Deck 5: The Constitution

Question 1

In a 2012 survey, how many Canadians could identify when the Constitution Act came into force?

A) 50 per cent
B) 60 per cent
C) 80 per cent
D) 100 per cent
E) 30 per cent

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following provinces is officially bilingual?

A) Manitoba
B) Quebec
C) New Brunswick
D) Nova Scotia
E) Ontario

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which term refers to practices that emerge over time and are generally accepted as binding rules of the political system?

A) Constitutional practices
B) Constitutional laws
C) Constitutional rules
D) Constitutional conventions
E) Constitutional precedents

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What is seen as the legislature's main function?

A) Holding elections
B) Obstructing the public service
C) Interpreting the law
D) Making the law
E) Implementing the law

Question 5

What is seen as the executive's main function?

A) Interpreting the law
B) Holding elections
C) Obstructing the public service
D) Making the law
E) Implementing the law

Question 6

What is seen as the judiciary's main function?

A) Obstructing the public service
B) Holding elections
C) Interpreting the law
D) Making the law
E) Implementing the law

Question 7

How many Senate seats are the Maritime provinces guaranteed by the constitution?

A) 15
B) 24
C) 50
D) 10
E) 4

Question 8

Who said, "A nation is not more and no less than the entire population of a sovereign state"?

A) Brian Mulroney
B) Lester Pearson
C) John A. Macdonald
D) Sir Wilfrid Laurier
E) Pierre Trudeau

Question 9

What was considered the most controversial part of the failed Meech Lake reforms?

A) Natural resource revenues
B) Supreme Court appointments
C) Recognition of Quebec as a distinct society
D) Trade barriers
E) Senate reform

Question 10

What was a central nation-building exercise that the Constitution Act, 1867 required of the government?

A) Selecting a flag
B) Writing a national anthem
C) Recruiting an army
D) Building the Intercolonial Railway
E) Appointing a new head of state

Question 11

How many documents comprise the Canadian constitution?

A) Two
B) A series
C) One
D) Five
E) Nine

Question 12

How did Supreme Court of Canada describe the values and principles found in Canada's Constitution?

A) "Legal statutes"
B) "Founding beliefs"
C) "National rights"
D) "Constitutional conventions"
E) "Internal architecture"

Question 13

What does section 52(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 state?

A) That the Constitution is the supreme law of the land
B) That elections must be held at least every five years
C) That provincial law is above the constitution
D) That the prime minister is the head of state
E) That the Constitution is based in British Common Law

Question 14

Which term refers to the idea that so long as one level of government did not trespass onto jurisdictional turf that the Constitution assigned to the other level, it was free to do as it liked?

A) Constitutional convention
B) Constitutionalism
C) The rule of law
D) Parliamentary supremacy
E) Federalism

Question 15

Which constitutional document includes considerable detail on the rights of the "several Nations or Tribes of Indians . . . who live under our protection"?

A) The Durham Report
B) The Royal Proclamation of 1763
C) The Constitution Act, 1982
D) The Constitution Act, 1867
E) The Quebec Act of 1774

Question 16

What section of the Constitution Act, 1867 entrenched the principle of minority rights with the guarantee of minority religious education?

A) 91
B) 33
C) 15
D) 92
E) 93

Question 17

What is section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms described as?

A) The federal section
B) The legislative section
C) The equality section
D) The unamendable section
E) The economic section

Question 18

What are guaranteed in section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

A) Fundamental freedoms
B) Language rights
C) Mobility rights
D) Legal rights
E) Democratic rights

Question 19

What are guaranteed in sections 3-5 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

A) Mobility rights
B) Fundamental freedoms
C) Democratic rights
D) Legal rights
E) Language rights

Question 20

What are guaranteed in section 6 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

A) Mobility rights
B) Legal rights
C) Democratic rights
D) Fundamental freedoms
E) Language rights

Question 21

Which politician argued that a distinct society clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms would promote the concentration of French in Quebec with harmful consequences for the status of the French-speaking minorities in the other provinces and for the English-speaking minority?

A) Paul Martin
B) Jean Chrétien
C) Pierre Trudeau
D) Lucien Bouchard
E) Brian Mulroney

Question 22

Parliamentary government was imported from what country to Canada?

A) France
B) Australia
C) Italy
D) United States
E) United Kingdom

Question 23

Who is the head of the cabinet?

