Canadian words, phrases or slang that most Americans wouldn’t understand

By Blog of Lists - Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 11:26 AM - 0 Comments

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1. Two-four (24 beers)

2. Loonie (and, of course, toonie)

3. Toque

4. Klick (kilometre)

5. Toboggan

6. Peamealor back bacon

7. Washroom

8. Serviette

9. Chinook (the wind, not the helicopter)

10. Mickey (e.g. a mickey of vodka)

11. Knapsack

12. Kerfuffle

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

5 Canadian marriage meltdowns resulting in big settlements

By Blog of Lists - Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 5:08 AM - 0 Comments

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1. Gordon Lightfoot and Brita Ingegerd Olaisson: In 1973, when Lightfoot and Olaisson called it quits after 10 years of marriage, she was awarded what was once considered the largest divorce settlement in Canadian history—$4,500 a month, which, in today’s dollars, works out to close to $290,000 a year. Lightfoot’s torrid affair with backup singer Cathy Smith, who was the inspiration behind Lightfoot’s most successful commercial hit, Sundown, contrib- uted to the breakup.

2. Jack Kent Cooke and Barbara Jean Carnegie: Born in Hamilton in 1912, the former owner of the Wash- ington Redskins, L.A. Lakers and the L.A. Kings was married five times to four different women. Up first was Barbara Jean Carnegie, a marriage that lasted for 46 years. In 1979, Judge Joseph Wapner (yes, that Judge Wapner, who later oversaw cases on The People’s Court) awarded Carnegie US$49 million. At the time the divorce settlement landed a Guinness record as the largest in history.

3. James Cameron and Linda Hamilton: Cameron has had enough divorces to fill his own list. He’s been married five times, four ending in divorce. However, it was his fourth marriage, to Terminator actress Linda Hamilton, that ended up hitting his pocket- book hardest. In 1999, after the couple had been together for eight years (18 months of that time married), Hamilton filed for divorce when she discovered Cameron’s affair with his present wife, Suzi Amis, an actress in his blockbuster Titanic. Cameron earned roughly US$100 million from that movie, with half that amount going to Hamilton for the settlement, believed to be the largest celebrity divorce payout.

4. Chuck Fipke and Marlene Fipke: After prospecting for diamonds for eight years in the Northwest Territories, Fipke discovered one of the largest diamond concentrations in the world at Lac de Gras. His stake in the Ekati diamond mine was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But proving that diamonds aren’t forever, his marriage to Marlene fell apart. She’d travelled at his side around the world on his expeditions, served as his accountant and sometimes dried core samples in their kitchen. In a settlement reached in 2000, Marlene received 21 per cent of Dia Met, then valued at $123 million. Fipke took it in stride, saying the settlement was the “best money I ever spent.”

5. David Thomson and Laurie Ludwick: Thomson, 3rd baron Thomson of Fleet and head of the family that controls Canada’s largest fortune (estimated net worth of $21 billion) had a rocky relationship with Ludwick, a Toronto communications professional, after their marriage in 2000. When she became pregnant in 2005, Thomson left her; he served her with divorce papers three hours after she arrived home from the hospital with their newborn son. Under the terms of the divorce settlement, set out in a prenuptial agreement, Thomson was to pay Ludwick $5.4 million. She contested the settlement, but the pair quietly settled out of court.

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

10 Canadian roadside attractions that claim to be the world’s biggest

By Blog of Lists - Thursday, August 30, 2012 at 3:30 PM - 0 Comments

Jonathan Hayward/CP Photo

From dinosaurs to ducks, these are just a few of the many small towns and cities in Canada that erected really big, really odd monuments to attract tourists.

1. World’s largest dinosaur, T. Rex: Drumheller, Alta.

2. World’s largest lobster: Shediac, N.B.

3. World’s largest moose, “Mac”: Moose Jaw, Sask.

4. The Big Nickel: Sudbury, Ont.

5. World’s largest mallard duck: Andrew, Alta.

6. World’s largest perogy: Glendon, Alta.

7. World’s largest Adirondack chair: Varney, Ont.

8. The Big Apple: Colborne, Ont.

9. World’s largest Easter egg: Vegreville, Alta.

10. World’s largest fiddle: Sydney, N.S.

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

9 over-the-top warnings from Americans about Canadian health care

By Blog of Lists - Thursday, August 30, 2012 at 1:24 PM - 0 Comments

Nathan Denette/CP Images

American pundits, publications and politicians have been kind enough to warn us that our socialized health care system is the filthiest, most evil and dangerous system on the planet.

1. “Dear Canadian: You make socialized medicine sound ideal. But whenever private enterprise is replaced by a government institution, incentive is thwarted and the quality of services usually deteriorates.”
—Dear Abby, April 25, 1977

2. “To receive major health care in two weeks would be only a dream for most Canadians.” —Susan Riggs,
Knight-Ridder, June 22, 1994

3. “People come here from every country . . . including Canadians fleeing from the substandard quality, cruel rationing and long waiting lists of their ‘free’ socialized medicine.”
—Paul Craig Roberts, Scripps Howard News Service, June 23, 1994

4. “Did the fact that Canada has a socialist, government-run health care system—similar to the kind that President Obama wants to ram down the throats of Americans—kill acclaimed actress Natasha Richardson?”
—Matthew Vadum, The American Spectator, March 21, 2009

5. “Canada’s disastrous health care system survives because of . . . the widespread fear that any reform might constitute ‘Americanization.’ ”
—Jonah Goldberg, National Review, Nov. 25, 2002

