Ten Other Things You Might Not Have Known About 20th-Century Aboriginal History in Canada.

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By Sean Kheraj

2013-07-17 10.53.17

Ian Mosby’s research on nutritional experiments on Aboriginal people in the 1940s and 1950s featured on cover of Toronto Star.

If there was a weekly prize for active historians in Canada, Ian Mosby would have been last week’s winner. Canadian national news media (including print, radio, television, and web) prominently featured Dr. Mosby’s recently published Histoire Sociale/Social History article, “Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942-1952.”

This paper originated from some documents Mosby found at Library and Archives Canada while working on his dissertation. He discovered evidence of a little-known federal government program of nutritional experiments on starving Aboriginal people. Nutrition scientists conducted a series of experiments on malnourished Aboriginal children and adults for a period between 1942 and 1952. The federal government did not seek informed consent from the more than 1,000 residential school children from provinces across the country who were unwittingly included in this biomedical research.

When news of the publication hit Twitter, national news media outlets quickly picked up on the story and profiled Mosby’s work in numerous publications and broadcasts. Here are a few examples:

History Slam Episode Twenty-Five: Budget Cuts and the Study of History

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By Sean Graham

Over the course of the past week, Ian Mosby’s work on nutritional experiments on aboriginal students in residential schools has received plenty of attention in the national media. While it will take a while before the full impact of the research is felt, there was some immediate excitement within the historical community that the issue had/has such traction nationally. In addition to uncovering the terrible abuse, the media interest of the past week has also shown the importance of historical research.

Let me be clear: I’m not saying that it’s good that these experiments happened because it gives historians something to talk about nor do I think historians should try to exploit these types of horrendous acts to further their own careers. (Ian walked this line beautifully last week – listening to several of his interviews and following his comments on Twitter, you never got the sense that he wanted to be the story. What was important was the research and bringing the events to light. It would have been easy to engage in self-promotion or to champion himself as a great researcher/writer, but that never happened.)
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Canada and the New Colonialism

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The Queen inspects the Guard of Honour mounted by the Ceremonial Guard on Parliament Hill, July 1, 2010. [This is a copy of an official work that is published by the Government of Canada. The reproduction has not been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of the Government of Canada.]

The Queen inspects the Guard of Honour mounted by the Ceremonial Guard on Parliament Hill, July 1, 2010. ***

By Jon Weier

 

The Canadian government announced this past week that Canadian forces members will no longer wear the Maple Leaf as a symbol of rank.  The Maple Leaf is to be replaced on the shoulder boards and collar tabs of Canadian soldiers’ uniforms with the crown or pip that had been used to indicate rank in the Canadian Forces before unification in 1968.  Further, the most junior Canadian enlisted personnel will be referred to by new rank designations.  These new rank designations, and the re-introduced pip and crown, mirror rank and rank indicators that are used in the British armed services, and represent a return, in the words of former Defence Minister Peter McKay, “to the insignia that was so much a part of what the Canadian Army accomplished in Canada’s name.”

This new policy comes two years after the three component arms of the Canadian Forces were renamed.  Rather than being Land Command, Maritime Command and Air Command, their names since unification, they became the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force, again mirroring the Canadian Forces’ British counterparts.  This change was, in the words of Peter McKay, about fixing a “mistake,” suggesting that somehow a move away from British symbols and names was taking the Canadian Forces away from their true identity.  These changes met with widespread criticism and were characterized by military historian Jack Granatstein as “abject colonialism.” Continue reading →

Internal Conflict: 25 years of LGBT Advocacy in the United Church

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By Krista McCracken

Though the government of Canada legalized same-sex marriage in 2005, marriage remains a contested point of debate within many Canadian religious denominations.  Since the 1980s Christian denominations across Canada have debated and developed policies around human sexuality, marriage, and ordination.

Currently, the Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church in Canada do not condone gay marriage or the blessing of same-sex unions.  Both the Presbyterian Church and the Anglican Church of Canada will allow gay or lesbian individuals to be ordained in the church, providing the individuals are celibate and not ‘practicing’ their sexuality. In the Anglican Church blessings for same-sex couples (not marriage) can be performed in 10 Anglican dioceses across Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada is slated to vote on same-sex marriage in 2016. [i]   These denominations are still struggling with policies relating to sexuality and have made very little movement to change their positions based on the 2005 legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada.

Conversely, this August the United Church of Canada (UCC) will mark the 25 anniversary of the flagship decision to allow gay and lesbian candidates be ordained.  This decision was the first of its kind by a mainstream Christian denomination in the world. The UCC’s consistent support for same-sex relationships and equality has contributed to the UCC being seen as a ‘one-issue church’ or the ‘gay church’ by outside commentators.  Considering the current position of the other major Christian denominations on same-sex relationships the UCC’s early advocacy, acceptance, and support of LGBT rights was ground breaking.

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Commemorative Controversies: Edward Cornwallis, Collective Contention, and Historical Memory

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“Cornwallis Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia,” 12 July 2011. Photo by Hantsheroes.

“Cornwallis Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia,” 12 July 2011. Photo by Hantsheroes.

By Lachlan MacKinnon

On 30 May 2013, the controversial statue of Edward Cornwallis standing in downtown Halifax was once again thrust into public debate. That morning, the rear of the monument’s base was found to have been graffitotagged with the word “fake.” Similarly, the plaque bearing Cornwallis’s name was defaced with the words “self-righteous ass.” This was the latest salvo in a contentious discussion about the role of public commemoration in Halifax, the importance of these sites in our historical memory, and contestations over “whose history” is memorialized, commemorated, and glorified.

