Canadian History

Posted by Susanna McLeod

A mere 43 years ago, Canada’s Prime Minister Pearson made the announcement that the federal government would contribute to provincial health care plans, as long as private groups or businesses were not involved. It was the beginning of today’s health care structure, almost the best in the world.

I can’t imagine living in a country where health care is not accessible to all. It would be awful to have to demonstrate private insurance coverage, prove financial worth or be forced to sign IOUs for huge amounts of money, even before much-needed emergency care can be assessed. The Canadian scheme has perhaps spoiled us, since most of the world does not have such a wonderfully organized system. None of us want to see anyone without care, no matter their economic status.

The federal-provincial Health Care Act was passed a year and a half later on December 8, 1966. Continued debate, restructuring and even battles keep the Medicare organization under control and able to provide the best care utilizing the available funds.

It’s a health care system we don’t want to, perhaps can’t, do without. I wonder how our ancestors fared on their own before Canadian Medicare was available.

Posted by Susanna McLeod

The British warship, “Ontario”, sank in 1780, mere months after it was built on Carleton Island in eastern Lake Ontario. It was a 22-gun brigantine ship constructed during the American Revolution. It was “built as a supply vessel and a fast raider for use against the Americans in the period following their declaration of independence from Britain,” said Brendon Baillod in the Kingston Whig-Standard on June 14, 2008. The beautiful ship sank during a vicious Lake storm that loosened cargo and cannons, causing the ship to tip. After three years of meticulous searching, the “Ontario” has been found.

Sitting in 500 feet of cold, dark water, the ship is mostly intact. The pictures on the Shipwreck World website are amazing. The stern, the bow, the crow’s nest – they are all there. The boat’s skeleton is barnacled, of course, but it’s visibly a ship, the style of which we’ve seen in movies like Pirates of the CaribbeanIt’s pure fascination.

Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville make their living as shipwreck hunters. They have now found seven ships in the Great Lakes. Using an underwater ROV, they managed to get detailed photos of the sunken wreck. Those may be the only photos, too. Since the ship sank with between 30 to 120 American prisoners on board, it is expected the US Government will claim it as a War Grave, thereby ending all future dives.

What a great find! Have a look at the Shipwreck World site – it is a rare view of Canadian history.

Posted by Susanna McLeod

July 3, 1608, Samuel de Champlain and his crew set foot on land from small boats, having left their ships in Tadoussac. The area was deserted by that time: the village of Stadacona had been destroyed, the Iroquois had abandoned the area, some surmise due to native nation wars. Champlain set to work building a fort he called “L’Habitation” and a moat. He and his crew made contact with nearby natives and made themselves as much “at home” as possible in the new world. These were the inauspicious beginnings of a city that would become one of Quebec's and Canada's treasures.



The celebrations of Quebec City’s 400th Anniversary are a year-long event that began on December 31, 2007 will continue to the end of 2008. The festivities hit a high note in July, but as Quebec City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there will be no shortage of events all year long.

Bonne Fête, Quebec City! Your founding was the beginning of what has become a beautiful, vibrant city, part of an exceptional province in a wonderfully distinct country.

Posted by Susanna McLeod

It’s easy to compare our country to others – this nation has this better, this country has that better. But when it comes down to good living, Canada has it in a nutshell. Life may not be perfect (Where would it be?), but there is always the striving for improvement, for better human rights, for better standards of living. There is much to be thankful about and grateful for in Canada.

July 1st is the 141st birthday of our exceptional country, when the first Prime Minister John Alexander Macdonald signed Confederation papers uniting Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Other provinces gradually joined to make Canada a vast nation. Weighed against the history of the world’s ancient nations, Canada is but a child with the growing pains of youth, yet that child has gained the maturity of an adult through difficult times. Let’s don our red and white clothes, wave the Maple Leaf high in the air and give a big cheer of appreciation for our fascinating history, our wonderful present and our intriguing future.