6. “For cardiac bypass surgery, patients in Ontario are told they may have to wait six months for a surgery that Americans can often get right away.”
—Sen. Mitch McConnell, June 8, 2009

7. “Canada needs to reform its health care system and let the private sector take over some of what the government has absorbed.”
—Sarah Palin, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, November 25, 2009

8. “In Canada,they have a lottery. They have a lottery system. Who gets to go see a doctor this month in Canada?”
—Glenn Beck, The Glenn Beck Program, July 15, 2009

9. “Is government-run health care in Canada taking away parents’ rights?”
—Steve Doocy,
Fox & Friends, February 23, 2011

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

7 Canadians who’ve had a big influence on America

By Blog of Lists - Thursday, August 30, 2012 at 10:51 AM - 0 Comments

John Kenneth Galbraith (Steve Hooper/CP Photo)

1. Gordon Sinclair: The CBC commentator’s recorded speech “The Americans” sold 300,000 copies on the day it was released in the U.S. in 1973, making Nixon-era Americans feel good about themselves again.

2. David Frum: He helped create the “axis of evil” speech for George W. Bush, and now spends his time advocating for moderate conservatism in the States.

3. Charles Krauthammer: So beloved within the conservative movement that National Review reprints his Fox News interviews every morning, calling it “Krauthammer’s Take.”

4. David Brooks: He was born in Toronto but considers himself American, a perfect setup for his New York Times columns.

5. Marshall McLuhan: Was rewarded for his media philosophy with the ultimate sign of cultural respect, a cameo in a Woody Allen film.

6. Ian McAvity: His Toronto-based newsletter “Deliberations on World Markets” was quoted extensively in U.S. financial columns for years.

7. John Kenneth Galbraith: His book The Affluent Society became one of the most influential books in America in the ’50s, telling people that the country was becoming economically unequal. Good thing that’s not a problem today.

Sources: Barkerville Cariboo Sentinel; Gold Country Communities Society; Glenbow Museum; Vancouver Sun; Vancouver Province; Whitehorse Daily Star

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

8 Canadian political sex scandals—and one maybe

By Blog of Lists - Wednesday, August 29, 2012 at 2:05 PM - 0 Comments

Bill Croke/CP Images

Canadian political scandals tend to be rather chaste affairs compared to their American or European counterparts, usually involving railways, “robocalls” and tainted tuna. Still, our politicians have had their share of dirty laundry aired in public over the years.

Here are the most salacious misdeeds by Canadian elected officials:

1. 1933: John Edward Brownlee. Alberta’s fifth premier was forced to resign after he was sued for seduction by Vivian MacMillan, an 18-year-old daughter of one of Brownlee’s political allies. There was much speculation that Brownlee had been the victim of a political set-up after he noticed he had been followed on a country drive by one of the girl’s teenaged suitors and a prominent Edmonton lawyer and Liberal party supporter. The case eventually went all the way to the Supreme Court, which sided with MacMillan.

2. 1966: The Munsinger Affair. Gerda Munsinger was a German prostitute and alleged KGB spy who seduced several cabinet ministers in the Diefenbaker govern- ment of the late 1950s. Among them was the associate minister of national defence, Pierre Sevigny, who signed Munsinger’s application for Canadian citizenship. The scandal was a well-kept secret among Ottawa politicians until 1966, when Liberal justice minister Lucien Cardin, fending off an opposition attack in the House of Commons on his handling of security breaches, asked: “What about Munsinger?” By then she had been deported, but reporters tracked her down in Munich, where she openly admitted to her numerous political affairs.

3. 1977: Margaret Trudeau and the Rolling Stones. Margaret Trudeau spent her sixth wedding anniversary without her prime minister husband, instead partying with the Rolling Stones at a Toronto nightclub and later in Mick Jagger’s limousine. The rendezvous sparked rumours that she was having an affair with the band’s front man. She later disappeared to New York. The scandal signalled the end of the couple’s tumultuous marriage, but Margaret Trudeau denied having affairs with any members of the Rolling Stones, later telling a conference on mental health, “I should have slept with every single one of them.”

4. 1978: Francis Fox. The 38-year-old solicitor general was the youngest member of Trudeau’s cabinet and a rising star when he was forced to publicly admit that he had secretly arranged for a former mistress to have an abortion, and had forged her husband’s signature on hospital records granting her permission for the procedure. The relationship didn’t last and neither did Fox’s marriage. His political career, however, survived. Fox resigned as solicitor general, but went on to be re-elected and reappointed to cabinet. He was made a senator in 2005, and stepped down last year.

5. 1983: Graham Harle. Alberta’s solicitor general, Graham Harle, was discovered by police parked outside a seedy Edmonton motel with a prostitute in his government car. The 51-year-old Harle claimed he was conducting an investigation into the province’s prostitution industry and had concluded that the sex trade didn’t “appear to be a problem right at the moment.” He stepped down from cabinet after the public refused to accept the story of his undercover operation.

6. 1986: Bob McClelland. B.C. industry minister and one-time Social Credit leadership contender Bob McClelland admitted he had paid $130 to Top Hat Escort in 1985 to have a prostitute sent to his hotel after having “a fair amount to drink.” His dalliance was uncovered after a police investigation into the escort agency uncovered his credit card details. McClelland resigned in August 1986 after testifying at a trial into Top Hat’s activities.

