Ontario’s Liberal party – struggling on so many fronts these days – nevertheless made history yesterday in selecting Kathleen Wynne as their new leader, and by extension, the new Premier of the province. The second woman to head the Ontario Liber…
Continue readingTag: Canadian history
Pample the Moose: Canadian Queer History in the Making – Kathleen Wynne
Ontario’s Liberal party – struggling on so many fronts these days – nevertheless made history yesterday in selecting Kathleen Wynne as their new leader, and by extension, the new Premier of the province. The second woman to head the Ontario Liberals, Wynne will become the first woman to be Ontario’s
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Heritage Minister Wants High-school Students To Suffer Through Cdn. History
I remember a university prof that told me in first year that the sum of Cdn history was a battle between the feds and the provinces over who could sell liquor where. And, as far as I’m concerned, truer words were never spoken. Teach Cdn history to high-school kids and
Continue readingPample the Moose: Shared Embassies – Imperial Federation League Redux
Many people have already vociferously attacked the recent, and highly publicized, announcement by John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, that Canada and the United Kingdom have brokered a deal to share embassy space in a number of countries as a cost-saving measure. It is hard not to think that the
Continue readingPample the Moose: Shared Embassies – Imperial Federation League Redux
Many people have already vociferously attacked the recent, and highly publicized, announcement by John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, that Canada and the United Kingdom have brokered a deal to share embassy space in a number of countries as a cost-saving measure. It is hard not to think that the
Continue readingPample the Moose: Shared Embassies – Imperial Federation League Redux
Many people have already vociferously attacked the recent, and highly publicized, announcement by John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, that Canada and the United Kingdom have brokered a deal to share embassy space in a number of countries as a cost…
Continue readingPample the Moose: What’s wrong with this sentence?
The following sentence appears in a recently-published book about Canadian history: “After Ontario, Québec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick became provinces within the new Dominion of Canada in 1867, after the federal government purchased Rupert’s Land in 1869, and after British Columbia became a Canadian province in
Continue readingPample the Moose: What’s wrong with this sentence?
The following sentence appears in a recently-published book about Canadian history:
“After Ontario, Québec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick became provinces within the new Dominion of Canada in 1867, after the federal government purchased Rupert’s Land in 1869, and after British Columbia became a Canadian province in 1871, Canada became a coast-to-coast political entity encompassing a vast array of geographies and cultures.”
This book was short-listed for a number of awards, so it will likely attract a reasonable-sized readership among the academic community. I’m not sure who should be most embarrassed by this rather glaring error – the scholarly press, the copy editor, the peer reviewers, or the author – all of whom should have had at least a passing familiarity with the Confederation-era development of Canada.
I started off by reading the introduction and conclusion, and so I have yet to make my way through the main chapters of the book to get into its main subject matter (which is not about Canada’s political development, thank goodness), but this has left a rather bad first impression.
Continue readingPample the Moose: What’s wrong with this sentence?
The following sentence appears in a recently-published book about Canadian history: “After Ontario, Québec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick became provinces within the new Dominion of Canada in 1867, after the federal government purchased Rupert’s Land in 1869, and after British Columbia became a Canadian province in
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: Liberal Leadership ’13: We Don’t Really Know What’s Going to Happen
If anyone thinks they know what’s going to be the end result in the Liberal leadership contest (which just had its new rules announced) they’re dead wrong. Nobody knows what is going to happen. The National Post is dead wrong when they write that there is a predestined winner of
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72. Why it mattered.
It’s 40 years ago today that Canada and Russia faced off in Montreal to start the most gut wrenching, confidence shattering, depressing and joyous sporting even in Canadian history, and one of the most epic in the history of sports anywhere (you heard me, Super Bowls and World Series’). It
Continue readingAlberta Diary: B.C. Bitumen Busters! Who ya gonna call? Greg Selinger?
Alberta and British Columbia Sheriffs see who can stomp the highest at the increasingly tense inter-provincial border near the disputed town of Field. B.C. and Alberta peace officers, of course, may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Just for someone completely different, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger. Who ya gonna blame?
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Yes Minister MacKay! Perfesser Dave explains the French role in the War of 1812
One of our heroic French allies, armed with a bassoon, holds off a Russian soldier near Niagara on the Lake some time during the War of 1812 with the Russians and the Taliban. Below: Perfesser Dave; Defence Minister and amateur historian Peter MacKay. Was he overtired? Elmer MacKay, at right,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Does Bizarre Bethune brouhaha signal ideological rift within Harper Conservatives?
Communist physician Norman Bethune, left, and a comrade from the Red Chinese Army speak with Canadian Treasury Board President Tony Clement, right, in a vignette as imagined by Sun News Network. Below: Dr. Bethune, looking weirdly contemporary with a fashionable goatee; far-right ideologue Rob Anders; the real Mr. Clement. Is
Continue readingAlberta Diary: She’s no Charles Tupper: Alison Redford has been Alberta premier too long to be prime minister
A youngish Charles Tupper at his desk. “I knew Charles Tupper and Alison Redford is no Charles Tupper” – and a good thing for her, too! Below: Sir Charles as prime minister; Frank McKenna; Robert Stanfield in the photo that put paid to his political career. Alison Redford has been
Continue readingPample the Moose: Canadian Political History Prizes / Prix en histoire politique canadienne
A few years ago, I helped organize and launch a Political History Group within the Canadian Historical Association. One of the group’s initial objectives was to promote the recognition of excellent scholarship in Canadian political history, and so las…
Continue readingPample the Moose: John A.: Birth of a Country
Last night, the CBC aired John A.: The Birth of a Country, a dramatization of the eight years of Canadian political history leading up to the formation of the Great Coalition government of 1864 – the government which ultimately drove the Confederation …
Continue readingPample the Moose: Canada Day 144
As long-time readers of this blog may know, I spent many years researching the history of Canada Day celebrations, especially the ones funded by the federal government and those hosted in Ottawa. The project is pretty much wrapped up now, having yield…
Continue readingPample the Moose: In Memoriam: John T. (Jack) Saywell, 1929-2011
I was saddened this morning to learn that Jack Saywell, the widely-acknowledged founder of York University’s history department and an emininent legal and constitutional historian, passed away last week. Saywell has been a hugely influential presence …
Continue readingPample the Moose: In Memoriam: Olive Dickason (1920-2011)
This blog isn’t going to become a chronicle of the passing of people who have played roles in my career as a historian, (political blogging will likely resume when the writ is dropped, if not sooner) but it nevertheless came as a bit of a shock for me …
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