the current king or queen, with the actual monarch no longer having any independent, decision-making authority.

Though King Charles III (b. 1948), in his capacity as Canada鈥檚 monarch and head of state, may technically hold symbolic legal authority over the vast majority of Canadian land, he as an individual holds no power under Canadian law to unilaterally buy, sell, lease, or trade 鈥渉is鈥� land, nor does he personally secure any royalties or rent from any activities that occur on any of it.

For more on the 鈥淐rown,鈥� see the question about Native rights below.

On old Canadian stamps and money, was there a subliminal image of the devil in the Queen鈥檚 hair?

Yes, though it was obviously an accident.

In 1954, following Elizabeth II鈥檚 (1926-2022) coronation, the Bank of Canada produced a new series of Canadian banknotes featuring a portrait of the country鈥檚 new queen. If you looked at the Queen鈥檚 hair in these portraits closely enough, it was possible to make out a vague, yet grotesque-looking face in her curls. This was a complete coincidence, however, as the banknote portrait was based on a 1951 photograph, which featured the same face-shaped curls, caused by the lighting in the shot. Nevertheless, by 1956 the controversy was enough that the Bank of Canada edited the Queen鈥檚 portrait to eliminate the creepy curls, making so-called 鈥�Devil鈥檚 Face鈥� bills now much sought by collectors.

Canadian Coin and Currency has a .

Is the Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company still legally obligated to give the British monarch a package of beaver pelts (or some such archaic, colonial-era offering) every time they visit Canada?

This used to be true, but isn鈥檛 anymore.

According to the , the Bay鈥檚 originally included a stipulation calling for a 鈥減ayment of a rent of 鈥榯wo elk and two black beaver鈥� whenever the Sovereign or his Successors should enter into the area of the Company鈥檚 tenure,鈥� and the company fulfilled this obligation 鈥� known as the Rent Ceremony 鈥斕�the first four times British royalty visited Canada. In 1927, 1939, and 1959 they gave the obligatory elk and beaver pelts to Prince Edward of Wales (1894-1972), King George VI (1895-1952) and Queen Elizabeth II, respectively, and in 1970 the company organized a bit of a PR stunt by donating two living elk and beavers to Winnipeg鈥檚 Assiniboine Park Zoo in the Queen鈥檚 name. The year 1970 also saw the HBC charter get amended and modernized, and among other things, the royal fur payment tradition was removed.

Aboriginals

Did Canada, England, or the Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company purposely try to kill Indians by giving them blankets (possibly even iconic HBC “stripe” blankets) infected with smallpox?

No. , the Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company calls this 鈥渙ne of the most widely propagated and misunderstood stories in North American history.鈥� They track the legend to some letters exchanged by British colonial officials in the 18th century, in which a similar听idea was discussed, but 鈥渢here is no hard evidence that this plan was ever enacted.鈥� The scientific concept that diseases can be spread by germs or infected materials was not mainstream knowledge听until the mid-19th century.

Do Canada鈥檚 aboriginal nations only have a legal relationship with the British monarch, not Canada?

No. This misconception is widely held by many aboriginal leaders and continues to cause problems for First Nations-Canadian relations, most recently during the Theresa Spence听hunger strike of 2012.

Though most of Canada鈥檚 aboriginal bands signed treaties made in the name of the king or queen of the United Kingdom, these various kings or queens were not personally involved in creating said treaties. In a constitutional monarchy, politicians and bureaucrats merely perform actions on behalf of the monarch, since the monarch is technically the source of all political power. In practice, these treaties were negotiated, written, and drafted by either British or Canadian bureaucrats and politicians.

When Canadians speak of 鈥�the Crown鈥� they are referring to the abstract authority of the entire Canadian constitutional monarchy political system, and not literally a person wearing a crown. Responsibility for honouring and enforcing aboriginal treaties in Canada is explicitly the jurisdiction of the government of Canada, as indicated in Section 91(24) of the and Sections 25 and 35 of the .

Was South Africa鈥檚 racist apartheid system based on Canadian aboriginal policies?

No. According to a 2007 academic paper published in the Journal of South African Political Studies (), there exists 鈥渓ittle evidence, beyond 鈥榮craps’鈥� that the South African government was ever inspired by Canadian policies. The author concludes that the story 鈥渁ppears to be a myth鈥� that is 鈥渆mployed powerfully for political ends.鈥�

Government, Politics, and History

Are members of parliament legally required to present every petition they receive 鈥� no matter how wacky 鈥� to the floor of the House of Commons?

