Here is a list of quotations. The challenge is to name the speaker or document and give a bit of context.

To those outside the F. North, these may be less obscure than references to the history of Samoa. But not much.

I thought maybe I should handicap the Canadians by allowing the others to use Google etc. Does that sound fair? Let me know.


"Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you." Alexander Graham Bell, the first words communicated by telephone. The words were spoken in Boston, he was born in Scotland, and he is acclaimed as a Great Canadian. Fritter, 2 points.

"Canada? I don’t even know what street it’s on." Al Capone, denying that he smuggled whisky from Canada. Canada, being half Scottish, half Irish and half French, didn't have Prohibition in the 20's. 2 points for my man Orphiztic.

"The state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation." P.E.Trudeau again, when homosexuality was decriminalized in Canada. 2 points, Ryaneno

"Conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription." WWII PM MacKenzie King. His entire career (1920's-1930's) had been built on placating the Quebec voters with a promise that unlike the Tories, he would never introduce conscription. The issue had caused riots in Quebec in WW1. All of a sudden Hitler rolled along with WWII and King's anglo voters were demanding an effective conscription policy. Faced with the dilemma of losing an election or of Canada losing Quebec, King brought in a plebiscite on the question, trying to make the question foggy enough that both sides might support it. Unhappily, the vote was something 80% pro in TROC (the rest of Canada) and 70% con in Quebec, a clear split on ethnic lines and only increasing the threat to national unity. King, who had made a career by talking out of both sides of his mouth, annouced his further policy as 'conscription if necessary...' and promised the Quebecers that conscripts would never serve overseas. Soldiers so recruited were formed into the Home Guard to defend against a Nazi invasion on Canada's shores. Colloquially, they were as The Zombies. Orphiztic, 2 points.

"Send me better men to deal with, and I will be a better man."

"We must protect the rights of minorities, and the rich are always fewer in number than the poor." Sir John A. MacDonald at the confederation debates in Quebec, 1864. Like many of his (apparently) lighter comments, there's a bit of a teaser in it. It has been argued that ordinary civil rights (protection of minorities from arbitrary decisions of a majority, free speech, free assoc., yadda yadda) are inseparable from allowing people the right to accumulate more than others. Anyway, 2 more points to Duckpin.

"None are too many."

"I’m entitled to my entitlements." David Dingwall, former cabinet minister, explaining some extraordinary benefits his employment contract at the Royal Canadian Mint conferred upon him. Ducky, 2 points

"Peace, order, and good government." "It shall be lawful for the Queen, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate and House of Commons, to make Laws for the Peace, Order, and good Government of Canada..." BNA Act, 1867. Popularly known as the POGG clause, as a national motto often contrasted with the more aspirational 'Life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness', explaining why although we have good government, we are boring. 2 more points for Duckpin!

"Fuddle duddle." - Pierre Trudeau. During a parliamentary debate he mouthed the words 'Fuck you' to an opposition member. He afterwards claimed he meant 'fuddle duddle'. HiccupPercy, 2 points.

"Two nations warring within the bosom of a single state." The Earl of Durham, author of the Durham Report, nothing to do with Colbert. You guys sent him in to discover what the hell was going on after the Rebellion of 1837 was instigated led by William Lyon Mackenzie and Louis Papineau (see above, M. King - grandson. Also see under Mac-Paps in Spanish Civil Way). Radical? He recommended that the colonial govt. should be responsible to the elected leg. assembly, which was carried out eventually. Also recommended rescinding protections for French language civil rights, law and culture, with a view to their total assimilation into Anglo culture, which was not carried out eventually. Sounds pretty radical to me! Hence, he described the French and English as 'two nations in a single state.' Duckpin, 2 points.

"Just watch me." PM Pierre Trudeau, after the Front du Liberation du Quebec (FLQ), a revolutionary separatist/terrorist organization had kidnapped the British trade minister (James Cross) and the Quebec minister of Labour, Pierre Laporte (subsequently murdered). This was the culmination of a fitful campaign of letter bombs during the late 60's. A reporter, disturbed by the presence of armed guards, asked Trudeau how far he would go to defend the state against terrorists. Still controversial. 2 points for Ryaneno.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfUq9b1XTa0

So Far (Monday):

Duckpin 7 points
Orphiztic 5 points
Ryaneno 5 points
Fritter 3 points
HiccupPercy 3 points
Ducky 3 points
Flickering Lexicon 1 point
BiggestLibraryYet 1 point

If we can use google then:

Fuddle Duddle = Pierre Trudeau

If we can't use google then:

:wacko:

Well I sure feel like an ugly American, I have no clue on any of these :blink:

You need to give the context for full points.

I hope I've remembered this correctly:

:unsure:

Correct this time. But really the answer should be 'put in one's own words'.

David Charles Dingwall. Just to remind us that politicians abusing their expenses isn't peculiar to Britain.

Correct!

Ayn "housewife superstar" Rand

Sorry. But .5 pts for a nice try.

Oh God yes. Of course.


What a malignant figure.

A godess to all that is venal and stupid.

Bollox! :(

P.E.Trudeau again, when homosexuality was decriminalized in Canadia.

Conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription.
Fraser, your current PM
[I may get them all wrong but I wont use a search engine]

Canada? I don’t even know what street it’s on.
Rene Leveque

Peace, order, and good government.
Lester Pearson

Just watch me.
Maurice "The Rocket' Richard

Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.

This rings a bell, was it the first thing said on a telephone - by er...Bell? Was he Canadian? They are good talkers after all. Maybe it was Marconi, who moved to Canada for a better life...

?

2 points, Ryaneno

Send me better men to deal with, and I will be a better man.
? Rae, the famed explorer turned elected official

Fritter - I bet it was Bell altho the first official thing he said over the phone was, I think, "What Hath God Wroght"

Marconi moved to Newfoundland[Yay] because it's the closest N.A. area to Europe for his trans-Atlantic radio tests

Sorry Duckpin. Really, it's okay to use google.

2 points for Fritter.

Ossome!

what hath god wrought...then that was Morse?

Our current Number Two is Harper not Fraser...

I think that was Samuel Morse.

thank you - I am going to change my user name to "All Wrong"!

Oops. Fritter keeps the points. But Marconi invented the radio, not the phone. Al Bell. Every else gets 1 free point.

Inverse lateral: the first radio transmission was by the Canadian Reginald Fessenden but Marconi got the credit for his transmission from Signal Hill, which also a nice walk from S'-Jahnz.

I thought he said something like "Watson, I've spilled acid on my pants"

That's a motto of the 'Foreign and Commenwealth Office'?

Right league, wrong team, Ducky.

That sounds like something Conrad Black might say...

Hmm. :confused:

'Canadian Foreign Office.'?

That's what I remember from my grade 2 history book - the transmission was unexpected. I'll verify it.

I thought 'Acid Pants' was a now-defunct style of Dance Music... :unsure:

I've been to Signal Hill but I didn't know Marconi refused to share credit[at the minimum] or stole another's accomplishment

A much better man than Conrad said this.

You gotta go higher. Higher authority, in fact.