7. 1993: The Wilson-Tyabji Affair. B.C. Liberal leader Gordon Wilson was fresh off a surprise victory that catapulted his party into official Opposition status when he appointed 27-year-old Judy Tyabji as his house leader. It didn’t take long for rumours to start that the two, both married, shared more than just political leanings, though both Wilson and Tyabji vehemently denied any affair. Wilson resigned as party leader the next year just as Tyabji was dumped as house leader by the party. They both later came clean about the affair, left their spouses, got married and quit the Liberals to form the short-lived Progressive Democratic Alliance.

8. 2008: Maxime Bernier. Maxime Bernier, the star of Stephen Harper’s Quebec caucus, was forced to resign as foreign affairs minister after admitting he had left classified government documents at the home of his then-girlfriend, Julie Couillard, a woman who had previously dated two Hell’s Angels associates. Shortly after they broke up, Couillard gave a tell-all television interview about the relationship, which she followed up with a book.

9. Potential Scandal: John Diefenbaker. In 2010, 42-year-old Toronto legal consultant George Dryden launched a lawsuit against his parents alleging he was the illegitimate love child of former Conservative prime minister John Diefen- baker and that his mother, Mary Lou Dryden, a well-known Conservative socialite, had forged his birth certificate because of “political sensitivities” of the day. He has since gone on a quest to prove his lineage, although DNA tests on samples from personal items provided by the Diefenbaker Canada Centre in Saskatoon came up inconclusive.

Sources: Barkerville Cariboo Sentinel; Gold Country Communities Society; Glenbow Museum; Vancouver Sun; Vancouver Province; Whitehorse Daily Star

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

7 of the most dangerous outlaws from Canada’s Wild West

By Blog of Lists - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 at 4:54 PM - 0 Comments

Exhuming the remains of the Mad Trapper (CP Photo/HO)

The Canadian West of the 19th and early 20th centuries was as teeming with villains as its American counterpart. Indeed, many outlaws north of the 49th parallel were fugitive Yanks.

1. Boone Helm: A Kentucky-born marauder lured out west by the California Gold Rush, then forced into British Columbia in the early 1860s after a string of murders from Oregon to Utah, Helm was said to enjoy eating those he killed. He was arrested in Victoria in October 1862 for being of bad character and spent a month on a chain gang repairing streets. The next year he was arrested at Fort Yale on the Fraser River and sent back to Montana where he was hanged in 1864, after complaining that the executioner was taking too long in carrying out his sentence.

2. Brothers Allan, Charles and Archie McLean: The McLean Gang terrorized Kamloops, B.C., in the late 1870s, stealing everything from horses and liquor to ammunition. When the law came after them, the McLeans shot their way through, eventually killing two men, including a police constable. Eventually caught and convicted—the jury took 20 minutes to reach a verdict—they were hanged together in New Westminster in 1881.

3. James Gaddy and Moise Racette: After meeting in a Saskatchewan saloon in the 1880s, they decided to partner together in the horse-thieving business. To seal the deal they got their photograph taken; it would later become their wanted poster. When the Mounties went after the duo, a shootout ensued and a North West Mounted Police constable was killed. Gaddy and Racette were later convicted of murder and sent to the gallows in Regina in 1888.

4. Ernest Cashel: He was from the American Midwest but turned up in Alberta in 1902, a young man noted for his charm. Arrested in Calgary for forgery, he managed to escape, making his way to Lacombe and stealing a horse. Later, a rancher he worked for disappeared, and Cashel, caught after a two-month manhunt, was found wearing the rancher’s clothes. After the man’s body was discovered with a bullet hole in his chest, Cashel was convicted of murder. He escaped after his brother slipped him guns but was soon caught again and hanged in 1904.

5. Bill Miner: Originally from Kentucky and known as the Gentleman Bandit, Miner was reportedly the first holdup artist to use the phrase “hands up.” He committed one of Canada’s first train robberies in 1904 near Mission, B.C., at the age of 60, then struck a second train outside Kamloops in 1905. When the law closed in on him, Miner tried to shoot his way free but was caught and jailed. He later escaped the penitentiary in New Westminster, fleeing back to the U.S., where stories of his end are varied.

6. Harry Wagner: Named the Flying Dutchman after the famed ghost ship, he was a member of the ruthless Cassidy Gang in Wyoming before travelling northwest in a small ship, darting through the inlets of British Columbia. In March 1913, while robbing a store at Union Bay, Wagner was happened upon by police. One officer died in the gunfight that ensued, and Wagner escaped, only to be captured later and brought to trial in Nanaimo, B.C. He was hanged on Aug. 28, 1913.

7. Albert Johnson: Better known as the Mad Trapper of Rat River, he triggered a massive manhunt and captured the public’s imagination during the Great Depression after shooting a Mountie in the Yukon. He remained on the run for 48 days, travelling almost 300 km across the frigid Far North, before dying in a shootout in February 1932. His true identity has never been established.

Sources: Barkerville Cariboo Sentinel; Gold Country Communities Society; Glenbow Museum; Vancouver Sun; Vancouver Province; Whitehorse Daily Star

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

Justin Trudeau on 10 of his favourite swims

By Blog of Lists - Monday, August 27, 2012 at 5:18 PM - 0 Comments

“Over the course of my life and travels, I have rarely resisted the urge, upon visiting a beautiful place, to strip down to my skivvies and jump in the water (regardless of how cold or inappropriate it may be). Here, then, is a non-exhaustive list of some of my favourite dips from across the country, from west to east.”

