June Chow The right to know through Canada’s Access to Information Act and the right to personal privacy under the Privacy Act hang in perpetual balance at our national archives. In 2021, an ATIP request submitted to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) sought to open a set of historical government records that remained Restricted within its Chinese Immigration records series, namely, C.I. 44 forms and… Read more »
Gilbert Gagné This is the third post in a series on tariffs based on a roundtable organized at Bishop’s University in February 2025. Read the introduction by David Webster here and the first post by Heather McKeen-Edwards here. The second post by Gordon S. Baker appears here. Everything seems to be about tariffs now; how exposed to potential US tariffs… Read more »
David Webster— Tariffs on you!— No, bigger tariffs on you!— No, I have the biggest, most beautiful tariffs, and I am slapping them on you! Anyone could be excused for thinking it was a battle of toddlers. But this is deadly serious: a trade war, one that reminds us of moments of trade tension between Canada and the United States… Read more »
By Robert Englebert The tariff war has begun. Since coming into office only weeks ago, Donald Trump’s on-and-off again threat of taking a sledgehammer to free trade has kept Canadians on edge. Canadians are angry and frustrated, especially at Trump’s continued assertion that our country is not viable and that we should become the 51st state. I am not… Read more »
Alan MacEachern Last year, an email informed me of a death. Two, actually. Top Hat would no longer publish Origins: Canadian History to Confederation or Destinies: Canadian History since Confederation as either print or e-books. These twin textbooks, once as much staples of Canadian history survey courses as, well, the staples thesis, were being discontinued due to low demand. Origins… Read more »
Daniel R. Meister It’s part of the craft of writing: a “killer quote” that powerfully demonstrates the point the author is trying to make. Taken from a primary source, it can become the most quoted part of the secondary piece in which it appears. And when loosed from its moorings to the publication that contextualizes it, the quote is carried… Read more »
Erika Dyck and Jim Clifford The COVID-19 pandemic tested healthcare systems worldwide and pushed many of them to the breaking point. Canadians experienced the pandemic in diverse ways depending on where and how they lived, from single-family dwellings with converted virtual workspaces to long-term-care facilities with rigorous lock-down policies or First Nations reserves with inconsistent access to potable water, but… Read more »
Jennifer Bate Indigenous peoples have used their deep-rooted understanding of the land and wildlife to feed their families and communities for generations. However, by the end of the 19th century, First Nations communities in Northwestern Ontario found their traditional way of life threatened by encroaching settlement and new government-imposed hunting legislation. Although early game laws contained clauses exempting First Nations… Read more »
Forrest Pass Fifty-eight years ago today, the Canadian Red Ensign ceased to be the national flag. Yet in 2022, the Ensign unexpectedly became a subject of public discussion again. Its occasional appearance during protests against public health measures, especially the “Freedom Convoy” occupation of downtown Ottawa in February, led some observers to point out the Ensign’s recent use as an… Read more »
https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/History-Slam-220.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham Last Friday, the United States Supreme Court made its much anticipated decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization case. In the majority opinion, the court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which ruled that the privacy clause in the U.S. Constitution protected a woman’s right to an abortion…. Read more »
