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'Gens du pays'. Song written by Gilles Vigneault and Gaston Rochon for the 1975 St-Jean-Baptiste celebrations on Mount Royal, Montreal. Its popularity has made it almost a national anthem in Quebec, where it is sung frequently by crowds at rallies or on festive occasions.

Romance for voice and piano, words by Pierre-Gabriel Huot and music by Célestin Lavigueur composed ca 1861 and a popular patriotic song for several decades. Its inspiration is said to have come from a visit by the authors to the village of Lorette, near Quebec City.

While working as an independent organic food inspector, Mischa Popoff says he felt like "a police officer without a billy club or handcuffs.

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on April 28, 2003. Partner content is not updated.

The 1889–90 flu, sometimes called the Russian or Asiatic flu, has been described as the first global influenza pandemic. It spread along modern transportation routes, especially railway networks. Canada experienced outbreaks across the country. While this pandemic was less deadly than the next major flu in 1918, its survivors may have been at greater risk than others during the 1918 pandemic.

Noteworthy as the first oceanographic study of the Gulf of St Lawrence and Scotian Shelf, the expedition originated with E. E. Prince, dominion commissioner of fisheries.

The most damaging pandemic of influenza — for Canada and the world — was an H1N1 virus that appeared during the First World War. Despite its unknown geographic origins, it is commonly called the Spanish flu. In 1918–19, it killed between 20 and 100 million people, including some 50,000 Canadians.

​The 1939 royal tour by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth was the first time a reigning Canadian monarch had stepped foot in this country.

For many Canadians, the eight-game series between Team Canada and the national team of the Soviet Union in 1972 provided the greatest moment in the country’s sporting history. Most expected that Canada would handily defeat the Soviet Union, but this confidence quickly disappeared when Canada lost the first game. The series was tied heading into the final game in Moscow, which ended in a dramatic fashion, with Paul Henderson scoring in the final seconds to give Canada the victory. The series would have a lasting impact on hockey in Canada and abroad.

The 1985 International Bach Piano Competition/Concours International Bach de Piano 1985. Held in Toronto 1-12 May 1985, it was designed to commemorate J.S. Bach's tercentennial year, and to celebrate one of Bach's great interpreters by benefiting the Glenn Gould Foundation.

1989 International Choral Festival/Festival Choral International 1989. Month-long series of choral performances held in Toronto 1-30 Jun 1989, conceived by its artistic director Nicholas Goldschmidt.

2 Pianos 4 Hands. Two-person comedy-drama with music; semi-autobiographical show by the pianists-playwrights Ted Dykstra (b Chatham, Ont 1961) and Richard Greenblatt (b Montreal, 1952 or 1953).

​In 2012, Québec and Canada experienced the longest student strike in their histories. The strike lasted several months (from 13 February to 7 September 2012) and pitted students in Québec against the provincial government on the issue of tuition fee increases.

​The first FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in Canada, and only the third in North America, the 2015 tournament was the largest and most watched in Women’s World Cup history.

Late in the evening on Saturday, 18 April 2020, a 51-year-old man assaulted his common-law wife in Portapique, Nova Scotia. He then began a 13-hour rampage in which he committed multiple shootings and set fire to several homes in 16 locations. Using a vehicle disguised as an RCMP police cruiser and wearing an old RCMP uniform for much of the time, the killer murdered 22 people and injured six others. He was shot and killed by two RCMP officers at a gas station south of Enfield, Nova Scotia, 100 km from where the violence began. It is the worst mass killing in modern Canadian history.

This article contains sensitive material that may not be suitable for all audiences.

Directed by Bernard Émond and released in 2003, 20h17 rue Darling, like Émond’s earlier film La femme qui boit, confronts us with the disastrous effects of alcoholism.

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on April 4, 2005. Partner content is not updated.

Other collectives at this time included If You're So Good Why Are You in Saskatoon? (1975), directed by Paul Thompson; and Generation and 1/2 (1978), a continuation of the Paper Wheat story of the Wheat Pool.