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Over the course of several months in 2011 and 2012, a team of thieves stole approximately 2,700 tonnes of maple syrup from a strategic maple syrup reserve maintained in Quebec (see Maple Syrup Industry). The theft has been popularly dubbed as the Great Maple Syrup Heist. At the time of the heist, the stolen maple syrup was valued at nearly $18 million. The heist may be one of the largest thefts in Canadian history.

Canada is the world’s leading producer and exporter of maple products, accounting for 75 per cent of the global market. In 2020, Canadian producers exported over 61 million kg of maple products, with a value of $515 million. The province of Quebec is by far the largest producer, representing 96.4 per cent of Canadian product exports. Maple syrup and maple sugar products are made by boiling down the sap of maple trees. World production of maple syrup and sugar is mainly limited to the Maple Belt, the hardwood forest stretching from the midwestern United States through Ontario, Quebec and New England and into New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island; however, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan also produce some syrup.

David Michael Keon, hockey player (born 22 March 1940 in Noranda, Quebec). Dave Keon was voted the greatest player in Toronto Maple Leafs franchise history in 2016. A natural goal scorer who played great defense, Keon was regarded as a technically perfect player: durable, tenacious, rarely penalized and one of the fastest skaters in the NHL. After winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year in 1961, he went on to win four Stanley Cups with the Maple Leafs, including in 1967, when he received the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for “sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct” twice and also received the World Hockey Association’s sportsmanship award twice later in his career. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Québec Sports Hall of Fame, the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Throughout its history, Canada has taken a series of steps to develop from a British colony into an independent nation. Both the First and Second World War were turning points; Canada’s military sacrifices gave it the strength and confidence to demand its own voice on the world stage. In the postwar era, Canada maintained its role in both Western and global alliances. (See NATO; NORAD; GATT.) However, economics have shaped Canadian diplomacy to a remarkable extent. Because of the United States’ singular importance to Canadian security and trade, relations with the US have dominated Canada’s foreign policy since Confederation.