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THANK YOU, CANADA!

From your entire Sir John A. Tour team, THANK YOU!

We had an unforgettable time touring our great country and meeting all of you. From “sea to shining sea,” we were met by friendly, enthusiastic people who were excited to see us and engaged in Canadian history. WOW!

We remain grateful to each and every one of you who came to see one of our performances of The Founding Father: His Story. Our Canada., took part in one of our Quest for Canada student debates, or interacted with us on social media.

Thank you to all of the cities we visited: Charlottetown, PE; Fredericton, NB; Halifax, NS; St. John’s, NL; Victoria, BC; Yellowknife, NWT; Winnipeg, MB; Edmonton, AB; Regina, SK; Quebec City, QC; Toronto, ON and Ottawa, our beautiful capital city.

THANK YOU from the team that was on the road: Josée Boudreau, Mrs. Macdonald James Carrier, Head of Video Réjean Cournoyer, Sir George-Étienne Cartier Matthew James Donovan, Sir John A. Macdonald Rob LeClair, Videographer Cameron MacDuffee, George Brown Matthew MacInnis, Stage Manager Malcolm MacLean, Head of Sound Greg Mountain, Head Electrician Rosie Shaw, PR Manager/Writer

THANK YOU from the others behind the scenes: Marie Linda Bluto, Sand Artist Adam Brazier, Director/Writer Cameron Fraser, Associate Projection Designer Fresh Media, Branding and Marketing Richard Gwyn, Consultant Arthur Milne, Writer, The Quest for Canada Jamie Nesbitt, Projection Designer Marlane O’Brien, Associate Director, The Quest for Canada Samuel Sholdice, Composer/Sound Designer

THANK YOU from the Confederation Centre of the Arts: Jessie Inman, CEO Adam Brazier, Artistic Director Dean Constable, General Manager of Theatre Carol Horne, Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Denman-Wood, Education Coordinator Monique Lafontaine, Translator

And last but not least, a huge THANK YOU to our generous supporters:

And if you find yourself missing us, you can always sing along to our Tour Theme Song! Check it out HERE.

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The Fate of Louis Riel: In Regina

Madman or hero? The trial of the Metis leader

The trial of Louis Riel was one of the biggest spectacles in Canadian history.

The trial of Louis Riel lasted four days in July 1885. The leader of the North West Rebellion (standing centre) addressed the court in Regina, listing the Mtis grievances and outlining his vision for a diverse Canada. (Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada)

Charged with high treason for leading the North West Rebellion, Riel wanted to use the trial as a platform to vindicate himself.

"I was not taken prisoner. I surrendered on purpose. I want to be judged on the merits of my actions. ... From the time of my arrival in Saskatchewan, I worked peacefully ... We didnt make any aggressive military moves. ... In Batoche we defended ourselves."

In turn, the government did all it could to muzzle the Métis leader. It wished to dispose of the man who had led two uprisings in the countrys brief history.

The trial was moved from Winnipeg to Regina when the government discovered that a Manitoba jury could be half Métis. Of the six men on the Regina jury - only one spoke French.

Prime Minister John A. Macdonald decided to charge Riel with high treason, based on an obscure British law dating to the year 1342. This law carried the death the penalty whereas Canadas treason law did not.

Trial began on July 20, 1885. It was a sweltering day made more oppressive by the hordes of people wanting to view the spectacle in Regina.

The city was packed with officials, lawyers as well as reporters from around the world. People lined up for hours outside the courtroom willing to pay ten dollars to watch the biggest trial in Canadian history.

The trial lasted four days. Riel addressed the court, listing the undemocratic treatment of Métis on the prairies and outlining his vision for a diverse society.

Prime Minister John A. Macdonald decided to charge Louis Riel with high treason, based on an obscure British law dating to the year 1342. The law carried the death penalty. (Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada)

Riels own lawyers argued that their client was insane. And they seemed to have some justification. Riel considered himself a prophet from God sent to help his people. He also advocated moving the seat of the Catholic Church from the Vatican to Canada.

Riel insisted he was not insane:

"I suppose that after having been condemned, I will cease to be called a fool and for me it is a great advantage. ...I have a mission, I cannot fulfill my mission as long as I am looked upon as an insane being ... If I am guilty of high treason I say that I am a prophet of the new world. "

Despite his pronouncements, Riel impressed the jury as being respectful, entertaining and perfectly sane.

It took the jury less than four hours to reach a guilty verdict. They did ask the judge to show mercy and forego the death penalty.

On August 3, 1885, the judge ignored their pleas and sentenced Riel to death. Despite several appeals and continuing questions about his sanity, Riel was hanged on November 16, 1885 in Regina.

(From Canada: A People’s History)

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The Prairies & Sir John A.

