By Daniel R. Meister When it comes to periodizing the history of federal policy of multiculturalism in Canada, existing models have loosely associated changes in policy with the changing of the governments.[1] But a closer examination of the earliest decades of the policy’s existence suggests that the Cabinet ministers responsible for the policy were more responsible for its evolution than the… Read more »
Shannon Stettner[1] The space outside abortion clinics is complicated. Much of it is public and there are important discussions about the uses of public space, the right to protest, and the “ownership” of such spaces.[2] In Canada, many legal injunctions or safe access zones (theoretically) prevent protestors from occupying the area directly in front of clinics because clinics are also… Read more »
Kristen Jeanveau Collection of materials from the file of Harry George Dickson R/18077. Courtesy of the Ley and Lois Smith War Memory, and Culture Research Collection, Western University. For the last two years, I have been a Graduate Teaching Assistant for History 1810: Wars that Changed the World at Western University. For many students, the world wars are a remote… Read more »
By Patricia Roussel and David Dean This post is part of the Canada Post and Canadian Culture series. This is the first post in a limited series dedicated to studying the history of Canada Post. Inspired by recent 2025 labour disputes and renewed public conversation about Canada Post, the intention here is to examine the cultural impact and historical legacy of… Read more »
Daniel R. Meister In the first part of an article I published with Active History in February 2024, I contested the authenticity of a quote frequently attributed to Pierre Elliott Trudeau. The quote in question: “We’ll keep them in the ghetto as long as they want” with regard to First Nations in Canada. However, while in search of a different quote recently,… Read more »
By Sean Graham This week, I talk with Angela Tozer, author of The Debt of a Nation: Land and the Financing of the Canadian Settler State, 1820-73. We discuss how governments take on debt, the purpose of debt, and how colonialism fuelled land speculation. We also chat about how resource extraction was critical to servicing debt, the changes brought on… Read more »
Warrant Officer Daniyal Elahi, 337 Queen’s York Rangers Royal Canadian Army Cadets Growing up, I often felt as though Muslim Canadians were a recent part of this country — as if our connection began only in 1965, when my grandfather immigrated from Pakistan. In school, the Canadian soldiers we learned about seemed to share the same background and the same… Read more »
By Sean Graham This week I talk with Katherine Rollwagen, author of The Scramble for the Teenage Dollar: Creating the Youth Market in Mid-Century Canada. We discuss the creation of the ‘classic’ teenager, how marketing shifted to attract young people, and how much family considerations shaped advertisements. We also chat about Eaton’s, how it attracted teenagers to the store, and… Read more »
Author Carol F. Lee explores the writings of her mother Mary Quan Lee, with a focus on her experiences in the 1930s and her sense of dual Canadian and Chinese identity in the 1940s. Lee notes that her mother’s identity was shaped in large part by openings and closings in opportunities and the structural realities of exclusion in Canada.
By Sean Graham This week I talk with Peggy Nash, one of the co-authors of Women United: Stories of Women’s Struggles for Equality in the Canadian Auto Workers Union. We discuss women’s contributions to the union in its early years, how negotiating priorities were shaped, and the Second World War’s influence on the labour movement. We also chat about the… Read more »