10. Swimming with the icebergs in Alsek Lake, Tatshenshini River, Yukon

9. Falling off my surfboard at North Chesterman Beach, Tofino, B.C.

8. Jumping a fence and poaching a random hot tub with friends and beverages in Whistler, B.C.

7. Soaking in the natural hot springs along the Nahanni River, N.W.T.

6. Flipping off the top deck of a houseboat on Lake of the Woods, Ont., to impress my dad

5. Racing out of the sauna at The Outpost and into Maskinonge Lake, Temagami, Ont.

4. Half-drowning my way through the Washing Machine, clinging to my kayak, Rivière Rouge, Que.

3. Leaping 60 feet off the bridge of an icebreaker into the fjord off Pangnirtung, Baffin Island, Nunavut

2. Paddling down the Margaree River in an inner tube with my one-year-old son Xavier in my lap, Cape Breton, N.S.

1. Diving into icy waters off the rocky beach at Cape Broyle, Nfld., with my brother, after a campfire meal of lobsters, steak and Jockey Club, on the snowy May weekend of my bachelor party

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

Weirdly named Canadian wines and wineries

By Blog of Lists - Friday, August 24, 2012 at 11:23 AM - 0 Comments

Pier Paolo Cito/CP Photo

10 wineries with oddly dispiriting names

1. Dirty Laundry Vineyard: Summerland, B.C.

2. Black Sheep Winery: Osoyoos, B.C.

3. Laughing Stock Vineyards: Penticton, B.C.

4. Megalomaniac Wines: Vineland, Ont.

5. Mistaken Identity Vineyards: Saltspring Island, B.C.

6. Nagging Doubt: Okanagan, B.C.

7. Organized Crime Winery: Beamsville, Ont.

8. Foreign Affair Winery: Vineland Station, Ont.

9. Therapy Vineyards: Naramata, B.C.

10. Zero Balance Vineyard: Naramata, B.C.

10 wineries named after animals

1. Hunting Hawk Vineyards: Armstrong, B.C.

2. Long Dog Winery: Milford, Ont.

3. Black Widow Winery: Naramata, B.C.

4. Blue Heron Fruit Winery: Pitt Meadows, B.C.

5. Antelope Ridge Winery: Oliver, B.C.

6. Black Bear Farms: Kingsville, Ont.

7. Coyote’s Run Estate Winery: St. David’s, Ont.

8. Elephant Island Orchard Wines: Naramata, B.C.

9. Soaring Eagle Winery: Penticton, B.C.

10. Turtle Mountain Winery: Vernon, B.C.

Source: WinesofCanada.com

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

6 of Canada’s richest celebrities

By Blog of Lists - Thursday, August 23, 2012 at 3:17 PM - 0 Comments

For these superstars, fame has also meant incredible fortunes.

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Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The answers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

5 Canadian automotive failures

By Blog of Lists - Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 10:17 AM - 0 Comments

Bricklin SV1 (mstcweb/Flickr)

1. Le Roy: Designed by Nelson and Milton Good, the Le Roy was built in 1903 in Berlin, Ont., now Kitchener. No more than 20 were built before the company went bankrupt. Why? The purchase price of a new Le Roy in 1903 was $650, while the average annual income in Canada was only $275. The brake pedal on the Le Roy was also the same pedal that put the vehicle into reverse, which caused confusion among drivers.

2. Frontenac: In 1931, with the U.S.-based automaker Durant Motors near collapse, a group of investors acquired the company’s Canadian operations in Toronto and established Dominion Motors. Dominion released the Frontenac, a six-cylinder car, but it didn’t sell well. The next year Dominion rolled out a restyled Frontenac. But as the Depression deepened, Dominion shut down and the Frontenac’s brief run was over.

3. Manic GT: The Manic GT was the brainchild of Montreal native Jacques About. Despite keen demand—there was a two-month waiting list for new buyers—the factory based in Granby, Que., produced only 160 cars. The problem, a dependence on parts from Renault, proved to be the company’s downfall. The supply of parts could not meet the demand and the Granby factory closed in May 1971.

4. Bricklin: American millionaire Malcolm Bricklin’s idea was to develop a “high-performance safety car” in Saint John, N.B. He hired Herb Grasse, who created the original Batmobile. The car was designed without an ashtray because Bricklin believed it was unsafe to drive and smoke. That, combined with design and engineering flaws, lead to the collapse of the company in 1976.

5. Ballard fuel-cell car: There was never a single car from Ballard Power. Rather the company teamed with Ford and Daimler to develop experimental models using its hydrogen fuel-cell technology. In 2000 investors were convinced fuel cells would replace the internal combustion engine, and Ballard stock soared to $180. But steep costs, technological challenges and a lack of refuelling stations brought Ballard’s aspirations back to Earth (along with the stock price; today the shares are worth about $1.) In 2007, Ballard abandoned the hydrogen vehicle market.

Sources: Canada Science and Technology Museum; news reports

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

7 surprising facts about poutine

By Blog of Lists - Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 2:25 PM - 0 Comments

Darren Calabrese/CP Images

To the uninitiated, it looks like nothing more than a steaming pile of fries, gravy and half-melted cheese curds. But in Canada, the signature dish of Quebec is a point of culinary pride. (And sometimes intrigue. What better alias to figure in a political scandal than Pierre Poutine of “robocall” fame?) More than half a century after it first appeared in rural Quebec, restaurants across the country are providing new spins on the iconic dish, throwing maple syrup, pulled pork and even lobster into the mix.

Here are seven facts about poutine you probably didn’t know:

1. It is widely accepted that poutine was invented in 1957 when a trucker asked Fernand Lachance to add cheese curds to his fries in Warwick, Que.