A) The Minister of Finance
B) The Clerk of the Privy Council
C) The prime minister
D) The governor general
E) The House Leader

Question 24

The Executive Branch of government includes which of the following?

A) Public servants
B) Private members
C) The Supreme Court
D) The House of Commons and the Senate
E) The governor general and the Cabinet

Question 25

The term party discipline describes which parliamentary tradition?

A) That MPs of a party vote as a unified block
B) That MPs do not make false promises
C) That MPs do not use foul language
D) That MPs do not give themselves large pay increases
E) None of the above

Question 26

How many of the 42 governments elected between 1867 and 2011 fell because of defeat in the legislature?

A) 16
B) 36
C) 26
D) 6
E) 10

Question 27

What issue was at the centre of the 1926 constitutional crisis?

A) The appropriate role of the governor general
B) Political party financing
C) Electoral fraud
D) Voting rights
E) The role of the senate

Question 28

What was described in a 1991 report as "a major constraint on the effectiveness of elected officials in representing constituents' views and in controlling a government agenda which may be out of touch with citizens' concerns"?

A) Bureaucracy
B) Voter turnout
C) Senate appointments
D) The Supreme Court
E) Party discipline

Question 29

How long did Joe Clark's 1979 Progressive Conservative government last in power?

A) Three years
B) One month
C) Nine months
D) One year
E) Five years

Question 30

In 2008, what party did the Liberals attempt to form a coalition with?

A) The Progressive Conservative Party
B) The Conservative Party
C) The Libertarian Party
D) The New Democratic Party
E) The Green Party

Question 31

Which governor general granted Stephen Harper's request to prorogue Parliament?

A) Michaëlle Jean
B) Lord Byng
C) Romeo LeBlanc
D) David Johnston
E) Adrienne Clarkson

Question 32

What concept did liberal thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke use to explain why people consent to be governed?

A) "State of nature"
B) "State of society"
C) "State of government"
D) "State of being"
E) "State of governed"

Question 33

What year was the Charlottetown Accord defeated?

A) 1982
B) 1987
C) 2006
D) 1992
E) 1968

Question 34

In the 1980s, what dealt parliamentary supremacy a "major blow"?

A) The prime minister
B) The governor general
C) The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
D) The Senate
E) Political parties

Question 35

What report argued that "willful ignorance of administrative inadequacies will not absolve a Minister from responsibility for failures within the department"?

A) The Meech Lake Report
B) The Victoria Report
C) The Gomery Report
D) The Macdonald Report
E) The Charlottetown Report

Question 36

What is found in section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

A) Fundamental freedoms
B) Language rights
C) Mobility rights
D) Democratic rights
E) The notwithstanding clause

Question 37

What is the retirement age for Supreme Court judges?

A) 75
B) 100
C) 65
D) 85
E) There is no retirement age

Question 38

What concept refers to the idea that judges are to be free from any and all interference in their decision-making?

A) Separation of powers
B) Ministerial responsibility
C) Parliamentary supremacy
D) Judicial independence
E) Constitutional supremacy

Question 39

What does section 24 of the Constitution Act, 1982 declare?

A) That enforcement of the Charter shall be through the courts
B) The separation of powers
C) Constitutional supremacy
D) Ministerial responsibility
E) Judicial independence

Question 40

What is the term used to describe a practice that enables governments to use the provincial and Canadian supreme courts to receive advisory opinions before acting or to thrust a politically volatile issue into the hands of judges?

A) Parliamentary supremacy
B) Reference
C) Judicial independence
D) Constitutional supremacy
E) Draft legislation

Question 41

In 2006, who appointed Michael Fortier to the Senate and then to the cabinet position of Minister of Public Works and Government Services?

A) Stephen Harper
B) Paul Martin
C) Jean Chrétien
D) Parliament
E) The Supreme Court

Question 42

When was the first permanent white settlement established in what would become Canadian territory?

A) 1867
B) 1608
C) 1796
D) 1812
E) 1841

Question 43

The preamble to the Constitution Act, 1867 states that Canada has adopted "a Constitution similar in Principle" to which country?

A) United Kingdom
B) United States
C) France
D) Russia
E) Ireland

Question 44

What Canadian city is SNC-Lavalin based in?

A) Toronto
B) Montreal
C) Calgary
D) Quebec City
E) Vancouver

Question 45

What was an early description of the Canadian Senate?

A) "Congressional check"
B) "Constitutional safeguard"
C) "Sober second thought"
D) "The elite chamber"
E) "The permanent Legislature"

Question 46

What did the 1982 Constitution Act accomplish?