Louis Riel & the Red River Rebellion

During the negotiations between Canada and the Hudson's Bay Company over the transfer of Rupert's Land, no one had bothered to consult the native and mixed-blood people who inhabited the area. Before the official transfer had even taken place, surveyors began moving in to divide up the land into agricultural sections. This alarmed the Métis who saw their traditional hunting grounds being taken over. They rallied around a 25-year-old, Montreal-educated, bilingual leader, Louis Riel.

DATES AND FACTS

1670: Charles II grants the Hudson's Bay Co. 7.7 million square miles of land (known as Rupert's Land)

March 1869: Hudson's Bay Company sells Rupert's Land to the Canadian government.

November 3, 1869: Riel seizes Upper Fort Garry.

December 8, 1869: Riel establishes a Provisional Government. The first List of Rights drafted.

January 26, 1870: Convention of Forty drafts a second List of Rights.

That the people have the right to elect their own legislature.

That the legislature have the power to pass all laws local to the territory.

That a portion of the public lands be appropriated to the benefit of schools, the building of bridges, roads and public buildings.

That the English and French languages be common in the legislature and courts and that all public documents and acts of legislature be published in both languages.

That the judge of the Supreme Court speak the French and English languages.

That treaties be concluded and ratified between the Dominion Government and the several tribes of Indians in the territory to ensure peace on the frontier.

That we have fair and full representation in the Canadian parliament.

That all privileges, customs and usages existing at the time of the transfer be respected.

February 7, 1870: List of Rights is amended.

March 4, 1870: The Provisional Government executes Thomas Scott.

March 22, 1870: A reworked List of Rights is sent to Ottawa by the Provisional government.

May 12, 1870: Manitoba becomes Canada's fifth province.

August 23, 1870: General Wolseley arrives at Fort Garry to end the resistance. Riel has fled.

1875: Canadian parliament grants amnesty except for Riel, Ambroise Lépine and William O’Donoghue, who were to be exiled from Canada for a period of five years—following that period of exile they would be granted amnesty.

1884: Métis frustration caused them to send a delegation, led by Gabriel Dumont of Batoche, to Montana where the exiled Louis Riel was teaching school. 

1885: North West Rebellion: He still had his messianic beliefs when he took up the challenge of the Métis and returned to the northwest to lead them in their struggle against the Canadian government.He thought he could use much the same strategy as he had in 1870 in the Red River Rebellion. He set up a provisional government with himself as president and Dumont as second-in-command (a descendant of Dumont became the first Métis lieutenant-governor in 1993, appointed by the government of Manitoba).

From Canada History Project 

READ MORE:

Canada History Project: The Red River Rebellion

Manitobia: The Birth of Manitoba  (Timeline above)

Rejoice or Reproach: Winnipeggers React to Sir John A.’s 200th Birthday CBC News, Jan. 2015

Dictionary of Canadian Biography: Hugh John Macdonald

Riel Rebellion Telegrams

Debate at the House of Commons on the Riel Rebellion (1822) From the Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Manitoba Historical Society: The Macdonald Family

Canadian Encyclopedia: Louis Riel

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The Métis People

The Métis Nation

The advent of the fur trade in west central North America during the 18th century was accompanied by a growing number of mixed offspring of Indian women and European fur traders. As this population established distinct communities separate from those of Indians and Europeans and married among themselves, a new Aboriginal people emerged - the Métis people – with their own unique culture, traditions, language (Michif), way of life, collective consciousness and nationhood.

Distinct Métis communities developed along the routes of the fur trade and across the Northwest within the Métis Nation Homeland. This Homeland includes the three Prairie provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) as well as, parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the Northern United States.

Today, many of these historic Métis communities continue to exist along rivers and lakes where forts and posts were hubs of fur trade activity from Ontario westward. As well, large numbers of Métis citizens now live in urban centres within the Métis Nation Homeland; however, even within these larger populations, well-defined Métis communities exist.

Consistently throughout history, the Métis people have acted collectively to protect and fight for their rights, lands and ongoing existence as a distinct Aboriginal people and nation within the Canadian federation – from the Métis provisional governments of Riel in Manitoba (1869-70) and Saskatchewan (1885) to contemporary Métis governing bodies. This dedication continues to exist as citizens and communities throughout the Métis Nation Homeland keep the nation’s distinct culture, traditions, language and lifestyle alive and pursue their own social and economic development.

According to the 2006 Census, almost 400,000 people reported they were Métis with almost 90% located in the western provinces and Ontario. The Métis were younger than non-Aboriginal people (25% of the Métis population was aged 14 and under compared to 17% in the non-Aboriginal population). Almost 70% of Métis lived in urban centres, the largest concentration in Winnipeg (40,980), Edmonton (27,740), Vancouver (15,075), Calgary (14,770) and Saskatoon (9,610).