2. “Poutine” is Quebec slang for “a mess.”

3. The average male would have to jog 2.5 hours to burn off the 1,422 calories contained in the country-style poutine (bacon, chicken, gravy, fries, onions and mushrooms) available nationwide through Smoke’s Poutinerie.

4. In 1970s New York and New Jersey, poutine was served as a late-night side dish at clubs. They called
it “disco fries.”

5. At a 2010 poutine-eating contest in Toronto, the winner, Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti of Chicago (pictured above) ate 5.9 kg of poutine.

6. The largest poutine in the world was made in Saguenay, Que., and weighed 654 kg—about as much as a large horse.

7. Considered the most expensive poutine in Montreal, the poutine au foie gras is available for $23 at Au Pied de Cochon

See also: 12 foods Canada has given the world (besides poutine)

Sources: Restaurants; news reports; Livestrong.com

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

8 Canadians more famous abroad than here

By Blog of Lists - Monday, August 13, 2012 at 6:34 AM - 0 Comments

Dashan, a.k.a. Mark Roswell, is a celebrity in China (HO)

1. Jack Cowin: Known as the father of fast food in Australia, the Windsor, Ont.-born businessman is one of the richest men Down Under. After moving there in 1969, he rolled out Australia’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and today controls a food service and manufacturing empire employing 17,000 people.

2. Mark Rowswell: Born in Ottawa, Rowswell is the most popular Westerner in China, where he is known as Dashan, thanks to his fluency in Mandarin and understanding of the culture. In 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Rowswell as Canada’s goodwill ambassador to China.

3. Kathleen Reiter: The Montreal-born woman had only lived in Israel for a few days in the fall of 2011 when she auditioned for that country’s version of The Voice, a TV song competition. In April 2012 she walked away as the winner and is now swarmed whenever she’s on the streets in Tel Aviv.

4. David Altmejd: He grew up in Montreal but moved to New York in 1999 where he’s gained fame for his fantastical sculptures.

5. Rob Stewart: Born in Toronto, Stewart starred as investigator Nick Slaughter in the Canadian TV show Sweating Bullets, which aired in the early 1990s. Though little known in Canada, Stewart and his alter ego Slaughter are cult heroes in Serbia, where the show is called Tropical Heat.

6. Mozhdah Jamalzadah: The Vancouver-raised actress was the “Oprah of Afghanistan.” Her show The Mozhdah Show explored women’s issues usually not talked about on TV, if at all. She was often mobbed on the streets of Kabul.

7. Joe Ruelle: Born in Terrace, B.C., Ruelle is an author and blogger who writes in Vietnamese. His mastery of the Vietnamese language
has vaulted him into the world of celebrity. Also known as Dâu Tây, which translates to “Berry from the West,” he has parlayed his blog
into a career in television, film and publishing.

8. Andrew Bonar Law: He’s long since gone, but after being born in New Brunswick in 1858, Law went to live with Scottish relatives at the age of 12. He entered politics in 1900 and would eventually become prime minister, the only one born outside the British Isles. (Okay, many Brits might not remember him either—he only held the office for 209 days in 1922-23 before resigning due to ill health.)

Sources: University of Western Ontario; news sources; No. 10 Downing Street

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

5 most challenging hiking trails in Canada

By Blog of Lists - Friday, August 10, 2012 at 8:45 AM - 0 Comments

James L. Stanfield/Getty Images

1. Canol Heritage Trail, N.W.T.: 350 km from the Yukon-Northwest Territories border to Norman Wells. At least 20 days for the full trail. Why go? Because this is one of the most remote and wilderness-filled experiences Canada offers.

2. West Coast Trail, B.C.: 75 km on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Up to seven days to complete. Why do it? To experience the diverse wildlife and sleep by the ocean.

3. Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon: about 75 km, depending on the length of different hikes. Eight days to complete. Why up there? Because you start the hike with a helicopter ride. And this mountain range is “Beringia,” an area extending as far as Siberia that escaped the glacial scarring of the last ice age.

4. Pukaskwa National Park coastal hiking trail, Ont.: 60 km along Lake Superior’s shore. Takes five to seven days to complete. Why go? The trail offers the best chance to experience Ontario’s wild boreal forest, though watch out for the bears and wolves.

5. Sunshine Village, Alta., to Mt. Assiniboine, B.C.: 56 km. Roughly six days to complete. Why go? This spot is only accessible on foot or by helicopter and is renowned for its stunning views and opportunity to see wildlife, including mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk and deer.

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

12 foods Canada has given the world (besides poutine)

By Blog of Lists - Friday, August 3, 2012 at 11:19 AM - 0 Comments

Home made pea soup! (Sheryl Nadler/CP Images)

1. Butter tarts: It’s true! Butter tarts are Canadian through and through. In fact, these crumbly, almost shortbread-like pastry shells—oozing with butter, sugar, syrup and eggs—date back to the early 1600s, when they provided sweet sustenance for our pioneers. There’s a great deal of variation today—some bakers add raisins, others pecans—but it’s safe to say they’d all satisfy the most discerning sweet tooth.

2. BeaverTails: Even Barack Obama stopped for one when he visited our nation’s capital in 2009. The Ottawa-based company that came up with the idea of hand stretching pastry shaped like beaver tails, then frying it and topping it with sweet confections like whipped cream and berries, has been dishing out their treats since 1980.

3. Nanaimo bars: It’s no wonder these ultra-sweet bars consisting of a chocolate top layer and a wafer-crumb base, which perfectly sandwiches a custard-
flavoured centre, have fairly contested origins. But since the late 1950s, Nanaimo bars have become staples at every bake sale, not only in British Columbia but across the country.