Hip Hip Hurray for Canada!

http://canadian-confederation.suite101.com/article.cfm/celebrating_canadas140th_birthday

Posted by Susanna McLeod

My father had the magic touch when it came to gardening. Of course, gardening in Canada is not easy. The season is short, the weather might be soggy one year, scorching the next, and frosts may arrive late in spring or early in fall. Somehow, he managed the biggest tomato plants I’ve ever seen, year after year.

Years ago, in my own garden, I was able to grow plants that would have made my father proud. They were tall – four feet tall - with large, veined leaves that had that particular smell only tomato plants have, and with lots of ripe, juicy, beefsteak tomatoes. I was in my gardening glory that year. But such glee did not last. Every year since then, and we’re talking nearly two decades, my tomato plants have barely grown past the one-foot mark. Sure, there might be a nice cluster or two of fruit, but the bushes remain small.

Some years, the tomato plants don’t grow at all, staying nearly the same size as when planted. Fertilizers, different garden placement, dedicated watering, none of it helps. Such challenges give me a hearty respect for Canadian farmers, who manage huge fields of crops with great outcome, and are able to provide ample food for all. The history of successful farming in Canada goes back hundreds of years, to the Aboriginals and to the French and British Colonists. Their abilities to work the land and feed others were true, hard-earned skills.

As for this year, forget tomatoes. I’m growing gladiolus flowers instead. Maybe I’ll have more luck with tomatoes next year.

Posted by Susanna McLeod

Before Confederation, Canada’s first parliament met for business in Kingston, Ontario, a small city on the shore of eastern Lake Ontario. The Governor General oversaw the governance of the early United Canada, and helped form the “bones” that would eventually become Canada. The sessions of the first government took place at the newly-built Kingston General Hospital.

Each year, from June 15 to July 1st, First Capital Days is a major affair in Kingston. Celebrations include Civic Ceremonies, dinner theatre, children’s programming for school trips, concerts, parades, antiques markets, costumed events and fireworks to light the skies at the end of Canada Day. This year, the great military aerobatic team will be flying overhead, thrilling us all with their exciting technical maneuvers high in the sky.

Once again this year, dozens of heritage buildings will be having “Open Doors” so that the public can view the architecture and art of long ago. Kingston has a large number of homes and businesses that were built centuries ago; many of these historic structures have been restored to enhance the wonderful intricate early construction.

Proud of their enduring heritage in the formation of Canada and government, the people of Kingston embrace the past with a grand flourish. Many events are free or very low cost, so that everyone can have a taste of Canada’s auspicious beginnings. Welcome to the First Capital!

Posted by Susanna McLeod

Working as a cashier, I handle a lot of Canadian money each day. The colours are the immediate way to distinguish the bills, a quick check of the numerals and change is made. When handed a paper bill from the United States, I have to be much more careful, checking the numeral only, since all of their money is printed in the same green hues. Have some of this “Monopoly Money,” they say of ours. It’s all good currency and nearly at par now, too. But in the explorer days of the New World, the money system wasn’t quite so established in North America.

Jacques de Muelles from France, notes Canadian Facts and Dates by RW Pound, and On This Day, issued playing cards as currency to his soldiers in Canada on June 8, 1685. Cards were given values and signed by Muelles. The men used the cards as cash until the annual supply of monies arrived by ship from France. At that time, Muelles only a few months later withdrew the cards on September 5th. It was not the last of the cards as cash, though.

Playing cards were issued again during coin shortages. The cards were used whole or cut into pieces of two or four. When inflation began to take hold in 1714, the playing card currency lost half of its value. In 1718, the cards were redeemed for cash and were banned in 1720 when New France coins were issued. The playing cards were still used commonly for 30 more years.

Hmm – I think we all might have quite a stash of loot if those cards were to come back into the money market.

