Ontario Flashcards
6 cards from real CANADIAN practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Ontario flashcards as text
Ontario's lieutenant governor has the constitutional authority to refuse royal assent to a provincial bill. What is this rarely-used power called?
Answer: Reservation
Reservation is the power by which a lieutenant governor withholds royal assent and 'reserves' a bill for the consideration of the federal Governor General in Council. Disallowance is a separate federal power to nullify an already-passed provincial law. Prorogation ends a legislative session, and dissolution triggers an election.
Which Ontario city served as the capital of Upper Canada before Toronto (then called York) assumed that role?
Answer: Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake (then called Newark) was the first capital of Upper Canada from 1792 until 1796, when Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe moved the capital to York (Toronto) largely for defensive reasons — Newark was considered too exposed to American attack. Kingston became the capital of the united Province of Canada in 1841.
Under Ontario's Election Finances Act, which of the following entities is explicitly PROHIBITED from making a contribution to a registered political party?
Answer: A corporation incorporated in Ontario
Ontario's Election Finances Act bans contributions from corporations, trade unions, and unincorporated associations to provincial parties and candidates — only individuals who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents may contribute. This distinguishes Ontario's rules from some other jurisdictions and is often a source of confusion.
The Penetanguishene area of Ontario is notable for being home to one of the province's oldest Franco-Ontarian communities. What term describes the specific dialect of French historically spoken by many of these communities in northern and eastern Ontario?
Answer: Franco-ontarien
Franco-ontarien (or Ontario French) refers to the distinct variety of French spoken by Franco-Ontarians, shaped by geographic isolation, Indigenous language contact, and English influence. Chiac is a mixed French-English dialect of New Brunswick Acadians. Joual is a working-class Montreal vernacular. Québécois refers broadly to the French of Quebec.
Ontario's Greenbelt Plan, established in 2005, permanently protects a ring of land around the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Which of the following is NOT one of the three major land systems formally designated within the Greenbelt?
Answer: The Canadian Shield Wilderness Area
The Greenbelt consists of three designated areas: the Protected Countryside (the largest), the Niagara Escarpment Plan Area, and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan Area. The Canadian Shield does extend into Ontario but is not one of the three formal components of the Greenbelt Plan established under the Greenbelt Act.
In 1982, the Ontario government passed the French Language Services Act. What right does this act specifically guarantee to Franco-Ontarians?
Answer: The right to receive provincial government services in French in designated areas
The French Language Services Act (1986, in force 1989) guarantees the right to receive Ontario government services in French in 25 designated areas where francophone populations are concentrated. It does not universally apply to courts (governed separately by the Courts of Justice Act), municipal services, or school access (governed by the Education Act and s.23 of the Charter).