4. Fish and brewis: The Italians can keep their baccalà, and the Portuguese can have their bacalhau. We
prefer our salt cod to be served along hard tack (hard bread, soaked overnight in water) and scrunchions (fried bits of salted pork fat), thank you very much. The traditional Newfoundland dish, which was probably created by sailors who needed good sustenance out at sea, differs from door to door, but it’s always certain to fill you up.

5. Figgy duff: There are many variations of this Newfoundland boiled pudding, but most contain flour, butter, sugar, molasses and raisins, which used to commonly be referred to as figs on the Rock. So its name fits, sort of. Coincidentally, figgy duff bears a striking resemblance to another of the world’s funniest-named sweets, the British spotted dick.

6. Canadian bacon: We call it peameal bacon but the rest of the world lovingly refers to it as Canadian. And here’s the thing: it’s just lean, boneless pork loin that’s been brined and rolled in finely ground cornmeal (years ago, it would have been peameal).

7. Tourtière: This traditional Québécois double-crusted meat pie may be traditionally served at Christmas, but there’s a good chance French Canadians eat it all year long. While they can be packed with a combination of pork, veal and beef,
in Montreal tourtière is usually made with only
pork—finely ground—and seasoned with cinnamon and cloves, and served with ketchup. Comfort
food personified.

8. Saskatoon berry pie: Many a Prairie native has childhood memories of filling pails with these sweet, fleshy-fruited berries to fill double-crusted golden pies. And even though the shrubs that bear them are grown from western Ontario to British Columbia and the Yukon, they’re especially dear to the people who live in the city that shares the berry’s name.

9. McCain’s french fries: We may not have invented the humble french fry, but Canadian-owned and operated McCain’s has been making frites for more than 50 years. At last count the company, the world’s largest producer of french fries, was dishing out
more than 20 products.

10. Maple syrup: Not only has one of our most beloved chefs, Montreal’s Martin Picard, dedicated a 386-page cookbook to the boiled-down sap—first collected by Aboriginal peoples of North America—but our nation produces a whopping 85 per cent of the world’s supply.

11. Split pea soup: The Oxford Companion to Food says this Québécois, rib-sticking delight with a base of dried yellow split peas and a ham bone, or smoked ham hock, is probably our best-known food export.

Sources: Oxford Dictionary of Food, Canadian Oxford Dictionary, food and company websites

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

7 things that we might not miss from the ancient Olympics

By Jessica Allen - Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 6:58 PM - 0 Comments

The former Olympic stadium in Olympia (Sean Gallup/Getty)

The first Olympic games held back in 753 BCE in Olympia, Greece lasted a single day and featured one event: a short sprint. But over the next 1,147 years–making those games the longest-running recurring event in antiquity–they grew to five days long and more events were added. Think wrestling, boxing, long jump and throwing of the javelin and discus.

Today, some things remain the same: for example, the summer and winter games respectively are held every four years (the ancient Games didn’t make the seasonal distinction, though) and athletes are still strictly forbidden, as far as I know, to cast spells against their opponents. But for the most part, the modern Games have evolved into a different event all together. Here are eight of the biggest differences.

Continue…

Canada’s fittest, and fattest regions

By Blog of Lists - Wednesday, August 1, 2012 at 2:28 PM - 0 Comments

Chuck Stoody/CP Photo

Amid the excitement over Canada’s first four medals going to Quebec based athletes, we wondered just how regional an issue fitness is in Canada.

Here, then, are the 10 fittest regions, by percentage of the population overweight or obese:

1. Vancouver Health Authority 35.0%
2. Toronto Central Health Integration Network 39.3
3. Fraser Health Authority, B.C. (incl. Burnaby and Surrey) 43.9
4. City of Toronto Health Unit 44.5
5. York Regional Health Unit, Ont. (includes Newmarket) 45.2
6. Central Health Integration Network, Ont. (incl. Newmarket and Richmond Hill) 45.6
7. Région de la Capitale-Nationale (incl. Gatineau) 46.7
8. Calgary Health Region 48.2
9. Calgary Zone 48.2
10. Région de la Mauricie et du Centre-du-Québec, Que. (incl. Drummondville) 48.2

And, the least fit regions, again, by by percentage of the population overweight or obese:

1. Burntwood/Churchill, Man. 73.4%
2. Colchester East Hants/Cumberland, N.S. 71.3
3. South Shore/South West Nova, N.S. (incl. Yarmouth) 70.2
4. Prince Albert Parkland Regional Health Authority, Sask. 69.9
5. Nor-Man Regional Health Authority, Man. (incl. Flin Flon) 68.6
6. Prairie North Regional Health Authority, Sask. (incl. North Battleford) 68.5
7. Interlake Regional Health Authority, Man. (incl. Gimli) 68.4
8. Kelsey Trail Regional Health Authority, Sask. (incl. Melfort) 68.3
9. Central Regional Integrated Health Authority, Nfld. (incl. Grand Falls-Windsor) 68.1
10. Sunrise Regional Health Authority, Sask. (incl. Yorkton) 68.1

Note: Because of how the data is collected, there can be overlap between the regions; names are those given
Source: Statistics Canada (2010)

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

Top Canadian TV draws, Olympic and otherwise

By Blog of Lists - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 3:04 PM - 0 Comments