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The Toronto Flood of 2013: Actions from the Past, a Warning for the New Normal?

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The storm with downtown in the distance. Photo posted by Amy Rensby.

The storm with downtown Toronto in the distance. Photo posted by Amy Rensby.

By Jay Young

This rain will never stop, I thought, as water cascaded from my apartment window and fell from the sky at record pace.  On July 8th, Toronto experienced the greatest amount of rainfall in a single day ever recorded in that city. A torrent of 126 millimetres of rain hit the ground, more than a whole month’s average for July. The storm flooded roads, transit infrastructure, and basements. Thousands went to bed that night without power.

The impact of the flood would have been much worse if governments hadn’t acted following the aftermath of Hurricane Hazel, a tropical storm that hit Toronto in 1954. Yet the storm of 2013 also shows that Toronto’s urban environment is still susceptible to damage from flash floods, a phenomenon likely to become more common in upcoming decades. Continue reading →

Podcast: Lyle Dick’s CHA Presidential Address

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Lyle Dick addresses the audience at the 2014 CHA Annual Meeting. Photo: Sean Kheraj

Lyle Dick addresses the audience at the 2014 CHA Annual Meeting. Photo: Sean Kheraj

On June 4th 2013 Lyle Dick delivered his Canadian Historical Association (CHA) presidential address, titled “On Local History and Local Historical Knowledge.” Dick spoke at the CHA Annual Meeting in Victoria, BC. A long time employee with Parks Canada, he is also the author of numerous books and articles on the history of Canada.

Dick’s address is part of a tradition in which outgoing presidents of the CHA reflect on the practice of history and the historical profession in Canada. Dominique Marshall, a professor at Carleton University, replaces Dick as CHA president and introduces him here.

ActiveHistory.ca is happy to present a recording of the address and thanks Lyle for his hard work as CHA president.

History Slam Episode Twenty-Four: Mary-Ellen Kelm and Rodeo in Western Canada

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By Sean Graham

After the devastation of the floods in Calgary, it has been nice to see the positive reports coming out of the first weekend of the Stampede. While there is still a lot of work to be done, the city’s signature event provides an escape from the hardship and an opportunity to celebrate. In its 101st edition, the Calgary Stampede may be Canada’s biggest rodeo, but it certainly isn’t the only one.

In this episode of the History Slam podcast, I talk with Simon Fraser University’s Mary-Ellen Kelm about her A Wilder West: Rodeo in Western Canada, one of my favourite books of the past couple years. We chat about the rise and professionalization of rodeo, its role in western Canadian development, and the treatment of animals. We also discuss the creation of contact zones in local rodeos and the inclusion aboriginal and women athletes.  Continue reading →

The Politics of Motherhood: How Far Have We Come?

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By Christine McLaughlin and Councillor Amy England

We’ve come a long way from the days when women were denied the vote and barred from public office. Because of the efforts of a few willing to challenge the status quo, women won the right to vote and serve as political representatives in twentieth-century Canada. But many barriers remain for women in politics in 2013; this is evidenced by the low number of women elected relative to their representation in the general population. In Canada, 16 per cent of mayors and 25 per cent of councillors are women; the United Nations recommends 30 per cent women in order to have government reflect the concerns of women. No provincial legislature in Canada has ever achieved gender parity, with current numbers ranging between 10 and 35 per cent of representative who are women. The numbers are just as bad or worse federally: even though a record number of women were elected in the most recent 2011 contest, only 25 per cent of sitting MPs are women.

Sometimes these barriers to women’s political participation in politics are cultural rather than systemic. For example, the image of a man with a young family and pregnant wife triggers perceptions of an ideal political candidate. Reverse that image by placing a young pregnant woman in the position of political candidate, and perceptions can shift. While few question the ability of a young father to be a good political representative, the idea that a young woman can be a good mother and politician remains contentious for some. Oshawa Regional Councillor Amy England’s recent announcement that she is pregnant illustrates some of the major institutional and informal barriers to young women’s participation in politics. Elected officials are not entitled to Employment Insurance, which covers maternity leave. Municipal politics are governed by the Municipal Act, which is silent on maternity. According to the Act, any municipal representative who misses three consecutive meetings must vacate their seat unless a vote from Council approves this absence.

I sat down with my good friend and Regional Councillor Amy England recently to discuss some of the challenges facing women and mothers in politics: Continue reading →

“Your revolution is over”: A Review of Stuart Henderson’s Making the Scene

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By Kaitlin Wainwright 

Making the Scene: Yorkville and Hip Toronto in the 1960s
Stuart Henderson
University of Toronto Press, 2011
394 pages, Paperback and ebook $29.95, Cloth $70.00

Stuart Henderson’s Making the Scene: Yorkville and Hip Toronto in the 1960s is an adventure back in time to Yorkville at what many would consider the pinnacle of its cultural history. Fifty years ago, the Yorkville Coffee Mill opened, among the first of many to become a hub for youth exploring counterculture through music and mysticism. Henderson’s book, which stemmed from his doctoral dissertation at Queen’s University, is rich with oral histories and underground press coverage of the day.

Personal experience drew me to Henderson’s work. I grew up in London (Ontario) in the 1990s. My father worked in Toronto for a time and stayed in an apartment on Bay Street near Bloor. Visiting on weekends, my mother and I would wander the “Mink Mile”. By then, Yorkville was a hub of elite consumerism, with couture boutiques and flagship stories. It was cultured, rather than counterculture. Continue reading →