USA and Canada — US politics 2001–2020 and Canada 1963–1993
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All 12 Flashcards — USA and Canada — US politics 2001–2020 and Canada 1963–1993
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Question
What were the 9/11 attacks?
Answer
On 11 September 2001, al-Qaeda hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 died — the deadliest attack on US soil.
Question
What was the War on Terror?
Answer
Bush's response to 9/11: invading Afghanistan (2001) to remove the Taliban, then Iraq (2003) to topple Saddam Hussein over false WMD claims.
Question
What caused the 2008 financial crisis?
Answer
Risky mortgage lending and a housing bubble burst, causing bank collapses like Lehman Brothers — the worst US downturn since the Great Depression.
Question
What was TARP?
Answer
The Troubled Asset Relief Program: a $700 billion bank bailout under Bush in 2008, deeply unpopular with ordinary Americans who lost jobs and homes.
Question
What was the Affordable Care Act (2010)?
Answer
Obama's healthcare law expanding insurance coverage to millions; passed with zero Republican votes, becoming a lasting symbol of partisan division.
Question
How did Trump's 2020 election loss affect US politics?
Answer
Trump refused to concede and falsely claimed fraud; on 6 January 2021 his supporters stormed the Capitol trying to block certification of Biden's win.
Question
What did Lester Pearson achieve for Canadian social policy?
Answer
As PM (1963-68) he introduced universal Medicare (from 1966) and the Canada Pension Plan, building the modern Canadian welfare state.
Question
What was the Official Languages Act (1969)?
Answer
Pearson's law making English and French equal official languages across the Canadian federal government, aimed at addressing Quebec nationalism.
Question
What was the October Crisis (1970)?
Answer
The FLQ kidnapped a diplomat and murdered a Quebec minister; Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, sending troops into Quebec and suspending civil liberties.
Question
What did patriation of the Constitution (1982) achieve?
Answer
Trudeau brought Canada's constitution home from Britain and added the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — but Quebec's government never signed it.
Question
Compare Meech Lake (1987-90) and Charlottetown (1992).
Answer
Both were Mulroney's attempts to bring Quebec into the constitution. Meech Lake failed when two provinces missed the ratification deadline; Charlottetown was rejected by voters in a national referendum.
Question
Why did the Progressive Conservative Party collapse in 1993?
Answer
Anger over free trade, the new GST, and failed constitutional accords under Mulroney; the party fell from 156 to just 2 seats as Reform and the Bloc Quebecois split its vote.
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Topic 11.12 hub
Political developments in the USA and Canada (1960–2020)
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