Compiled and updated by:
"The Joketender"
a.k.a.: Blair B. Stobie
Today's Parent Magazine has rated the school system of each province by letter grade:
A Alberta
A- Manitoba
B New Brunswick
B Ontario
B- British Columbia
C+ Saskatchewan
C Quebec
C- Newfoundland
D Nova Scotia
Source: Today's Parent Group
Contraception pill
Proportion of women that use contraception pills:
Top nine countries and Canada, figures for 2001:
Germany 58.6%
Netherlands 49.0%
Belgium 46.7%
Algeria 44.2%
Hungary 37.7%
France 35.6%
Zimbabwe 35.5%
Switzerland 34.1%
Morocco 32.2%
Canada 14.4%
Source: UN
Sleep deprivation
Women get more deep sleep than men according to a recent survey. Women have an average of 70 minutes of deep sleep compared to 40 minutes by men.
Source: BUPA
19 per cent of male drivers admitted to having fallen asleep while driving.
Source: Gallop for the British Sleep Foundation
Common-law more common
* The number of common-law couples increased to 14 per cent from 6 per cent since 1996.
* Out of more than 8 million families in Canada, 1,528,400 are common-law marriages.
* Quebec has the highest number of common-law marriages, at more than 500,000.
* Almost 29 per cent of children in Quebec live with common-law parents.
* 13 per cent of children in Canada live with common-law parents, compared to 3 per cent two decades ago.
Source: Statistics Canada
* Chinese Canadians, who first came to Canada from San Francisco in search of gold in the 1800's, worked by the thousands on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. They were often given the most dangerous jobs, such as tunneling and setting explosives. Historians say that three Chinese men died for every kilometer of track laid.
* In the 1950's, CBC ran a Canadian version of the popular American show "Howdy Doody." Instead of using American host Buffalo Bob, the CBC came up with Timber Tom, a forest ranger, who was played in a few episodes by future "Star Trek" star, William Shatner. Ironically, the roll of Timber Tom had been first offered to James Doohan, who would later play Scotty on "Star Trek."