Deck 2: The Social and Economic Setting

Question 1

Where did American celebrities say they would move if Donald Trump won the presidency?

A) Canada
B) United Kingdom
C) Russia
D) Sweden
E) Mexico

Answer 1

A

Question 2

If income inequality in Canada is measured by the share of total income accounted for by each quintile (fifth) of the population, what do statistics show about income inequality?

A) It has remained fairly stable.
B) It has increased significantly.
C) It has not changed at all.
D) It has decreased slightly with the wealthiest quintile less well off than a generation ago.
E) It has decreased significantly.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Compared to the world's major capitalist economies, what has been the employment trend in Canada?

A) A larger share of total employment in the manufacturing sector
B) Equal employment across all sectors
C) A much larger share of total employment in primary industries like fishing, farming, and mining
D) Declining employment in the service sector
E) Roughly the same share of total employment in the service sector

Answer 3

E

Question 4

What is the main difference between deindustrializing and outsourcing?

A) The first benefited mainly developed countries and the second benefited mainly developing countries.
B) The first mainly involved the export of low-skill manufacturing jobs and the second also includes the export of highly-skilled jobs that often require a good deal of education.
C) The former benefits mainly developing countries and the latter benefits mainly developed countries.
D) There is no difference between deindustrializing and outsourcing; these are synonymous.
E) The first resulted from changes in global tariffs and the second has been caused mainly by high levels of taxation and environmental regulation in developed economies.

Question 5

Statistics Canada's low-income cut-off (generally referred to as the poverty line) is set at a level where more than what percentage of household income is spent on food, clothing, and shelter?

A) 20 per cent
B) 30 per cent
C) 40 per cent
D) 50 per cent
E) 60 per cent

Question 6

According to an OECD study, which of the following is true about victimization rates in Canada for violent offences and crimes against property?

A) Victimization rates are lower than in most other developed countries.
B) Victimization rates are significantly lower than in the United States.
C) Victimization rates are much higher than the United States.
D) Victimization rates are the same as all other OECD states.
E) Victimization rates are lower than in the United States for violent offences but higher for crimes against property.

Question 7

Based on various sources of data, a 2016 report of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness estimates that about how many persons use homeless shelters each year in Canada?

A) 235,000
B) 50,000
C) 100,000
D) 15,000
E) 150,000

Question 8

Which of the following is the most difficult to measure accurately?

A) Homelessness
B) Food bank use
C) Income inequality
D) Unemployment
E) Infant mortality

Question 9

Food Banks Canada estimates that in a typical month in 2012, roughly how many people used food banks in Canada?

A) 45,000
B) 450,000
C) 90,000
D) 225,000
E) 900,000

Question 10

How much longer is life expectancy in Canada in 2019 than in 1961?

A) 7 years
B) 11 years
C) 20 years
D) 1 year
E) 3 years

Question 11

How many Canadians fall below the poverty line?

A) 50,000
B) 100,000
C) Three million
D) Four million
E) Five million

Question 12

What do economists worry is happening in Canada based on recent employment trends?

A) Deindustrializing
B) Shrinking
C) Automation
D) Industrializing
E) Robot domination

Question 13

As of 2017, how many industrialized democracies ranked ahead of Canada in terms of average real purchasing power?

A) 0
B) 3
C) 10
D) 13
E) 1

Question 14

Over the past 30 years, what has been the average of Canada's national level of unemployment?

A) 10-12 per cent
B) 4-6 per cent
C) 13-14 per cent
D) 15-16 per cent
E) 7-9 per cent

Question 15

In 1982, the top 1 per cent of income earners paid what percentage of federal, provincial, and territorial income taxes.

A) 1.5 per cent
B) 25.5 per cent
C) 8.7 per cent
D) 21.2 per cent
E) 13.4 per cent

Question 16

In 2015, the top 1 per cent of income earners paid what percentage of federal, provincial, and territorial income taxes?

A) 25.5 per cent
B) 13.4 per cent
C) 1.5 per cent
D) 22.2 per cent
E) 8.7 per cent

Question 17

In 2002, what percentage of Canadians identified as middle class in an Ekos poll?

A) 57.8 per cent
B) 65 per cent
C) 99 per cent
D) 50 per cent
E) 70 per cent

Question 18

In 2017, what percentage of Canadians identified as middle class in an Ekos poll?

A) 57.8 per cent
B) 43 per cent
C) 99 per cent
D) 50 per cent
E) 78.8 per cent

Question 19

In 2017, the top-earning 20 per cent of Canadian households accounted for how much of all income?

A) 35 per cent
B) 90 per cent
C) 20 per cent
D) 41 per cent
E) 50 per cent

Question 20

In a 2016 Nanos poll, what did respondents think should be the number one priority of the federal budget?

