News quiz Oct. 18 | Barges, ballots and floating sea cans

Another week, another quiz — another chance to see if you’ve been following the news. Let’s go!

1. After 23 sea cans fell off a barge in the water off Iqaluit two years ago, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigated. It finally released its report this month. What did it point to as the cause for the incident?

A. A blizzard was occurring as the barge was unloading.
B. The barge was overloaded.
C. The tugboat towing the barge made a wrong turn.

2. Nakasuk Elementary School in Iqaluit had to be closed on Oct. 6 — what was the reason?

A. A water pipe burst.
B. The fire alarm system wouldn’t shut off.
C. There was a problem with the heating system.

3. Election night can be an exciting time, but Oct. 27 will be just another night in two Nunavut ridings where candidates were acclaimed and there’s no race. What are the two ridings?

A. Hudson Bay and South Baffin
B. Iqaluit-Tasiluk and Kugluktuk
C. Netsilik and Pangnirtung

4. What did Canada Post workers in Nunavut and Nunavik do during the national strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers?

A. They walked off the job.
B. They kept right on working.
C. They worked only limited hours.

5. Which animals in the south were in the news in the North last week?

A. Killer whales spotted off Cape Breton, N.S.
B. Beluga whales kept in Ontario
C. Polar bears threatening tourists in southern Quebec

Nakasuk Elementary School in Iqaluit, shown in this file photo, had to be closed for one day last week. (Photo by Daron Letts)

Answers

1. B — The Transportation Safety Board found the Tasijuaq barge was overloaded on Oct. 27, 2023. With a capacity to carry 210 tonnes, it was loaded down with 342 tonnes.
2. C — No one was too cool for school that day — they were too hot, after a failure in the pneumatic heating system caused indoor temperatures to spike to around 30 C.
3. A — People in Hudson Bay and South Baffin will be immune to election fever, because incumbents Daniel Qavvik and David Joanasie were both acclaimed in those ridings, respectively.
4. B — Post office workers in Nunavut and Nunavik kept right on working during the strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Postal workers in the North are members of a different union and were not on strike.
5. B — Thirty beluga whales, kept in captivity at the financially strapped Marineland amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ont., made the news in the North when it was suggested they might be reintegrated into the wild in areas like Hudson Bay, Ungava Bay or the St. Lawrence River.