Test your knowledge with The House's 2023 year-end quiz

23/12/2023

How many political headlines can you recall from the past 12 months?

Listen below as host Catherine Cullen wraps up 2023 and tests a panel of Parliament Hill watchers — Murad Hemmadi of The Logic, Christopher Nardi of the National Post and Shannon Proudfoot of the Globe and Mail — with a sweeping round of questions prepared by quizmaster Emma Godmere.

Test your political IQ and follow along with 30 of the trickiest questions below (answers at the bottom).

[SHOW AUDIO WILL GO HERE]

Contentious from the start

test your knowledge with the house's 2023 year-end quiz

Snow covers a fence surrounding Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 20, 2023. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

1) The year kicked off with MPs calling for an emergency committee meeting in early January, weeks before Parliament was set to reconvene. Which Parliamentary committee was convened urgently, and why?

2) As MPs returned to the Hill, the opposition took the government to task over tens of millions of dollars in government contracts awarded to consultants. Which consulting firm was in the crosshairs the most?

3) Which former government official previously held a top job at that consulting firm and was called to testify at committee?

4) Former finance minister Bill Morneau made headlines early in the year for publishing a book filled with both economic advice and expressions of frustration with the Prime Minister’s Office. What was the title of the book?

Unidentified object obsession

A radar dome is illuminated at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Point Barrow Long Range Radar Site, north of Utqiagvik, Alaska, on February 3, 2023. (U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Curt Beach/Handout via Reuters)

5) After an aerial object was spotted over the Yukon in early February, Canadian and American fighter jets were scrambled in an official NORAD operation and a U.S. F-22 shot down the object. How did then-defence minister Anita Anand describe the shape of the object?

6) Many Canadians wanted to know why an American fighter jet reached the aerial object first. Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre later told a House of Commons committee that the Canadian CF-18s were delayed. What was the reason Eyre cited for the delay?

7) February also saw the release of the long-awaited final report of the Emergencies Act inquiry. One of Justice Paul Rouleau’s many conclusions involved an alliterative statement. Rouleau said the events of January and February 2022 amounted to a “failure of” what?

Commissioner Paul Rouleau presides over the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

8) As spring arrived, the Liberal government was under increasing pressure to investigate claims that the Chinese government meddled in the last two federal elections. Before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a special rapporteur, he directed two intelligence review bodies to probe the issue. What are the official titles of those two review bodies?

9) The prime minister eventually tapped David Johnston to take on the role of special rapporteur to investigate and make recommendations to combat foreign interference. His appointment was roundly criticized by opposition parties, largely because of Johnston’s family connections to the Trudeaus and the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. What was the controversial main recommendation of Johnston’s report?

10) A week after that report dropped, MPs passed a motion calling on Johnston to step aside in a 174 to 150 vote in the House of Commons. Which party put forward the motion?

POTUS comes to town

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 24, 2023 in Ottawa. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

11) U.S. President Joe Biden made his long-awaited first official trip to Canada in March. In his address to the House of Commons, he said he liked Canada’s sports teams — all but one. Which team did the Biden say he dislikes?

12) Biden and Trudeau made news during the trip by expanding an agreement between the two countries. What is the name of the agreement?

Big provincial elections

UCP Leader Danielle Smith makes her victory speech in Calgary on May 29, 2023. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

13) Prince Edward Island held the first general election of the year in April. It returned Premier Dennis King’s Progressive Conservative government for a second term. Which party came in second place to form the Official Opposition?

14) May brought the second general election of the year, in Alberta. Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party won 49 seats, giving them a majority. How many seats did the UCP win in the capital city of Edmonton?

15) In June, Justice Russell Brown stepped down from the Supreme Court. The Canadian Judicial Council had launched an investigation after Brown was accused of being intoxicated in public and harassing a group. In which U.S. state did that alleged incident occur?

16) Later in the year, Justice Mary Moreau was named to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy. How many women now serve on the Supreme Court?

17) Five federal byelections were held over the summer, with the Conservatives winning three seats and the Liberals winning two. Name three of the five new MPs.

