The Government is as stupid as we always suspected. At least it is if the slick tourist brochures of "Attractions Canada" are any indication.

Volume 1, Issue 2 of the Attractions Canada magazine contains an information section filled with "amazing" facts about Canada. The section is call "Did You Know?" -- this is ironic because the authors clearly didn't know!

Of the eight facts listed, two are clearly false. Anyone with a grade six education could see there was a mistake, yet editors, writers and others who work for the government didn't seem to catch on...

The first error is a minor one. Victoria is listed as "one of the driest regions of Canada" which has an annual precipitation of 25 millilitres. Leaving aside the question of whether Victoria is actually one of the driest regions, it is clear that the amount of rain listed can't be right. For those of you who aren't familiar with the metric system, 25 ml of rain is about a tenth of a cup!! Obviously this is just a misprint, but a pretty careless one -- especially considering the nature of the column. I wonder if Victoria is really one of the driest regions of Canada? I'm starting to have my doubts. Our intrepid reporters will investigate soon....

The second error is even stupider than the first. And it's easier to check. The magazine claims that Estevan, Saskatchewan is the southernmost city in Canada. Anyone who knows anything about geography, or who has even seen a map of the country, will know that Saskatchewan is far from the southernmost part of Canada. In fact, large parts of Ontario are south of everywhere and everything in Saskatchewan. There is no way that Estevan could be further south than, say, Windsor, or even Toronto. Anyone with a map could see this immediately.

Next time the government throws together a few "shocking facts" to amaze us, maybe they should consult an eight year old to check them out first.