Posted by Susanna McLeod

Pinning the laundry out on the clothesline has been done almost forever, until some urban areas decided it was tacky. Sunshine is the new dryer – again.

There’s nothing like pulling on a fresh pair of jeans fresh from the clothesline, with that certain solid feeling to them that no dryer can provide. My mother always hung out the laundry, socks, underwear, towels, good blouses and trousers, the whole shebang. And she didn’t just hang it out on warm summer days. It went out even in the freezing winter days, as long as there was sun and a bit of breeze to take the moisture away. Sometimes my jeans were frozen when I took them off the line. Stiff like cardboard from a cereal box, they had to be folded gently.

Some newer urban areas decided a few decades ago that clotheslines were ugly. Looking at people’s unmentionables in the breeze? Forget that. Clotheslines were banned. It was against the law to hang out your delicates. Hmpf. Now in this time of electricity shortages and financial restraint, the areas are rethinking their by-laws. Clotheslines are back in style, sunshine making laundry dry and fresh without cost. Hurray!

Clotheslines have had significance in other segments of life. The Clothesline Project was started in 1990 by women in Massachusetts to represent the lives of women lost to violence. “The Women’s Agenda,” said the site, “wanted to create a memorial to bring about an awareness of the women who had been killed, and the enormous amount of violence against them… Tee shirts are chosen for the line to symbolize the airing of “dirty laundry”. The shirts are then hung shoulder to shoulder for public viewing.”

A simple line across a yard can have much more importance than who wears which style of knickers.

Posted by Susanna McLeod

In the Canadian History Blog few weeks ago, I wrote about the once-beautiful old train station that is in a state of disintegration. The grand old station needs preservation, quick. Well, the building has had no changes except further crumbling, the blue tarps shredded and unable to protect anything from the elements. The whole thing is, well… ugly.

But, because of the more than year long efforts of the Frontenac Heritage Foundation, the building has been placed on the Top 10 List of Endangered Heritage Sites. It’s a good step ahead, but sadly, the designation does not come with any money. It does put the spotlight on the problem, but without investment in this heritage property, the past will be lost.

Once a Grand Trunk rail station, the building was a hub of activity for the Kingston area. Sited on what used to be the outskirts of the city, the neighbourhood grew up around it, said Andrew Hill of the Frontenac Heritage Foundation to the Kingston Whig Standard in a May 23rd article. Now the structure sits, rotting from the inside out from fire, water damage and the ever-changing elements. With the inner structure disintegrating, how long can it be until the heavy limestone walls crash in?

When that happens, there won’t be anything left to preserve.

Posted by Susanna McLeod

Today’s blog is more of an In Memoriam for the ships and crews lost during the longest battle of World War Two. Twenty four RCN ships were lost, and their names were recorded on a plaque at the Cathedral Church of St. James in Toronto and included by John D. Harbron in his book, The Longest Battle: The RCN in the Atlantic 1939-1945, published in 1993 by Vanwell Publishing, St. Catherines, Ontario.

HMCS Alberni

HMCS Bras D’or

HMCS Chedabucto

HMCS Esquimault

HMCS Guysborough

HMCS Louisburg

HMCS Ottawa

HMCS Raccoon

HMCS St. Croix

HMCS Skeena

HMCS Trentonian

HMCS Weyburn

HMCS Athabascan

HMCS Charlottetown

HMCS Clayaquot

HMCS Fraser

HMCS Levis

HMCS Margaree

HMCS Otter

HMCS Regina

HMCS Shawinigan

HMCS Spikenard

HMCS Valleyfield

HMCS Windflower

And just so we don’t think the German Navy went unscathed, of 39,000 U-boat seamen, 28,000 were lost at sea during World War Two, “the largest losses by any single military or naval force on either side during the war,” stated John Harbron.

The statistics are utterly sad, for both sides, on the human level. The men and women fought bravely, fiercely and with sheer determination for their own countries. May it never happen again.