What inspired Sir Leonard Tilley to suggest the term 'Dominion of Canada'?

Discover Canada tells this story directly. The guide writes: Sir Leonard Tilley, an elected official and Father of Confederation from New Brunswick, suggested the term Dominion of Canada in 1864. He was inspired by Psalm 72 in the Bible which refers to "dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth". The source of the inspiration is therefore the only Bible passage named in the guide: Psalm 72.

The wider context is also worth knowing. Discover Canada describes the phrase from Psalm 72 — "dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth" — as embodying "the vision of building a powerful, united, wealthy and free country that spanned a continent." So the choice of the word Dominion is not just a literary flourish: it is tied to the founding ambition of the country itself.

Discover Canada also makes clear how durable the title has been. The title was written into the Constitution, was used officially for about 100 years, and remains part of our heritage today. The word survives today not just in the name "Dominion of Canada" but in the original name of the country's national holiday — Dominion Day, used until 1982, when it was renamed Canada Day.

Tilley himself was a New Brunswick representative at the Confederation negotiations. Discover Canada identifies him as "an elected official and Father of Confederation from New Brunswick" — one of the men named alongside Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier as architects of the new country.

The question is testing whether new citizens have noticed a small but vivid detail in Discover Canada's account of Confederation. The guide is explicit: the word Dominion in Dominion of Canada traces back to Psalm 72 in the Bible, suggested by Sir Leonard Tilley in 1864.

The other answer choices each fail to match what the guide says. The British North America Act is the legal vehicle of Confederation, not the inspiration for the word Dominion. Discover Canada never connects the term with a speech by Macdonald or with a book about British colonies; only one source is named — Psalm 72.