Urban Métis were twice as likely as urban non-Aboriginal people to live in smaller urban centres (41% of urban Métis lived in cities with a population of less than 100,000).The Métis make up a considerable share of the population in several smaller urban centres: in Manitoba, Portage la Prairie (10%) and Thompson (10%); in Saskatchewan, Prince Albert (17%), North Battleford (7%) and Lloydminster (7%); in Alberta, Cold Lake 6% and Grande Prairie (5%); in British Columbia, Dawson Creek (8%) and Prince George (5%); and in Ontario, Midland (9%) and Kenora (8%).

In the rural and hinterland areas of the mid-Canada corridor from northwestern Ontario across the north-central Prairies and into the Peace River district, there are a number of predominantly Métis communities or mixed communities with significant Métis populations. Northwestern Saskatchewan with Métis-majority communities like Ile-a-la-Crosse and Buffalo Narrows is a prime example. Another is the eight Métis Settlements in northern Alberta comprising the sole Métis land base in Canada, with close to 9,000 residents on 1.25 million acres of land. (Métis National Council)

MORE TO READ:

Turtle Island: The Métis Community

First Peoples of Canada: The Métis

Indigenous Foundations @ UBC: The Métis Nation

Métis National Council

Métis Nation: A Complete History

Library & Archives Canada: Aboriginal History: Métis

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Our Cameron MacDuffee, who played George Brown in The Founding Father: His Story. Our Canada., came up with (and recorded!) this amazing little ditty to commemorate our cross-country journey. If it sounds familiar, you’re bang on (congratulations!) - we used it in a few of our video blogs from the road. 

ENJOY!  

THE LYRICS - Sing along!

Here’s a little story about a man named John Who might be dead but he sure ain’t gone Cause right now he’s touring from sea to sea Talkin’ ‘bout the birth of our great country

He was our first Prime Minister, the man with the plan The reason why we’re all not American Built the railway, the Mounties, had a fondness for booze And he loved to play with his little “Baboo” (Loved to play with his little Baboo…)

CHORUS: And he’s/And she’s/And they’re/’Cause we’re going to Halifax, Charlottetown, Fredericton, St. John’s, Victoria, Yellowknife, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Regina, Quebec City, Toronto, Ottawa, Sir John A. Tour goin’ all across Canada

This is his first wife, her name’s Isabella She died quite young, she wasn’t very well – uh Addicted to morphine, in her bed she lied She had two kids, and one of them died

Then came Agnes, his second wife Said he drank too much, tried to set him right She was loyal and loving, if a little plain And she loved to ride on the front of the train (Here she comes at the front of the train…)

CHORUS

Meet George Brown, a serious man Tries not to smile whenever he can Liberal leader, Confederation-maker He founded the Globe & Mail newspaper

He hated John, and John hated him back They were both Scots and they loved to scrap The two had many an epic scuffle But Brown went down in the “Double Shuffle” (En francais, <<le double shuffle>>…) (Qu’est-ce que c’est <<le double shuffle>>?...)

Speaking of French, meet George Cartier Conservative ally of Sir John A. His accent is French and so were his pants He’s a great patriot and a man of romance

Another one of our Founding Fathers He loved the beaver, the bison, the bear and the otter He made Quebec in Canada strong He was stylish and handsome and he wrote a great song (<<Mon pays, mes amours>> is a really great song…)

CHORUS

So there’s Sir John and his wife, Georges Brown and Cartier Riel and Dumont and lots more along the way It’s our history alive in story and song And it’s FREE! So come see it – you can’t really go wrong

CHORUS

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On This Day in Sir John A. - May 27 Edition

1838 - Lord Durham lands at Québec; appointed high commissioner by British Prime Minister Lord Melbourne to investigate colonial grievances after the Rebellion of 1837; has a mandate to examine and recommend the form and future government of the provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. 

1846 - John A. Macdonald makes First speech in Parliament (in Montreal); advocates repeal of usury laws.

1873 - Prince Edward Island votes for union with Canada; the province is bankrupt due to railway speculation; will join July 1. 

1880 - George Brown funeral procession and burial in Toronto; the Globe proprietor and Father of Confederation was shot on March 25 and died of infection May 9.

1885 - North West Rebellion - Big Bear and his Cree warriors escape north after artillery attack by General Thomas Strange, who then retreats to Fort Pitt; last native battle in Canada. 

1891 - Prime Minister John A. Macdonald suffers a stroke. 

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Province House, PEI - Room in which the Charlottetown Conference was held, where many details of Confederation were hashed out. John A. Macdonald, Co-Premier of the Joint Province of Canada and anticipating the Prime Ministership of the soon-to-be Dominion of Canada signed into the guest book as “Cabinet maker”.

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140th anniversary of the North-West Mounted Police. 

Officers of “B” Division N.W.M.P., Dawson, 1900.

Library and Archives of Canada.

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These are the handcuffs that were used by the RCMP to arrest Louis Riel in 1885.