A) It transformed Canada's written Constitution from a set of British laws into Canadian constitutional laws that could only be changed by Canadians.
B) It entrenched the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution.
C) It established formal mechanisms for changing the Constitution.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 47

In what year was the noted Reference on the Constitution Supreme Court decision made?

A) 1875
B) 1998
C) 1867
D) 1981
E) 1960

Question 48

Which provincial governments asked their provincial supreme courts if Trudeau's attempt to unilaterally patriate the Constitution was constitutional?

A) Newfoundland
B) Manitoba
C) Quebec
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 49

Who made the five demands to which Brian Mulroney responded with the Meech Lake Accord?

A) Richard Hatfield
B) Robert Bourassa
C) Peter Lougheed
D) Pierre Trudeau
E) Bill Davis

Question 50

In a 2018 poll, how many respondents remembered being taught about the constitution in school?

A) Eight in 10
B) Four in 10
C) Five in 10
D) Nine in 10
E) Seven in 10

Question 51

What year was SNC-Lavalin charged with fraud and corruption?

A) 1984
B) 2005
C) 2015
D) 1972
E) 1997

Question 52

What portfolio did Jody Wilson-Raybould hold when she resigned from the Trudeau government?

A) Defence
B) Finance
C) Indigenous Affairs
D) Justice
E) Veterans Affairs

Question 53

Which minister resigned in solidarity with Jody Wilson-Raybould?

A) Marc Garneau
B) Bill Morneau
C) Scott Brison
D) Chrystia Freeland
E) Jane Philpott

Question 54

What was the name of the principle that any bill touching on matters of language or religion in either Canada East or Canada West had to be approved by a majority of legislators from both Canada East and Canada West?

A) Double majority principle
B) Parliamentary supremacy
C) Religious-language test
D) Responsible government
E) Confidence vote

Question 55

What year was the Canadian Bill of Rights passed?

A) 1982
B) 1960
C) 1972
D) 1867
E) 1992

Question 56

What year was the Meech Lake Accord introduced?

A) 1987
B) 1992
C) 1960
D) 1972
E) 1867

Question 57

Who granted Joe Clark's request for an election in 1979?

A) Pierre Trudeau
B) Robert Stanfield
C) Ed Schreyer
D) Ed Broadbent
E) Romeo Leblanc

Question 58

How many provinces are required to amend the constitution as it relates to the governor general?

A) Six
B) Seven
C) Eight
D) Nine
E) 10

Question 59

How many provinces are required to amend the constitution as it relates to the composition of the Supreme Court?

A) Six
B) Seven
C) Eight
D) Nine
E) 10

Question 60

A constitution is a necessary condition for democratic politics.

Question 61

While a constitution empowers the state to act, it also limits power.

Question 62

The 1992 Charlottetown Accord is an example of successful constitutional change.

Question 63

Canada has an elected Senate.

Question 64

The Canadian Constitution guarantees equality of the French and English languages.

Question 65

The Constitution Act of 1982 created the country of Canada.

Question 66

Quebec is the only officially bilingual province in Canada.

Question 67

The Privy Council formally includes all members of the present and past cabinets.

Question 68

Party discipline is very weak in Canada.

Question 69

The Clarity Act of 2000 was created to ensure that Parliament can review the wording of any future referendum question.

Question 70

Most Canadians have a strong and accurate idea of what is included in their country's constitution.

Question 71

Before 1982, the relations between individuals and the state in Canada were defined by the courts mainly in terms of federal and provincial legislative powers.

Question 72

The Constitution Act, 1982 commits Ottawa and the provinces to the reduction of economic disparities between regions of the country.

Question 73

The Quebec Act of 1774 recognized the rights of Catholics in Quebec.

Question 74

The Constitution Act, 1867 did not entrench the principle of minority rights.

Question 75

A 2018 IPSOS poll found that 90% of respondents remembered being taught about the constitution in school.

Question 76

Constitutional conventions are those practices and understandings that emerge over time and are generally accepted as binding rules of the political system.

Question 77

Canada's constitution guarantees seven seats in parliament to representation of Indigenous Canadians.

Question 78

The 1992 Charlottetown Accord guaranteed group representation in parliament.

Question 79

The Canadian Constitution is one document.

Question 80

Section 52(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 states that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and that all government action must be in conformity with the Constitution.