No. Though this belief has been cited in defense of MPs who have read some rather strange petitions, most recently Green Party MP听Elizabeth May鈥檚 (b. 1954) reading of a 9/11 鈥淭ruther鈥� petition in the winter of 2014, the states that 鈥渕embers are not bound to present petitions and cannot be compelled to do so,鈥� though some might consider it a moral obligation.

It should also be noted that there is no 鈥渕agic number鈥� of signatures required for a MP to bring a petition to Parliament鈥檚 attention, either.

Are the Turks and Caicos islands in the Caribbean going to become Canada鈥檚 11th province, or did they 鈥渁lmost鈥� join Canada at one point?

No. Though the idea has been discussed over the decades, it鈥檚 currently nowhere close to happening, nor was it ever close to happening in the past.

During Canada鈥檚 mid-19th/early 20th century period of geographic expansion, it was common for Canadian politicians to argue all British colonial possessions in America, which is to say the many islands of the British West Indies, and the Latin/South American territories of Guyana听补苍诲 Belize (formerly known as 叠谤颈迟颈蝉丑听贬辞苍诲耻谤补蝉), should be placed under Canadian control 鈥� partially for economic reasons, partially to help Britain 鈥減rotect鈥� them from American domination, partially for patriotic reasons of glory and empire-building. Prime Minister Robert Borden (1854-1937, served 1911-1920) was particularly fond of this idea, and there are numerous cables between him and London in which the Canadian PM attempts to make the case for 鈥渂ringing these lands into Confederation.鈥� Britain鈥檚 colonial office was politely tolerant of the proposal, but talks remained theoretical, and petered out after Borden left office.

The romantic notion of a Canadian Caribbean did not die, however, and as the decades progressed, and most of the region鈥檚 islands became independent countries, the Turks and Caicos Islands eventually emerged as the focus of Canadian attention, remaining, as they do, the largest surviving British colonial possession in the North Atlantic. Though eccentric Canadian politicians continue to raise the idea of absorbing the islands now and then 鈥� backbench Conservative MP Peter Goldring (b. 1944) and before that Nova Scotia legislator William Langille (b. 1944), who in 2004 successfully convinced听the Nova Scotia legislature to pass a 鈥� Canada鈥檚 foreign minister has Ottawa 鈥渋s not in the business of annexing islands in the Caribbean,鈥� and the prime minister of Turks and Caicos has 鈥渇irmly and publicly disparaged the prospect鈥� . In his 2015 book, Canada: A New Tax Haven: How the Country That Shaped Caribbean Tax Havens is Becoming One Itself, author Alain Deneault suggests contemporary interest in this idea is largely being driven by rich Canadians who want to see a new province with lax, Caribbean-style tax laws.

For more information, see (1989) by Peter McFarlane.

Did future prime minister Pierre Trudeau protest World War II by riding around Montreal on his motorcycle while wearing a Nazi helmet?

It鈥檚 unclear.

According to biographers Max Nemni and Monique Nemni, authors of , the motorcycle/helmet story 鈥渉as as many variants as there are storytellers, each embroidering freely on the known facts.鈥� Credible sources do seem to agree, however, that young Pierre and his friend Roger Rolland (1921-2011) played a prank in 1942 that involved dressing up in European military uniforms and riding around on their motorbikes.

The Nemnis quote Rolland鈥檚 memory of the prank, in which he recounts that it was he, not Trudeau who wore the German army helmet (from the First World War, incidentally). Rolland similarly claims, in the Nemnis鈥� words, that the point of the prank was simply to surprise some friends with 鈥渙utlandish disguises,鈥� 鈥� 鈥渘ot to convey some political message.鈥� The Nemnis themselves seem skeptical, and question 鈥渉ow two educated young men in their early twenties, in the midst of a world war, could find such a prank appropriate.鈥�

Did prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau draw the Doonesbury comic strip, or is he at least related to the guy who did?

Doonesbury has always been drawn by the American cartoonist Gary Trudeau (b. 1948). He is of French-Canadian heritage, and as such is very distantly related to Pierre Trudeau through their common ancestor Etienne Trudeau (1641-1712). According to the book 鈥渧irtually every person named Trudeau in North America鈥� is a descendant of Etienne Trudeau.