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Musical Moments in Founding Father: His Story. Our Canada.

If you have already seen the production, you know our storytelling is punctuated with music.

If not,

All the tunes you hear in our show are traditional folk songs (sometimes with lyrics re-done) except for one.

“Song for Louis Riel” was loaned to us by Peter Boyer, who specializes in songs relating to Canadian history. 

Peter is an award winning songwriter, who has performed his songs on radio, television, and at live venues across Canada.  He has performed as a professional musician since 1970.

Peter has written original songs since his earliest days as a musician. He performed in coffee houses, such as Le Hibou Coffee House in Ottawa, and in concerts as a duo with his sister, Naomi Boyer as a folk duo called “Northwest”. One of his earliest collaborations was creating the music for Dan Aykroyd’s theatre production “Tom Paine”. The production was performed at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Peter has also received numerous songwriting awards and recognition, including: 2007; Great Lakes Songwriting Contest Semi Finalist – “Easy Street”, 2009; UK Songwriting Contest Semi Finalist – “The Faerie Queen”, 2010; Great Lakes Songwriting Contest Semi Finalist – “Song for Louis Riel”, 2013 UK Songwriting Contest Semi Finalist “Union Man” and “The Ghost of Bullock’s Tavern”.

Upon realization that very few songs existed about the War of 1812, Peter set out to add a few of his own to popularize some of the important events. With the help of cowriters Dan Loncke, Marty Lowman, and Beznik Yzeiri, Peter created 11 original songs and in the process recorded a 4th CD for Same Latitude As Rome, entitled “1812”. One of the songs from the CD, “Nous Sommes Canadiens” was used in a documentary about the French heritage of Essex County, Ontario, that was prepared by Radio-Canada.

Peter’s interest in the oral traditions of folk music, has led to the creation of many original songs based on Canadian historical events. “Union Man” is a tribute to the history of the labour movement in Canada, and “The Ghost of Bullock’s Tavern” is a true story of wrongful conviction in 1837, that fuelled the eventual abolition of the death penalty in Canada and in Michigan. “Song for Louis Riel” commemorated the 125th anniversary of the hanging of Louis Riel, entitled “Song for Louis Riel”. The song received extensive air play in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and was posted on the web site of the Louis Riel Institute. Other examples of Peter’s distinctive historical songs include “Cypress Hills Massacre” concerning an infamous event that took place in the Whoop Up area of Southern Saskatchewan on June 2, 1873,  and “David Thompson” a song honouring the world’s greatest land based geographer and explorer.

Same Latitude as Rome: “History never sounded so good”

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My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.

Louis Riel (1844-1885)

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Musical Moments in The Founding Father: His Story. Our Canada - “Song for Louis Riel”

If you have already seen the production, you know our storytelling is punctuated with music.

If not, prepare to experience what we have been calling “a play with music”.

“With music, you often don't have to translate it. It just affects you, and you don't know why.” 

This quote by David Byrne speaks to the power and inherent drama of music, and why we think it works so well in a bilingual performance piece like ours. Similar to the projections we use, music helps us tell the story without language. Neither French nor English, these visual and auditory cues aid audiences in understanding the plot, even if they speak neither English or French, or only one. 

All the tunes you hear in our show are traditional folk songs (sometimes with lyrics re-worked) except for one: “Song for Louis Riel” (performed by Cameron MacDuffee in our play) was loaned to us by Peter Boyer, who specializes in songs relating to Canadian history. 

Peter is an award winning songwriter, who has performed his songs on radio, television, and at live venues across Canada.  He has performed as a professional musician since 1970.

Peter has written original songs since his earliest days as a musician. He performed in coffee houses, such as Le Hibou Coffee House in Ottawa, and in concerts as a duo with his sister, Naomi Boyer as a folk duo called “Northwest”. One of his earliest collaborations was creating the music for Dan Aykroyd’s theatre production “Tom Paine”. The production was performed at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Peter has also received numerous songwriting awards and recognition, including: 2007; Great Lakes Songwriting Contest Semi Finalist – “Easy Street”, 2009; UK Songwriting Contest Semi Finalist – “The Faerie Queen”, 2010; Great Lakes Songwriting Contest Semi Finalist – “Song for Louis Riel”, 2013 UK Songwriting Contest Semi Finalist “Union Man” and “The Ghost of Bullock’s Tavern”.

Upon realization that very few songs existed about the War of 1812, Peter set out to add a few of his own to popularize some of the important events. With the help of cowriters Dan Loncke, Marty Lowman, and Beznik Yzeiri, Peter created 11 original songs and in the process recorded a 4th CD for Same Latitude As Rome, entitled “1812”. One of the songs from the CD, “Nous Sommes Canadiens” was used in a documentary about the French heritage of Essex County, Ontario, that was prepared by Radio-Canada.