Ezra Shaw/AP Photo

It’s become almost legend that when Paul Henderson scored his epic goal against the Soviets in 1972, 18 million Canadians were glued to their TVs. It’s also a myth. The real number of viewers was around 4.3 million, which is paltry compared to the number of people that broadcasters claim tuned in for these events:

1. Olympic men’s hockey gold medal game, Feb. 28, 2010: 16.7 million

2. London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, Jul. 27, 2012: 16.6 million

3. IIHF world junior championship gold medal game  Jan. 5, 2011: 14.2 million

4. Vancouver Olympics opening ceremony, Feb. 12, 2010: 13.3 million

5. William and Kate’s royal wedding, April 29, 2011: 12 million

6. Olympic men’s hockey gold medal game, Feb. 28, 2002: 10.3 million

7. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs—Boston vs. Vancouver, June 15, 2011: 8.6 million

8. Super Bowl XLVI New York Giants vs. New England Patriots, Feb. 5, 2012: 8.2 million

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

Canada’s 6 sexiest athletes

By Blog of Lists - Friday, July 27, 2012 at 3:45 PM - 0 Comments

1. Adam van Koeverden, 20, kayak

2. Sheldon Souray, 35, hockey

3. Tessa Bonhomme, 26, hockey

4. Ashleigh McIvor, 28, ski cross

5. Cristy Nurse, 25, rowing

6. Heather Moyse, 33, bobsled/rugby

Source: Sportsnet magazine

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

5 organizations that ran in trouble with the LGBT community

By Blog of Lists - Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 4:43 PM - 0 Comments

Mike Stewart/AP Photo

1. Urban Outfitters
Though this retailer markets itself to hipster 20-somethings, president and founder Richard Haynes is an ardent conservative. He’s also the owner of Anthropologie and Free People, but Haynes manages to find the time to donate thousands to Rick Santorum’s campaign. He’s also reportedly against gay marriage, and pro-gay tees have disappeared from UO shelves. In the spring, Urban Outfitters got in trouble over a trans-phobic card they were selling, which was eventually pulled from stores. Ironically enough, the anti-gay group One Million Moms targeted UO for a catalog that featured a lesbian kiss.

2. Walmart
Walmart’s conservative leanings are well-documented, but the company has also donated thousands of dollars to anti-gay groups. They also used to sell an anti-gay children’s book called Chased by an Elephant, the Gospel Truth about Today’s Stampeding Sexuality.

3. Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts recently reconfirmed their policy on not allowing gay men and boys from joining or being leaders. A special committee of Scout executives and volunteers formed in 2010 decided unanimously that the anti-gay policy was best. The Scout is one of the largest youth groups in the U.S., with more than 2 million members. Still, not all the Scouts are happy about it: after a gay Eagle Scout was fired, 10 other members quit in protest. Other Scouts have been returning their medals because of the policy. There’s a small loophole to the policy, of course: you won’t be denied membership if you keep your homosexuality under wraps.

4. Salvation Army
Although it’s a charitable organization, the Salvation Army has a history of being anti-gay. In 2001, the Salvation Army worked with the Bush administration to make it easier for government-funded religious groups to discriminate against hiring gays. Most recently, an Australian Salvation Army Major said that gays “deserve to die” for their homosexuality.

5. Chick-Fil-A
Then, of course, there’s Chick-Fil-A, the company whose trouble with the gay community got everyone from drag queens to politicians to Muppets involved. Who knew Kermit was all about equal rights? Across the country, Chick-Fil-A is being protested for their anti-gay stance, though Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum are vocal supporters.

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

5 things we learned about Sally Ride in the morning papers

By Blog of Lists - Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 8:53 AM - 0 Comments

NASA photo

Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, died Monday of pancreatic cancer. She was 61.

Ride was an American space hero and obituaries noted all that she achieved before and after she headed into space aboard the Challenger on June 18, 1983.

The “first lady of space” is also being remembered as the loving partner of 27 years to Tam O’Shaughnessy.

News that Ride was gay is now the news of the day. With U.S. outlets chasing the story, here’s what is being said and reported about the posthumous revelation:

1. Ride didn’t like to talk about her personal life. ”Her personal feelings were just that: personal. Not right or wrong — simply Sally,” the astonaut’s sister, Bear Ride, wrote to msnbc. ”Everyone who knows her well really got that about her.”

2.  Ride and O’Shaughnessy became friends at the age of 12 when they both played tennis.

3. The two became a pair in 1985.

4. The couple co-authored four books including “Voyager: An Adventure to the Edge of the Solar System.”

5. Ride did not hide her relationship. “They were partners, business partners in Sally Ride Science, they wrote books together,” writes Ride’s sister, Bear. “Sally’s very close friends, of course, knew of their love for each other. We consider Tam a member of our family.”

See also: 14 astronauts we know by name

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

14 astronauts we know by name

By Blog of Lists - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 5:28 PM - 0 Comments

Chris Hadfield (Chris O'Meira/AP Photo)

In the early days of space travel, everyone who’d ever left the Earth was a legend. Today, with hundreds having made it into orbit, most Canadians can likely name but a few astronauts. Here’s our list.

1. Yuri Gagarin. Technically a cosmonaut, Gagarin, a Russian, was the first man in space, orbiting the Earth on April 12 of 1961. The achievement was highly symbolic at the height of the Cold War, in the early years of the space race. Gagarin became an international celebrity as a result. Despite his extraordinary achievements, it may have been his short stature (5′ 2″) that ultimately earned him a spot in the tiny cockpit of the first manned flight to space.

2. John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth, aboard Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962. He later became the oldest person to fly in space, at age 77, aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1998.  Glenn was a Democratic senator for 25 years.