Gary and Pierre did not know each other.

Did the lyrics to the theme song of Tiny Toon Adventures make reference to Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney?

No. Only a popular parody version. The actual lyrics of the nineties-era animated series go:

We鈥檙e tiny, we鈥檙e toony/we鈥檙e all a little loony/and in this cartoony/we鈥檙e invading your TV!

The parody version, spread by Canadian kids on the playground, but never actually heard on the show itself, went:

We鈥檙e tiny, we鈥檙e toony/we can鈥檛 afford a loonie/鈥檆ause Brian Mulroney/invented GST!

Did Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau once compare US-Canadian relations to a 鈥渕ouse sleeping with an elephant?鈥�

Not in those exact words, no. In a famous 1969 speech to the Washington Press Club, Prime Minister Trudeau said this:

Note that Trudeau’s analogy was simply about “sleeping with an elephant” in general; at no point did the prime minister use a mouse metaphor for Canada. Nevertheless, the notion that Canada is a mouse to America’s elephant quickly became mainstream, and associated with this speech.

Trudeau鈥檚 son, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has often said he wants Canada to be thought of as a 鈥渕oose鈥� not a 鈥渕ouse,鈥� a clarification that makes no sense unless one is familiar with the popular misquotation of his father.

For example, consider with NBC’s Chuck Todd (b. 1972):

TODD: Your father said this in 1969: 鈥淟iving next to you鈥� 鈥� referring to the United States 鈥� 鈥渋s in some ways like sleeping with an elephant.听 No matter how friendly or even-tempered is the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.鈥� Do you sleep worse these days? Do you sleep unsettled?

TRUDEAU: You know, I鈥檝e taken a different take on that than my father. I think we鈥檙e more of a moose. We’re still 鈥�

TODD:听(interrupting, confused) You’re the moose?

Did Prime Minister Kim Campbell once make the bizarre claim听that 鈥渁n election is no time to discuss serious issues鈥�?

Not really. This is one of the most famous Canadian political quotations of all time, but according to the memoirs of Kim听Campbell (b. 1947), Time and Chance (1996), it鈥檚 cited completely out of context.

During the 1993 federal election, Kim Campbell鈥檚 Conservative government was accused by the NDP of having a 鈥渟ecret agenda鈥� to unilaterally reform various social programs, including unemployment insurance, without first engaging in customary consultations with the provinces. Campbell responded by reaffirming that she was absolutely committed to holding such discussions 鈥� after her government was re-elected.

鈥淚 was then asked [by a reporter],鈥� writes Campbell, 鈥渋f I didn鈥檛 think that it was possible to have that dialogue during the election campaign, and I replied 鈥業 think that鈥檚 the worst possible time to have that kind of dialogue.’鈥�

鈥淲hen [the reporter] asked why, I explained, 鈥楤ecause it takes longer than forty-seven days to tackle an issue that鈥檚 that serious.’鈥�

She later added, 鈥淭his is not the time, I don鈥檛 think, to get involved in a debate on very serious issues.鈥�

In other words, Campbell鈥檚 comment about not wanting to discuss 鈥渟erious issues鈥� during an election was quite focused and specific. She did not want, as prime minister, to discuss social program reform with the provincial governments during the election she was currently running in, though out of context her phrasing made it sound like she was making a broader statement about serious issues and elections in general.

Did Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper once ominously promise that 鈥測ou won鈥檛 recognize Canada when I get through with it?鈥�

No, this is a largely fictitious quotation that seems to have been invented by Harper鈥檚 partisan enemies by taking a quote out of context and then proceeding to twist its meaning even further.

In 2004, following his election as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Stephen Harper听(b. 1959) gave a speech in which he bragged that his party would 鈥渃reate a country built on solid Conservative values not on expensive Liberal promises. A country the Liberals would not even recognize. The kind of country I want to lead.鈥�

A few months later, during the 2004 federal election campaign, the Liberal Party ran an against Harper, stating, in part that 鈥淪tephen Harper says when he鈥檚 through with Canada we won鈥檛 recognize it. You know what? He鈥檚 right.鈥�

It鈥檚 from merging these two very different statements together that we wind up with the 鈥渨hen I get through with it鈥� misquote.