History from the podium
Paul Martin became the Liberal government's finance minister in 1993 and was soon convinced that Canada’s deficit and debt were unmanageable. On February 27, 1995, he introduced a budget that chopped social programs, unemployment insurance, and transfers to the provinces for health care, education, and social assistance. The battle for public opinion was fierce. Martin... Continue Reading →
On September 11, 2001 terrorists crashed two hijacked jetliners into the twin World Trade Center Towers in New York City. Another was crashed into the Pentagon complex in Washington. Americans were shocked to have sustained such a massive attack on their soil, and they were grief-stricken and angry. On September 17, Canadian Prime Minister Jean... Continue Reading →
Abbé Lionel Groulx was a priest, an historian and a leading Quebec intellectual until his death in 1967. He was described by some as the spiritual father of Quebec and by others as a messianic nationalist. Groulx preferred isolation to closer French-English relations and was opposed to bilingualism. He gave this speech in Montreal in... Continue Reading →
John Diefenbaker, Canada’s 13th prime minister died this month in 1979. He was one of Canada’s finest political orators and election campaigners. He became leader of the Progressive Conservatives in 1956, and six months later the governing Liberals called an election. A young economist named Merril Menzies sent Diefenbaker a series of memos proposing a... Continue Reading →
The Nisga’a have lived in what is now northwest British Columbia since time immemorial. They never signed a treaty or ceded their territory, but the province denied that Aboriginal title ever existed. The stalemate lasted for more than a century until in 1973 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Aboriginal title did exist, had... Continue Reading →
British journalist and novelist George Orwell was known for expressing himself clearly and concisely. He was a print and broadcast journalist who also wrote books. He created six rules that can be applied to everything from writing a letter or news release to a short story or novel. The rules (below) are adapted from Orwell's... Continue Reading →
By the early 1900s Western Canadian farmers believed they were being exploited by private grain companies. Aaron Sapiro, an American lawyer from California, had helped to set up marketing cooperatives among farmers in the US. In 1923, he did a speaking tour in the Prairies promoting cooperatives as a vehicle for farmers to buy and... Continue Reading →
Wilfrid Laurier was campaigning for reelection when he made the following speech before a packed house in Toronto’s Massey Hall on 14 October 1904. The speech, while not one of his best, was vintage Laurier -- suave, playing to the audience, and discreetly undermining his political opponents. Near its end, he provided his grand vision... Continue Reading →
Dr. Norman Bethune left his medical practice in Montreal in 1936 to join the Republican forces fighting the fascists under General Franco in Spain. There Dr. Bethune pioneered a portable blood transfusion unit that was used at or near the front and it saved thousands of lives. In 1937, he was asked by the Republicans... Continue Reading →
Edward Ahenakew was Anglican clergyman of Cree ancestry, born in 1885 on the Ahtahkakoop First Nation in central Saskatchewan. He spent his life doing missionary work on reserves, promoting the Cree language, working to improve education on reserves, and attempting to organize a national organization to represent Indigenous people. On June 16, 1920 he gave... Continue Reading →
