Modern Canada: Quebec, arts, sport and discovery

Ahmed is forty-four. He came from Egypt, and he drives a delivery van in Mississauga. One Sunday morning, he joins a Terry Fox Run in the park with his son and daughter. His daughter asks, who was Terry Fox? Ahmed isn't sure. He has seen the name in his study guide, next to many other names. I'm Vinnie. Remember, this is a free, independent course. It is not a government course.

So here is the question. What changed in Quebec in modern times, and which famous names do you really need to know?

The official study guide, Discover Canada, covers this in a chapter called Modern Canada. Start with Quebec. In the nineteen sixties, Quebec went through big changes. The guide calls this time the Quiet Revolution. The Official Languages Act came in nineteen sixty-nine. It aims to make English and French equal in Parliament and the federal government. In nineteen seventy, Canada helped found La Francophonie, a group of French-speaking countries.

Some Quebecers wanted Quebec to become its own country. This idea is called sovereignty. Quebec held a referendum on it twice. A referendum is a vote by the people on one question. The first was in nineteen eighty, and the second in nineteen ninety-five. Both times, the answer was no. And in nineteen eighty-two, the Constitution was changed without Quebec's agreement.

Now, the famous names. The guide has many, so I'll give you the ones people ask about most. Two Canadians, Banting and Best, discovered insulin. Insulin is a medicine. The guide says it has saved sixteen million lives.

In nineteen eighty, Terry Fox ran his Marathon of Hope. That is the name on Ahmed's run. In nineteen eighty-five, Rick Hansen went around the world in a wheelchair. James Naismith invented basketball in eighteen ninety-one. Alexander Graham Bell had the idea for the telephone at his summer house in Canada. And Canadians built the Canadarm, a robot arm used in space.

The guide names many more people. There are painters, like the Group of Seven and Emily Carr. There are sports stars, like Paul Henderson and Wayne Gretzky. There are inventors, like Bombardier, who made the snowmobile. Pause the video and read it. Some of these names are in the practice questions.

Let's make it stick. Insulin needs two B's, Banting and Best. And nineteen eighty is a busy year. Terry Fox ran, and Quebec held its first referendum. Then add fifteen years, and you get the second one, nineteen ninety-five.

Here is a common confusion. People hear that Quebec held a referendum, and they think Quebec left Canada. It did not. Both times, the people voted no. Quebec is still a province of Canada.

The mistake people make is mixing up Terry Fox and Rick Hansen. Terry Fox ran his Marathon of Hope in nineteen eighty. Rick Hansen went around the world in a wheelchair in nineteen eighty-five. Two people, two journeys, five years apart.

Here's the one thing to remember. Banting and Best discovered insulin. And Quebec voted on sovereignty twice, in nineteen eighty and nineteen ninety-five, and both times the answer was no.

This week, read the Modern Canada chapter in Discover Canada, and pause on the who-did-what card. Pick three names and tell someone at home what each one did. Next time, how Canadians govern themselves.