Peter’s interest in the oral traditions of folk music, has led to the creation of many original songs based on Canadian historical events. “Union Man” is a tribute to the history of the labour movement in Canada, and “The Ghost of Bullock’s Tavern” is a true story of wrongful conviction in 1837, that fuelled the eventual abolition of the death penalty in Canada and in Michigan. “Song for Louis Riel” commemorated the 125th anniversary of the hanging of Louis Riel, entitled “Song for Louis Riel”. The song received extensive air play in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and was posted on the web site of the Louis Riel Institute. Other examples of Peter’s distinctive historical songs include “Cypress Hills Massacre” concerning an infamous event that took place in the Whoop Up area of Southern Saskatchewan on June 2, 1873,  and “David Thompson” a song honouring the world’s greatest land based geographer and explorer.

Same Latitude as Rome: “History never sounded so good”

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Canada’s Residential School System: No Place in Our Country

WARNING: This post covers very difficult, potentially triggering content. If this information causes any crisis or distress, call the 24 Hour National Survivors Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419

One of the more challenging topics in our production of The Founding Father: His Story. Our Canada is the creation of Indian Residential Schools.

Between 1831 and 1969, including the years Sir John A. Macdonald was Prime Minister, residential schools operated in Canada through arrangements between the Government of Canada and the churches. One common objective defined this period — the assimilation of Aboriginal children.

Quick Facts on Residential Schools

Aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their homes by RCMP

150,000 Aboriginal children were taken from their families

90-100% suffered severe physical, emotional, and sexual abuse

There was a 40-60% mortality rate in Indian residential schools

Residential schools date back to the 1870s

Over 130 residential schools were located across Canada, and the last school closed as recently as 1996

Two-thirds of Canadians believe (and four in 10 strongly believe) that Canadians with no experience in Indian residential schools have a role to play in reconciliation between Aboriginal peoples and all Canadians

What Happened at Residential Schools?

For the most part, children do not recall positive experiences while attending Indian residential school. They were forced to abandon their language, cultural beliefs, and way of life, and mandated to adopt the European languages of English or French, foreign religious denominations, and new habits.  

The following is a list of some of the forced changes and unpleasant traumatic experiences lived by former students that have been documented:

Forbidden to speak their Aboriginal languages

Required to speak English or French

Required to adopt religious denomination of the school

Forced style of prayer consistent with school denomination

Forced haircut, or shaved head

Use of toxic chemical to clean children’s hair and skin

Forced to wear uniform as designed by the school

Forced to shower, no access to bath tubs

Lack of nutritious diet

Insufficient quantities of food

Served spoiled food

Segregation based on gender: brothers and sisters no contact

Sexual assault

Forced abortions

Electrical shock

Force-feeding of own vomit when sick

Exposure to freezing outside temperatures with improper clothing

Withholding of medical attention

Exposure to contagious illness: students with tuberculosis not segregated

Forced labour in unsafe work environments

Vilification of cultural traditions 

Use of racist language to address students

Withholding presents and letters from family

Our Production

We include the creation of the residential school system in our play in hopes of helping to education the Canadian public, and sharing and honouring the experiences of former students and their families. Here is an excerpt:

“Residential schools have been the great disaster of Canadian history, a terrible moral disaster as well as one in fact. “The legacy of Indian Residential Schools contributed to social problems that continue to exist in many communities today. The Canadian government has since recognized that this policy of assimilation was wrong and has no place in our country.”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) provides those directly or indirectly affected by the legacy of the Indian Residential School system with an opportunity to share their stories and/or experiences. The TRC will host seven national events in different regions across Canada with the goal of engaging the Canadian public, providing education about the history and legacy of the residential schools system and sharing and honouring the experiences of former students and their families.One of the TRC's functions is to facilitate reconciliation among former students, their families, their communities and all Canadians.

Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement

The IRSSA is the largest class action settlement in Canadian history. The Government announced on May 10, 2006 that the IRSSA was approved by all parties involved: the Government of Canada, legal counsel for former students, Churches, the Assembly of First Nations, and Inuit Representatives. Implementation of the IRSSA began on September 19, 2007.

The IRSSA includes the following:

Common Experience Payment to be paid to all eligible former students who resided at a recognized Indian Residential School;

Independent Assessment Process for claims of sexual and serious physical abuse;

Truth and Reconciliation Commission;

Commemoration Activities;

Measures to support healing such as the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program and an endowment to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.

Working Towards Reconciliation: Apologies

Official statements of apology have been made in recent years by the Government of Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada, Presbyterian Church of Canada, Roman Catholic Church of Canada, the RCMP and the United Church of Canada.

“Two primary objectives of the residential school system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture. These objectives were based on the assumption Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, “to kill the Indian in the child.” Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.”

Except from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s official apology, June 11, 2008.  Read the entire apology HERE.