A) Health care
B) Military
C) Infrastructure
D) Economy
E) Public Safety

Question 21

Compared to other countries such as the United States, Great Britain, and France, how might we characterize Canada's upward economic mobility?

A) Very low
B) Reasonably low
C) Very high
D) Stable
E) Reasonably high

Question 22

In 2017, what was the low-income cut-off for a four-person household in a Canadian metropolitan area?

A) $39,701
B) $16,362
C) $25,970
D) $6,362
E) $36,362

Question 23

In 2016, what was the low-income cut-off for a four-person household in a Canadian rural area ?

A) $24,915
B) $19,915
C) $25,970
D) $21,915
E) $29,915

Question 24

What is the life expectancy in Canada?

A) 90
B) 75
C) 87
D) 77
E) 82

Question 25

What is Canada's homicide rate?

A) 4.4 per 100,000
B) 5.4 per 100,000
C) 3.4 per 100,000
D) 2.4 per 100,000
E) 1.4 per 100,000

Question 26

Since the 1970s, what has been the trend in the number of homicides in Canada?

A) Increased
B) Remained stable
C) Decreased
D) Increased at a faster rate than in the US
E) Increased, but at a slower rate than in the US

Question 27

In a 2012 survey, what percentage of Canadians said they had been a victim of a crime?

A) 13 per cent
B) 2 per cent
C) 7 per cent
D) 10 per cent
E) 5 per cent

Question 28

What country has been ranked the happiest country for most years since 1973?

A) United States
B) Mexico
C) Canada
D) Denmark
E) United Kingdom

Question 29

What unique cabinet portfolio did British Prime Minister Theresa May take on in 2018?

A) Minister of Brexit
B) Minister of Social Media
C) Minister of Sport
D) Minister of Loneliness
E) None of the above

Question 30

Based on one study, how many Canadians experience loneliness?

A) 1 in 10
B) 1 in 100
C) 1 in 50
D) 1 in 5
E) 1 in 20

Question 31

How many Canadian households consist of one person?

A) 30 per cent
B) 50 per cent
C) 40 per cent
D) 10 per cent
E) 20 per cent

Question 32

What are central causes of homelessness?

A) Family conflict
B) Domestic abuse
C) Addiction
D) Having spent time in jail
E) All of the above

Question 33

Based on a CBC report, what percentage of Vancouver's homeless were Indigenous people?

A) 40 per cent
B) 20 per cent
C) 5 per cent
D) 10 per cent
E) 30 per cent

Question 34

Based on a CBC report, what percentage of Vancouver's homeless were addicted to opioids?

A) 5 per cent
B) 25 per cent
C) 20 per cent
D) 15 per cent
E) 10 per cent

Question 35

Based on a CBC report, what percentage of Vancouver's homeless had some sort of medical condition or illness?

A) 33 per cent
B) 44 per cent
C) 22 per cent
D) 11 per cent
E) 7 per cent

Question 36

Which of the following is a value that Canadians consider to be important?

A) Equality
B) Independence
C) Quality of life
D) Material well-being
E) All of the above

Question 37

What Toronto expressway has provided shelter for homeless residents?

A) Gardiner
B) Don Valley
C) 407
D) 401
E) Danforth

Question 38

The definition of "public problems" warranting the attention of government is influenced in part by which of the following?

A) Electoral platforms of political parties and candidates
B) The sitting government of the day
C) Her Majesty's loyal opposition
D) Public opinion surveys and polls
E) Society's material conditions

Question 39

What did the City of Toronto demolish in March 2019, citing safety concerns?

A) Hockey arenas
B) Bars
C) Basketball courts
D) Roller coasters
E) Homeless makeshift camps

Question 40

According to Michael Spence, which of the following is directly responsible for a dearth of jobs in the American and other Western economies?

A) Change in consumer tastes
B) Corrupt government
C) Globalization
D) Ineffective political leadership
E) Environmental policy

Question 41

Despite persistent inequalities in Canadian society, Canadians today hold on to the belief that their society is predominantly which of the following?

A) Libertarian
B) Middle class
C) Classless
D) Lower class
E) Affluent

Question 42

According to a 2015 survey, what percentage of the Canadian population exceeds the limits of daily alcohol consumption?

A) 50 per cent
B) 10 per cent
C) 30 per cent
D) 40 per cent
E) 20 per cent

Question 43

What province or territory has the highest suicide rate in Canada?

A) Nunavut
B) Newfoundland and Labrador
C) Ontario
D) British Columbia
E) Quebec

Question 44

In which country do children born to immigrants experience more social mobility than their native-born counterparts?

A) France
B) The United Kingdom
C) The Netherlands
D) Canada
E) Germany

Question 45

In a 2016 survey, what proportion of Canadian university students reported feeling very lonely at some point over the last year?

