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WEEKS TO GO
CANADA: NATURAL SOURCE OF PRIDE SINCE 1867 Canadian treasures Changing the way we see nature
Quiz TEST YOUR CANADIAN KNOWLEDGE
QUESTION 1: What Canadian actor became famous for his role as James Tiberius Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise on the iconic tele- vision program Star Trek?
sects in museums was poorly designed and made the topic boring, but that these misunderstood beings could teach people a lot about the environment and biodiversity. Once he had built a satisfactory collection, he began showing his insects all over Quebec. Each time, more and more people flocked to see his curious creatures, and crowds were inspired by Brossard’s unrelenting enthusiasm. The success of his travelling exhibits convinced Brossard that he could change the public’s perspective toward “bugs”. To do so, he donated his entire collection to the City of Montreal and received the green light from then-mayor Jean Doré to start funding a museum. Public support poured in, allowing Georges Brossard to open the world’s first insectarium in 1989. The Insectarium de Montréal currently welcomes over 400,000 visitors a year. In addition to his museum work, Brossard engages in philan- thropy and has an activemedia career. The 2004 filmLe Papil- lon Bleu is based on a trip he took with a terminally ill child to capture a rare butterfly. He’s also hosted and directed tele- vision programs, namely Mémoires d’insectes and Insectia. Today, Georges Brossard still strives to help our environment by teaching people about the fascinating world of insects. And his mission is succeeding: there are now over 25 insecta- riums worldwide, including five founded by Brossard himself.
Georges Brossard’s life-long passion for insects would even- tually lead to a whole new kind of educational institution. Born in 1940, Brossard attended a rural elementary school where he was encouraged to take up insect collecting as a hobby. Fascinated by the complexity of these tiny creatures, Brossard was devastated when he returned from vacation one summer to find his collection destroyed. At that moment, he decided that he would start over, this time with an ambi- tious goal: to collect every kind of insect on earth. Even as a law student at the University of Ottawa, Brossard had bugs on hismind—to the point where he planned onwrit- ing his PhD on bees, an idea that he ultimately abandoned to become a notary. At age 25, he opened his own practice and worked day and night, six days a week, for the next thirteen years, quietly amassing the funds that would allow him to someday pursue his childhood dream. On New Year’s Day 1978, Georges Brossard retired from his lucrative career as a notary. His wife Suzanne also left her job, and the very next day the couple was on a plane toward the first leg of an eight-month journey around the world. Their mission: to collect, catalogue and study the Earth’s insect life. This trip would be the first of many, and more than a decade of globetrotting later, Brossard had amassed an impressive 250,000 insect specimens from over 100 countries.
QUESTION 2: What was Canada’s first newspaper, founded in 1752?
QUESTION 3: Born in Montreal in 1932, this renowned astrophysicist, some- times referred to as the French Carl Sagan, is best known by the general public for his popular books and television shows about astronomy. QUESTION 4: What was Canada’s first national sport, as declared by Sir John A. MacDonald in 1867?
Brossard believed that the traditional representation of in-
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ART, LITERATURE AND ENTERTAINMENT
Where are we from? THE 52 LARGEST GROUPS IN CANADA’S MULTICULTURAL MOSAIC
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
SPORTS AND LEISURE
infO Canada THE STORIES BEHIND OUR SYMBOLS
Canada’s Icelandic community Canada is home to the largest community of Icelandic descent outside of Iceland itself, which should come as no surprise given the similarities be- tween the two countries—especially when it comes to our cool climate! In fact, early migrants from Iceland to North America stood out from other European populations by choosing Canada over the more popular United States. Many Icelandic Canadians are descendants of people who fled the violent eruption of volcano Askja, in 1875. These families mostly settled in Mani- toba, going against the majority of early immigrants who chose Quebec
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
Flower: Atlantic Puffin
In 1992 the Atlantic Puffin was named Newfound- land’s provincial bird. These bright-billed seabirds are superb underwater swimmers but clumsy fli- ers. Their diet consists almost entirely of small fish. They live in large colonies and spend most of the year at sea, landing solely for breeding season.
and Ontario to call home. Today, Manitoba is still home to the highest concentration of Canadians of Icelandic heri- tage, a demographic trend that’s reflected in some of the province’s town names—Erickson, Gimli and Reykjavik, to name a few. You’ve probably heard of a fair number of notable Canadians of Icelandic descent. Hockey players Robert Benson and Frank Frederickson, signers Tom Cochrane and k.d. Lang and legendary secret agent Stephan G. Stephansson—one of the inspirations for the character James Bond—all share Nordic heritage and Canadian identity.
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