Collective efforts from all peoples are necessary to revitalize the relationship between Aboriginal peoples and Canadian society – reconciliation is the goal. It is a goal that will take the commitment of multiple generations but when it is achieved, it will make for a better, stronger Canada.

If you or someone you know needs access to emotional and crisis referral services, please call the National Survivors Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. It is open 24 hours a day, and can provide information on how to get other health supports from the Government of Canada. 

OTHER RESOURCES

Legacy of Hope Foundation Raising awareness of the legacy of residential schools

1,000 Conversations Across Canada on Reconciliation A Brief History of Residential Schools

Indian Residential School Society Provincial organization with a 20-year history of providing services to Indian Residential School Survivors

Anishinibek Nation Indian Residential Schools Commemoration Project: About Residential Schools

Reconciliation Canada A catalyst for social change in Canada

Where Are The Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools

We Were So Far Away The Inuit experience of Canadian residential schools (Legacy of Hope)

Aboriginal Health Foundation Though now defunct, site still hosts extensive information and links

“We Were Children”  A film at the National Film Board of Canada 

Canada in the Making Residential Schools

Aboriginal Affairs & Northern Development Canada Indian Residential Schools: resource and information page

Aboriginal History At Library and Archives Canada

Assembly of First Nations

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples

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Off again! #Victoria > #Calgary > #Yellowknife - #10people #29bags #12cities #36performances #1nation #thesirjohnatour (at Victoria International Airport)

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Canada and Queen Victoria

In honour of our tour stop in Victoria, we decided to share some information about this beautiful city’s namesake, Queen Victoria.

It was Queen Victoria herself that knighted Sir John A. Macdonald in 1867, and she represented many of his strongest political beliefs.

"As for myself, my course is clear. A British subject I was born - a British subject I will die. With my utmost effort, with my latest breath, will I oppose the ‘veiled treason’ which attempts by sordid means and mercenary proffers to lure our people from their allegiance." (Sir John A.’s last electoral address, Ottawa, February 7, 1891)

On the occasions of the golden (1887) and diamond (1897) anniversaries of her reign many features were named for her. And long after her death, Queen Peak in northern BC was named for her in 1933 because of its association with nearby Victoria Peak and Consort Park.

Victoria

Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India (b at Kensington Palace 24 May 1819; d at Windsor Castle 22 Jan 1901). She succeeded her uncle William IV in 1837 at age 18. She was an ardent imperialist and took an intense interest in her colonial subjects. No individual has been more honoured than Queen Victoria in the names of Canada's public buildings, streets, populated places and physical features. Victoria College in Toronto, Royal Victoria Hospital in Montréal, Victoria General Hospital in both Halifax and Winnipeg are among the notable public institutions named for her. Among Canada's 280 postal divisions, more than half have at least one thoroughfare identified by the name Victoria, most named to honour her. In 1831 John ROSS, while searching for the Northwest Passage, entered a small bay on the E side of Boothia Pen and named it Victoria Harbour for the young princess. Subsequently, she formally granted him permission to use her name for this remote and minor water feature in Canada's Arctic. From then on, explorers, mapmakers and administrators assigned the name Victoria to a multitude of geographical features all over the Canadian map, where her name appears more than 300 times.

The best-known place named for the British monarch is the city at the tip of Vancouver I. In 1843, the Hudson's Bay Co resolved to name the new fort overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca for the beloved queen, but Fort Albert was locally assigned to it. Subsequently, a terse message from London compelled the use of Fort Victoria. The townsite of VICTORIA was established in 1851-52, and in 1868 the growing city became the capital of the colony of British Columbia. Alberta also had a Victoria northeast of Edmonton, where GeorgeMCDOUGALL had established a mission in 1862, and the Hudson's Bay Co had set up a post in 1864. In 1887, to avoid confusion with other Victorias, the name of this small community was changed to Pakan, the nickname of a Cree chief. The village of Empress, NE of Medicine Hat, was named in 1913 in commemoration of the queen's imperial title received from Parliament in 1876 when Disraeli was prime minister. The marquess of Lorne and his wife, Princess Louise (the queen's daughter), wanted to give the name Victoria to the capital of the North-West Territories in 1882, but wisely chose the other half of her Latin title, Regina. In 1905 it became the capital of the new province of Saskatchewan. Manitoba has a rural municipality and a lake named Victoria, and another municipality called Victoria Beach.

Ontario has at least 47 distinct features with her name: one county, one township, 14 populated places and 31 physical features. In fact, one does not travel far in Ontario before encountering Victoria Corners, Victoria Square, Victoria Harbour, Victoria Springs, Victoria Lake or just plain Victoria. Evidence of Victoria is less apparent in Québec, although the second-largest place in Canada with her name is in that province. Victoriaville, a town of more than 21 500 people, was named for the queen in 1861. There are as well 7 physical features in Québec with the name Victoria, including Grand lac Victoria at the head of the Ottawa R, S of Val-d'Or.

