Here is the list of Canadian historical myths the students are going to analyse for the course.

“The point of this exercise is to examine the myths that are found everywhere, from high school textbooks to the internet. Anybody can ‘google’, but information on its own is of no value without critical understanding. This assignment aims to push students to think about how and what we access with a more critical eye, unpacking the myths. Choose one of the myths below (sign your name). All the phrases below are false as stated but all have some factual root. Explain the factual roots of the myth, then posit how this myth came to be in the first place and why it endures. Be careful not to explain a myth by using another myth! You need facts! Please also follow the guidelines found in the syllabus.

1. There were no Blacks in Canada before the Underground Railroad
2. Canada has always been a welcoming home for immigrants
3. John A. Macdonald got everyone drunk at the Quebec Conference
4. There was no slavery in Canada
5. Quebecers are French
6. The Loyalists were mostly British-born
7. Basketball is Canadian
8. Joe Mufferaw is fictional
9. Glooscap was in fact Prince Zichmni, aka Henry Sinclair
10. The North West Mounted Police protected Prairie Natives from Americans
11. The Acadian national costume is historical
12. The H in the Canadiens hockey logo stands for « Habitants »
13. Confederation in 1867 was inevitable
14. A Canadian invented the telephone
15. New France was a despotism
16. Canada was discovered by John Cabot
17. Canada won the War of 1812
18. Canada’s Aboriginal peoples do not pay taxes
19. Canada was a wilderness before First Contact
20. Quebecers are all part Native
21. Canadians are a northern people
22. White-coat seal cubs are still hunted”