3. Neil Armstrong may be the most famous astronaut of all, as the first man to step foot on the moon, and the speaker of the phrases “The Eagle has landed” and “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. The latter sentence as rendered is a contradiction, leading to much discussion about whether Armstrong actually said “a man“‘.

4. Alan B. Sheppard became the second man in space—and the first American—aboard Mercury mission MR-3, on May 5, 1961. Later, he returned to space as commander of Apollo 14, the third U.S. mission to the moon. Shepard piloted the lunar module and famously hit two golf balls on the lunar surface.

5. Buzz Aldrin piloted the lunar module for the Apollo 11 mission and followed Neil Armstrong from the lander to the lunar surface, making him the second man to set foot on the moon. It was his second space flight, after Gemini 12.

6. Marc Garneau became Canada’s first man in space on mission STS 41-G, the first to carry an IMAX camera. Garneau flew a total of three space missions and was later the president of the Canadian Space Agency. He is currently a Liberal member of parliament for Westmount—Ville-Marie.

7. Roberta Bondar. Physician, scientist, photographer, author and educator Roberta Bondar became Canada’s first woman astronaut when she flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1992. Bondar was the Payload Specialist for that mission, which was the first to perform laboratory experiments in space. She has since published popular coffee table books of her landscape photographs.

8. Chris Hadfield. Garneau was the first Canadian to fly in space,  but Chris Hadfield (pictured above) was the first Canadian to walk in space, and likely the first to play and sing a Gordon Lightfoot song in space. He has been CAPCOM, or capsule communicator, for several space missions and will be the first Canadian to command the International Space Station in 2012-13.

9. Sally Ride, who died in July of 2012 of pancreatic cancer, became the first American woman in space when she flew aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. She flew to space again in 1984, on the same crew with Marc Garneau. She later was a member of the boards of inquiry into the loss of both the Challenger and the Columbia shuttles.

10. Christa McAuliffe. Technically considered a ‘spaceflight participant’ rather than an astronaut,  Christa McAuliffe was scheduled to travel aboard the space shuttle Challenger as a teacher. The shuttle disintegrated shortly after launch, and she was killed along with the rest of the crew.

11. Laika began her short life as a stray dog in Russia in 1954, and ended it as a canine cosmonaut in 1957. Laika went into orbit aboard Sputnik 2, proving a living creature could survive launch and weightlessness. But as no re-entry technology had yet been developed, she was doomed to die in space. A dog gone shame.

12. Ham, a chimpanzee, got off a little better than Laika. For one thing, Ham survived his flight aboard Project Mercury mission MR-2 and lived into the early ’80s. Ham was named No. 65 until he returned to earth successfully, reportedly because American officials didn’t want the bad press that might accompany the death of a ‘named’ chimp in case of an unsuccessful mission.

13. Buzz Lightyear. He never went to the moon, but the fictional character popularized by the Toy Story films was voted #1 among the Top 20 Greatest Pixar characters, and is probably the best-known ‘astronaut’ among children today. NASA even hosts a Buzz Lightyear game on its website.

14. Guy LaLiberte. The billionaire Cirque du Soleil founder and CEO is a former accordion player, stilt walker, and fire-eater who in 2009 became Canada’s first ‘space tourist.’ This may exclude him from the official designation ‘astronaut’ but his trip, dedicated to raising awareness of water issues on Earth, was the first ‘poetic social mission‘ in space.

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

5 myths about Tim Hortons

By Blog of Lists - Monday, July 23, 2012 at 4:40 PM - 0 Comments

keepitsurreal/Flickr

1. The coffee has additives like nicotine to make it more addictive. This myth is so prevalent that the company’s website tackles it head-on: “Tim Hortons would like to clearly state that there is absolutely NO nicotine or MSG in our coffee.”

2. A muffin is healthier than a sugary doughnut. Guess again. Compared to a blueberry muffin, the decadent-sounding double chocolate doughnut has 1 g less fat (10 g) and just 75 per cent of the calories (250 kcals).

3. Tim Hortons customers vote Conservative. Not so. In 2010 the Globe and Mail analyzed the average number of Tim Hortons per riding. The NDP and Liberals tied for the most, with 11, while Tory ridings trailed with an average number of nine outlets.

4. The city with the most Tim Hortons per capita is Moncton. (Or is it Barrie? Ste. Catharines St. Catharines?) Widely believed, but inaccurate. An analysis by the Martin Prosperity Institute in 2011 found the city with the most Timmies for the population is Port Hope, Ont.

5. “Always Fresh.” Well, sort of. The doughnuts are partially baked at a central facility, “flash-frozen,” then trucked across the country to be reheated in-store. One executive has explained the freezing process “seals in the freshness.”

Source: Tim Hortons, Martin Prosperity Institute, news reports

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.

10 countries with the highest homicide rates

By Blog of Lists - Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 4:39 PM - 0 Comments

siezed guns, Jamaica - David McFadden/AP Photo

Murders per 100,000 population:

 1.    Honduras    82.1

 2.    El Salvador    66

 3.    Ivory Coast    56.9

 4.    Jamaica    52.1

 5.    Venezuela    49

 6.    Belize    41.7

 7.    Guatemala    41.4

 8.    St. Kitts and Nevis    38.2

9.    Zambia    38

 10.    Uganda    36.3
.
.
.

103.    United States of America    5

150.    Canada    1.8
Note: Top 10 excludes dependencies and territories
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(2010 data or latest year available, released in 2011)

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.