The Atlantic provinces have 29 places and features with the name Victoria. Among these are a county in each of NB and NS. Victoria is an attractive seaside village in PEI, where there are also places called Victoria Cross and Victoria West. Newfoundland has a Victoria, a town of nearly 2000; it lies on the west side of Conception Bay about 50 km NW of St John's.

The 2 northern territories have 22 features with the name Victoria. Among them are Victoria I, Canada's second-largest island (after Baffin) in the Arctic Archipelago, and Victoria and Albert Mountains on Ellesmere I.

[thesirjohnatour-blog]

November 7, 1885 - Sir Donald Smith drives the last spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia, finishing the Canadian Pacific Railway and linking Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

[thesirjohnatour-blog]

Queen Victoria: Mother of Confederation?

In honour of our tour stop in Victoria, we decided to share some information about this gorgeous city’s namesake, her Majesty Queen Victoria.

Queen Victoria grew up knowing a lot about Canada. Her father, the Duke of Kent (Prince Edward, fourth son of King George III), had lived for nearly 10 years in Quebec and the Maritimes in the last decade of the 18th Century and had travelled as far inland as Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario). As a young Princess, Victoria received the Bouchettes, the Quebec topographers, at Kensington Palace in 1832. The many well-known photographs of Victoria at the end of her life have stamped people’s minds with the image of her as an old lady, but it was as a charming young girl of 18 that she came to the Throne.

She inherited the Crown after a period of royal unpopularity, scandals and family discord. “I will be good”, she said at age 10, when she realised that she would likely become Queen; and she lived up to this resolve. A wave of enthusiasm greeted her accession and everyone was moved by the great presence and dignity shown by the short (barely five foot) blue-eyed, fair- haired monarch. Her accession coincided with the rebellions of 1837 in Upper and Lower Canada and her diaries reflect those unhappy events. For her coronation in 1838 an amnesty was granted to the Upper and Lower Canada rebels as part of the celebrations and the young Queen talked Lord Durham into accepting the post of Governor-in-Chief of Canada to study reforms for the provinces in the wake of the rebellion.

Just as her grandfather King George III will always be identified with the existence of Canadians as a separate people in North America, so Queen Victoria is forever linked with the birth of a unified Canadian state. Before Confederation came about the Queen made clear that she strongly favoured it. Her father after all had proposed a similar scheme as early as 1814. “I believe it will make [the provinces] great and prosperous”, she told Sir Charles Tupper, one of the principal fathers of Confederation.

It was on 1st July 1867 that Her Majesty proclaimed the Confederation of the first four provinces of Canada and at the same time summoned the first members of the Senate of the new Dominion. To underline the inseparable bond between Crown and Confederation, Sir John Alexander Macdonald, first Prime Minister of the new Canada, whom Queen Victoria received in audience on the eve of the great event, told her that the purpose of Confederation was “to declare in the most solemn and emphatic manner our resolve to be under the sovereignty of Your Majesty and your family forever”. Loyalty to the Crown was the keystone of Confederation, the only common bond that could overcome the strong sectional character and feelings of the provinces. Even the ship that carried the delegates from the Province of Canada to Prince Edward Island for the 1864 Charlottetown Conference that led to Confederation was named the Queen Victoria. Victoria has rightly been called the “Mother of Confederation”.

Queen Victoria twice chose Ottawa as the capital, first in 1857 for the Province of Canada and then again in 1867 for the Dominion of Canada. She named British Columbia in 1858 and the City of New Westminster in 1859, and chose the pitcher plant as the flower of Newfoundland in 1865. She also assigned the coats of arms of the provinces of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick in 1868. She gave the royal charters of the universities of Laval in1852 and of Trinity in 1851. In 1879 she contributed money for the preservation of the historic walls of Quebec City and paid for the erection of the city’s Kent Gate in memory of her father. After the great fire of 1890 at the University of Toronto, Victoria made a personal donation towards the restoration. Regina and Victoria were named in her honour, and the Province of Alberta after her fourth daughter Princess Louise Alberta. More counties, districts, villages, streets, parks and schools are named after her than after any other individual in Canada. The main roads of inumerable Canadian communities, as large as the City of Toronto or as small as the Village of Neustadt, Ontario, are named “Queen Street”. As part of the Canadian reaction to the Annexation Manifesto of 1849 (a drive by some Montreal business leaders for union with the United States), the Queen’s Birthday became a major national holiday and is still celebrated each year on the Monday preceding the 25th May. (Victoria Day, as it became in 1901 in memory of the Queen, is also the celebration of the reigning monarch’s official birthday.) Schoolchildren once invented the chant: “The twenty-fourth of May is the Queen’s birthday. If we don’t get a holiday, we’ll all run away”.

