Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s news quiz. Join us each week to test your knowledge of the stories making the headlines.
This week: Five former members of the 2018 Canadian world junior hockey team were charged with sexual assault, after London, Ont., police asked them to surrender to authorities last week. Four of the accused — Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Carter Hart and Cal Foote — are NHL players. Their former teammate Alex Formenton plays professionally in Europe. The status of the NHL’s investigation into the events surrounding the alleged assault is unknown.
Also this week, Alberta announced a package of proposals to roll back transgender rights, while public hearings for the year-long public inquiry on foreign interference finally began.
Do you remember these stories and more? Take our news quiz.
a. Iran. The Conservatives’ lawyer Nando De Luca requested Iran be scrutinized in the inquiry, writing, “Iranian foreign interference is an active, present threat in Canada, and one that the current government has not taken appropriate action on.”
d. All of the above. Following similar policies introduced in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan last year, Alberta’s proposals are the most restrictive in the country when it comes to legislation regarding gender, sexuality and identity.
b. The Las Vegas airport’s parking lot is full. Aviation officials told reporters that all 475 available parking spaces for private jets are already booked for Super Bowl weekend. With Swift flying back from a Feb. 10 show all the way in Japan, she’d better already have booked a spot.
b. False. The committee ordered the report back in March 2023, but paused the request after concerns it could harm any potential investigations. After the charges were laid this week, MPs on the committee are considering an order to obtain the report again. Hockey Canada said it will share the report if requested, but have concerns about its contents getting leaked.
c. A fossil of a strange tree. The Sanfordia densifolia, discovered in a New Brunswick quarry, features a long trunk with big, frizzy leaves. The fossil is estimated to be roughly 350-million-years old.
a. A taxidermied polar bear. Owners of the Lionsheart Wholeness Centre said the theft seemed so impossible that they didn’t even notice the bear, named Harry, was missing until a few days later. Alberta police on the case are calling it “The Heist of the Big Polar Bear.”
d. Scottie Barnes. The Toronto Raptors forward topped the list for the first half of the NBA season. James and Curry rounded out the top three, while former Raptor Siakam, who was traded two weeks ago, was fourth on the list.
a. The gifter was a “true friend”. On Tuesday, Interim Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein said the gift came from a friend of the PM’s and doesn’t consider it to be exceptional enough to warrant an investigation.
a. Boxes of sealed hockey cards. The case of 16 sealed boxes from 1979-1980 is estimated to contain 25 to 30 copies of Gretzky's rookie card. A single mint-condition copy sold for $3.75 million in a 2021 auction.
