History from the podium
In 2019, some Indigenous leaders in northern British Columbia refuse to allow workers into traditional territory to carry out pre-construction work on a pipeline carrying liquefied natural gas to the coast. Disputes over land and resources between Indigenous peoples and others are nothing new. Back in August 1999-2000, there was a conflict over Aboriginal fishing rights in New Brunswick.... Continue Reading →
Hundreds of government representatives are meeting in Katowice, Poland to agree on how to enforce action to limit further global warming. Sadly, some of the world’s largest oil and gas producers -- the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait -- are trying to block progress at Katowice. Canada’s most prominent environmentalist David Suzuki has been... Continue Reading →
In 2001, I had never heard of Lawrence Johnstone Burpee, but he was to become an inspiration for me. I was writing speeches for Saskatchewan premier Lorne Calvert, who maintained a prodigious schedule. When I broke for lunch after a morning of composing, I would often wander over to the nearby public library in Saskatoon... Continue Reading →
The 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War in 1918 is about to occur. When war erupted in August 1914, there was great enthusiasm in some quarters about a fight that many thought would be over before Christmas of that year. Rev. Thomas Todhunter Shields was the pastor of Jarvis Street Baptist... Continue Reading →
It will soon be 100 years to the day since the First World War ended on November 11, 1918. The war began in August, 1914, when Britain’s ultimatum for Germany to withdraw from occupied Belgium expired. The entire British Empire, including Canada, was automatically at war. The House of Commons was on summer break when... Continue Reading →
Tommy Douglas was one of Canada’s great political orators. He first honed his technique as a university student in Brandon participating in debating clubs and drama. He became an ordained minister and perfected his craft from the pulpit before going on to become a Member of Parliament and then Saskatchewan’s premier for 17 years, and... Continue Reading →
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland was named “diplomat of the year” at a forum hosted by the Washington, D.C.-based Foreign Policy magazine in June 2018. In her acceptance speech, Freeland talked about both the strengths of democratic societies and the threats to them. She also defended a globalized, free-trade order against the protectionist measures being taken... Continue Reading →
Young Wilfrid Laurier was a rising political star in Quebec in the 1870s but the Catholic church was hostile to liberals, associating them with the revolutions that had occurred in nineteenth century Europe. Some in the church even contemplated setting up a Catholic political party. Laurier took them on with a speech delivered to a... Continue Reading →
In Speeches That Changed Canada author and former MP Dennis Gruending has created a book that will be of interest to anyone who loves Canadian history, politics, literature and rhetoric. The book, released in April 2018 by Fitzhenry and Whiteside, will also be useful as a source and guide for teachers and students, and for... Continue Reading →
In June 1990, the Meech Lake Accord failed when Aboriginal leader and Manitoba MLA Elijah Harper refused to give the necessary unanimous consent for his province to approve. The Assembly of First Nations also opposed the accord not least because it continued to focus upon the French and English as Canada’s founding nations. AFN chief... Continue Reading →
Great Canadian Speeches 