When invited by unanimous resolution of the Parliament of the Province of Canada (modern Ontario and Quebec) in 1858 to tour the province, Queen Victoria declined but sent her eldest son, the Prince of Wales (Edward VII), instead. It was not fear of the ocean voyage, unwillingness to endure the fatigue of such a long tour or lack of interest that made her refuse, but rather the reluctance she felt about leaving Britain in the hands of the politicians for several months. Though never personally present in Canada, Canada was never far from her mind or she from the minds of Canadians. When the last spike was driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway joining Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the first train arrived in Vancouver from Montreal in 1886, the news was immediately telegraphed to Queen Victoria as “Canada linked!”

At various times the Queen sent four of her sons and one daughter to Canada. Queen Victoria was the patron of Canadian artists such as Madam Albani, Lucius O’Brien, Frederic Bell-Smith and Homer Watson. She honoured many Canadian statesmen and was involved with a host of other Canadian public figures. At her Diamond Jubilee in 1897 Canada’s gift to her was the establishment of the famous “Victorian Order of Nurses”, which has helped millions of Canadians through illness, convalescence or disability. In 1896 she established the Royal Victorian Order, an order of chivalry for personal service to the monarch to which Canadians continue to be appointed to this day.

Queen Victoria’s sixty-three year reign (second only to King Louis XIV of our monarchs) coincided with the zenith of the second British Empire. Her assumption of the title “Empress of India” in 1877 symbolised this fact. Development of Dominion status by Canada in 1867 provided a model for the peaceful transition of empires into independent states, that was adopted thoughout the world in the following century. When the Queen’s Golden Jubilee was celebrated in London in 1887, twenty years after Confederation, the Premiers of the ten self-governing overseas provinces in addition to Canada (the first of them) gathered there to hold what was, in effect, the first Commonwealth Conference.

Victoria was a liberal monarch in the very best sense of the word. She urged her government to be merciful to her Indian subjects following the Mutiny in 1858, as she had for the Canadian rebels in 1837. On another occasion she deplored “the violent abuse of the Catholic religion” that was then taking place in public. And when it came to the question of race, Victoria was truly colour blind. A black from Nova Scotia was the second Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross (the highest decoration for bravery under fire) only two years after the Queen established it in 1856. American slaves hoping to escape to freedom in Canada by the underground railway made up a song called Away to Canada with the verse: “I heard old Queen Victoria say if we would all forsake / Our native land of slavery and come across the lake, / That she was standing on the shore with arms extended wide / To give us all a peaceful home beyond the rolling tide”. When the Queen received Kahkehwahquonaby, the Ontario Mississauga Chief, at WindsorCastle in 1838 she allowed him to wear native dress instead of the usual court dress customary for such occasions. Towards the end of her reign she refused to part with an unpopular Indian servant because she felt people were prejudiced against him simply because of his colour.

In 1840 Queen Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha. It was a love match and the couple had nine children. Victoria’s handsome German Prince was a man of considerable talent, a political philosopher who had an earned PhD, a musician and composer, an excellent administrator and an indefatigable worker. Prince Albert originated the highly successful Great Exhibition of 1851 that led to the erection of Crystal Palaces in many major Canadian cities. Even more important for Canada’s destiny, he helped avert a war with the United States in 1861. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (represented in the Canadian Parliament for many years by the Prime Minister and great royalist John Diefenbaker) is named for him. The Prince became the Queen’s Private Secretary and was so efficient and influential that from 1840 to 1861 there was almost a joint monarchy.

During Victoria’s reign the modern practice of constitutional monarchy took shape and the Queen learned from her husband that to continue to exert royal influence she had to work hard and regularly. When the Prince Consort (as Queen Victoria created Albert) died in 1861, Victoria was heart broken and, in her grief, wore black clothes for the rest of her life and withdrew into seclusion, an action that made the Monarchy temporarily unpopular in the United Kingdom, though not in Canada. Gradually the Queen reappeared in public and one of her last public acts before her death in 1901 was to review Canadian troops returning from the South African War via London.

Once coming upon a courtier misbehaving in the Palace, Queen Victoria said: “We are not amused!” and passed on. This remark has led to her being labelled as humourless. Nothing could be further from the truth. She possessed a charming smile, laughed heartily, loved fun and had a great sense of humour. She had a passion for opera and the theatre and a real gift for drawing and painting. Mendelssohn said that she had the finest amateur singing voice he had ever heard. She spoke French, German and Italian as fluently as she did English and was the author of two books. Victoria’s prestige was so great internationally that the century in which she lived is known as the “Victorian Age”, even in republics like the United States.

John Diefenbaker described the day of her death in his memoirs: “When Queen Victoria died, Father regarded it as one of the most calamitous events of all time. Would the world ever be the same? I can see him now. When he came home to tell us the news, he broke down and cried.”

- Arthur Bousfield