A busy political summer

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gestures towards the federal cabinet as they stand behind him at a media availability after a cabinet shuffle at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

18) Before Parliament rose for the summer, the government secured passage of two controversial pieces of legislation that dealt with online activity. C-11, the Online Streaming Act, became law in April and C-18, the Online News Act, became law in June. Which existing law did C-11 update?

19) Canada’s population hit a major milestone this year. In which month did it surpass 40 million people?

20) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled his cabinet in July. How many ministers were dropped from cabinet?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a speech in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

21) The day Parliament returned in September, the prime minister rose in the chamber to drop a bombshell. Trudeau publicly accused India’s government of being involved in the killing of a Sikh activist in British Columbia. What move did the government make on the file on the same day Trudeau made his statement?

22) Just a few days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Ottawa and addressed the House of Commons. Zelenskyy closed his speech with a word that he had learned earlier that day. Which Canadian official taught it to him?

23) There was intense backlash and criticism after a man who fought in a Nazi unit was applauded by parliamentarians following Zelenskyy’s speech. House Speaker Anthony Rota resigned over the incident. The scandal also spurred calls for more disclosure from an investigation into alleged war criminals who came to Canada after the Second World War. What was the name of the commission that conducted that investigation in the 1980s?

Ongoing Speaker controversy

Speaker of the House of Commons Greg Fergus rises during question period on Thursday, November 23, 2023 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

24) After Speaker Rota resigned, an election to choose a new Speaker was held and Greg Fergus ultimately landed the job. Name two other MPs who ran for Speaker.

25) Speaker Greg Fergus has faced criticism in recent weeks after appearing in a controversial video shown at the Ontario Liberal convention. The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois called for him to resign, claiming the video breached the impartiality of the Speaker’s chair. After the matter was studied by the House procedures committee, the committee’s report called on Fergus to do two things. What were they?

26) Manitoba became the first Canadian province to elect a First Nations premier when Wab Kinew’s NDP won the general election in October. How many seats did the provincial NDP win to form a majority government?

All about the tax

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre holds a press conference on his ‘Axe the Tax’ message in St. John’s on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press)

27) October brought more big headlines when the Liberal government announced a carbon tax carve-out for home heating oil. The carve-out came in response to mounting pressure from Atlantic MPs in the Liberal caucus. What percentage of households in the Atlantic provinces continue to use furnace oil to heat their homes?

28) What is the current federal price on carbon — how many dollars per tonne of emissions?

29) Bill C-234 presented another opportunity for a carbon tax carve-out as it sought to exempt some fuels used on farms for grain drying and barn heating. After the bill passed the House of Commons earlier this year, it landed in the Senate — where a weeks-long battle broke out over the legislation. What is the current status of that bill, now that both the House of Commons and Senate have shut down for the holidays?

30) Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been one of the most vocal opponents of the Liberals’ carbon tax. He pledged to keep Parliament sitting through Christmas if the government didn’t scrap parts of it. While parliamentarians have since headed home for the holidays, the Conservatives did force MPs to go through all-night, round-the-clock voting earlier this month. How many votes in total were held over more than 24 hours?

Participants and organizers of The House’s 2023 year-end quiz show (left to right): Globe and Mail journalist Shannon Proudfoot, The House producer and quizmaster Emma Godmere, senior producer of The House Jennifer Chevalier, host Catherine Cullen, The Logic’s Murad Hemmadi and Chris Nardi of the National Post. (Kristen Everson/CBC)

Here are the answers:

1) Transport committee, to discuss holiday travel chaos.

2) McKinsey.

3) Dominic Barton, former Canadian ambassador to China.

4) Where To From Here.

5) “Cylindrical.”

6) As Gen. Eyre told the committee: “… they were delayed in departing Cold Lake because of freezing rain. I understand that the airstrip was a bit of a skating rink, as happens in northern Alberta.”

7) Federalism.

8) The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).

9) He ruled out a public inquiry.

10) The NDP.

11) The Toronto Maple Leafs.

12) The Safe Third Country Agreement.

13) The Liberal Party.

14) None.

15) Arizona.

16) Five.

17) Ben Carr, Anna Gainey, Arpan Khanna, Branden Leslie, Shuvaloy Majumdar.

18) Broadcasting Act.