A) One-quarter
B) One-fifth
C) One-tenth
D) Two-thirds
E) One-half

Question 46

In a 2012 survey, how many Canadians said they felt very safe?

A) 35 per cent
B) 65 per cent
C) 55 per cent
D) 75 per cent
E) 45 per cent

Question 47

In 2016, data suggested Canadians could expect to live this many years in full health?

A) 70
B) 50
C) 40
D) 80
E) 60

Question 48

Which country spends less than Canada on health care but have older populations?

A) Spain
B) Italy
C) France
D) Japan
E) All of the above

Question 49

How much of Canada's GDP is spent on health care?

A) 25.5 per cent
B) 45.5 per cent
C) 35.5 per cent
D) 10.5 per cent
E) 15.5 per cent

Question 50

What per cent of Indigenous people living on reserves have completed high school?

A) 35 per cent
B) 50 per cent
C) 40 per cent
D) 45 per cent
E) 55 per cent

Question 51

What portion of Canadians work in the service sector?

A) Two-fifths
B) Half
C) Four-fifths
D) One-fifth
E) Three-fifths

Question 52

In what two provinces did the real value of social assistance not increase?

A) New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
B) British Columbia and Alberta
C) Ontario and Quebec
D) Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador
E) Saskatchewan and Manitoba

Question 53

What percentage did the poverty rate of single-parent families fall to in 2014?

A) 5 per cent
B) 30 per cent
C) 20 per cent
D) 40 per cent
E) 10 per cent

Question 54

In a 2016 Nanos poll, what percent of Canadians thought health care should be one of the government's two leading priorities?

A) 11 per cent
B) 59 per cent
C) 13 per cent
D) 18 per cent
E) 73 per cent

Question 55

In a 2016 Nanos poll, what percent of Canadians thought infrastructure should be one of the government's two leading priorities?

A) 11 per cent
B) 73 per cent
C) 59 per cent
D) 13 per cent
E) 18 per cent

Question 56

In a 2016 Nanos poll, what percent of Canadians thought public safety should be one of the government's two leading priorities?

A) 11 per cent
B) 73 per cent
C) 13 per cent
D) 59 per cent
E) 18 per cent

Question 57

In a 2016 Nanos poll, what percent of Canadians thought the military should be one of the government's two leading priorities?

A) 13 per cent
B) 59 per cent
C) 11 per cent
D) 18 per cent
E) 73 per cent

Question 58

In a 2016 Nanos poll, what percent of Canadians thought the economy and jobs should be one of the government's two leading priorities?

A) 11 per cent
B) 13 per cent
C) 73 per cent
D) 59 per cent
E) 18 per cent

Question 59

Before World War II, what per cent of income did the top 1 per cent account for?

A) 48 per cent
B) 28 per cent
C) 38 per cent
D) 8 per cent
E) 18 per cent

Question 60

In the late 1970s, what per cent of income did the top 1 per cent account for?

A) 48 per cent
B) 8 per cent
C) 28 per cent
D) 38 per cent
E) 18 per cent

Question 61

Over the last decade, Canada has maintained its average real purchasing power, which is second only to the United States.

Question 62

Canada is not an affluent society.

Question 63

There has been a dramatic change in the distribution of income in Canada over the last few decades.

Question 64

The citizens of less affluent provinces have been much more dependent on various transfer payments from government for part of their incomes than have Canadians in wealthier provinces.

Question 65

Indigenous people who live on a reserve are far more likely than those who do not to be unemployed and poor.

Question 66

Smooth integration into the labour force often does not happen immediately, despite the fact that the Canadian economy has needed highly skilled immigrants for decades.

Question 67

Intergenerational social mobility in Canada appears to be the same when compared with the United States and Great Britain.

Question 68

Job prospects for immigrants have started to decline over time.

Question 69

There are arguments that some of the real limitations on Canadian sovereignty have been imposed by economic dependence on Great Britain and the United States.

Question 70

The rate of job creation is unrelated to the rate of growth in the economy.

Question 71

Only about one million Canadians fall below the poverty line.

Question 72

Poverty assumes a very different character in an affluent society like Canada.

Question 73

The economy and unemployment are perennially towards the bottom of the issues Canadians identify as the most important facing the country.

Question 74

Manufacturing jobs are abundant and more secure and higher-paying than they were in the past.

Question 75

Fears over the export of low-skill manufacturing jobs have been replaced in more recent years by worries that more highly skilled jobs.

Question 76

As of 2017, no industrial democracies ranked ahead of Canada in terms of average real purchasing power.

Question 77

On a global scale, Canadians remain relatively wealthy.

Question 78

Over the past 30 years, the national level of unemployment has fluctuated between a low of just under 1 per cent and a high of 5 per cent.

Question 79

Since the mid-1990s, Canada has had the highest annual growth rate of any G7 economy.

Question 80

Canada's number one trading partner is China.