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 →

The Role of Place and Local Knowledge in Ontario’s Spring Bear Hunt Debate: Fifteen Years Later

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A marauding black bear near the author’s home in Sudbury, Ontario. Photograph courtesy of Marthe Brown.

A marauding black bear near the author’s home in Sudbury, Ontario. Photograph courtesy of Marthe Brown.

by Mike Commito

Ontario had its last spring black bear hunt fifteen years ago. Dating back to 1937, the province’s spring hunt was primarily for non-resident hunters. But spring hunting picked up in 1961 after the Department of Lands and Forests declared the black bear a game animal. By the mid-1990s, spring bear hunting had been well established as a significant revenue generator for northern Ontario communities and an important management tool.

Around this time, however, opposition flared up over the spring hunting season, largely over the ethics of bear baiting and the fate of orphaned cubs after the accidental shooting of mother bears. Consequently, an amalgam of animal welfare, animal rights, and conservationist groups – colloquially known as the “Bear Alliance” – organized a campaign to have the hunt repealed. By 1999, following aggressive marketing and political lobbying, the Bear Alliance succeeded in convincing Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government to abruptly cancel the hunt.

In the immediate aftermath of the decision, hunters, outfitters, and residents in northern Ontario charged that emotion and politics had trumped science and conservation. They called supporters of the decision, “bleeding heart liberals” and denounced their opponents’ authority on the matter because of their overwhelmingly non-rural residency. Throughout the debate and afterwards, critics referenced “urban southern Ontario” and even “Toronto” in a derisive manner. The idea that people living in areas far removed from bears had influenced government policy was viewed as unacceptable; even more so because it was done using emotionally charged arguments about orphaned cubs. As a result, the idea of local knowledge and place forms an interesting part of the debate that still persists today. Continue reading →

A Part of Our Heritage Minutes: The Value of Nostalgia

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By Kaitlin Wainwright

Recently, James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced “a series of new programs to support Canada’s history.” While the federal government continues to lay off staff at Parks Canada, national museums and galleries, and Library and Archives Canada, the Canadian public are being told that we need to rebrand our history and that new measures are needed to help make history come alive. John G. McAvity, Executive Director of the Canadian Museums Association emphasized that “this includes not just formal or academic history, but more importantly the stories of Canada, pleasant and unpleasant as they are, of everyday Canadians.”

Although the announcement included the formation of a “Canada History Week” (July 1-7) and funding support for existing Canadian Heritage programs – such as the Celebrate Canada program – the highlight, according to most media outlets, is a new series of Heritage Minutes produced by the Historica-Dominion Institute.

The Heritage Minutes, for those who weren’t near a TV set or in a movie theatre in the 1990s, were a collection of minute-long historical microdramas that captured the essence of an element of Canadian history. High production values and government support made them widely successful and tremendously quotable.

Twenty years later, those of us who first became enamoured with Canadian history through them no doubt feel a certain amount of nostalgia. Continue reading →

The Giant Cost of Past Pollution

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Mine_Building_Giant_Mine_Yellowknife_Northwest_Territories_Canada_12

Giant Mine

Some historical artifacts pose a dangerous and costly challenge to those of us living today and to future generations. Unlike stone ruins, carefully preserved books or dusty archival papers, the toxic waste produced by past industrial activities contaminate environments around the world, threatening our health and our economic future. Here in Canada, a review board just released a report on how to clean up the “237,000 tonnes of highly toxic arsenic trioxide dust stored in 15 underground chambers” that remained after the closing of Giant Mine in Yellowknife  (CBC). The outlook is grim. The clean up will costs up to one billion dollars, but will not provide a permanent solution to freeze the toxic waste in place. Because current technologies can not safely remove the arsenic, the report requires further research and a reassessment every twenty years until a permanent solution is found. Giant Mine was an economic success story, which extracted 220,000 kg of gold in a little more than half a century of mining , but also left behind a costly and dangerous toxic legacy. Continue reading →