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Roderick Benns: Posted on June-12-13 10:05 AM
 I'm liking what I'm hearing so farfrom the Conservative government about their plans to focus $12 million in existing funding at the Department of Canadian Heritage to promote Canada's history. All of this will lead up to the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017. Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore noted the money (in addition to a Canadian history fund) would support new opportunities for travel within Canada for youth, to learn about our shared history and to get involved in history-related programs. |
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Roderick Benns: Posted on May-29-13 10:01 AM
 On this day in history, May 29, two very different kinds of disasters occurred. One was political, the other involved a staggering number of causalities. On this day the Reform Party of Canada was founded (and the disaster part was what happened to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada years later.) Preston Manning, as leader, became the voice for fiscal and social conservatism; Deborah Grey went on to become the party's first MP, winning the 1989 Beaver River Alberta by-election. |
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Roderick Benns: Posted on May-08-13 1:12 PM
So much ado lately about the federal government’s interest in Canada’s history. One would think historians, teachers, and thoughtful Canadians of all stripes would be keen to watch this unfold. Quite frankly, why shouldn’t the federal government investigate how Canadian history is taught in schools?  History is the ‘domain’ of the provinces only in the strictest, deliverable sense. Note that investigating doesn’t have to mean meddling. And what if – gasp – the feds come up with some recommendations or suggestions for the provinces. |
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Roderick Benns: Posted on April-29-13 12:54 PM
 There's a lawyer in Saskatchewan by the name of Bill Selnes who maintains an excellent, active Canadian mystery/thriller blog. Bill reviewed 'Showdown at Border Town: An Early Adventure of Paul Martin'here. Then he blogged about how the teenage author, Caroline Woodward (inset), won the contest to write the young Paul Martin book here. (See Woodward and Martin pictured below at book signing.) Finally, he interviews Caroline Woodwardhere about the whole experience. |
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Roderick Benns: Posted on April-07-13 9:55 AM
 It was today, back in 1868, when one of our most important fathers of Confederation was shot and killed by militants one year after Canada was born. ThomasD'Arcy McGee was returning home to his Sparks Street lodging house in Ottawa. As he turned the key in his lock he was shot and killed by a Fenian assassin. He had just made a stirring speech in Parliament and had denounced the Fenians, a militant Irish-American group. It was one of Canada’s few political assassinations. When John A. |
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Roderick Benns: Posted on April-01-13 2:12 PM
It’s warm, narrative and grand in scope and the illustrations are superb. Granted, my daughter is inquisitive, but I was struck by how enamoured she was with the story – a testament to the authors’ ability to convey historical information in a captivating way. My daughter is reading the sidebars and inset information (of which there are plenty) while I am reading the main text. |
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Roderick Benns: Posted on March-25-13 10:58 AM
If you’re a parent or student and interested in Canada’s history (and if you’re reading this I’m betting you are) check out this fantastic contest from the folks at Canada’s History. I say this with firsthand experience, having been one of the judges for the contest for the past two years. There are some talented students in this country who are able to tell great history stories. |
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Roderick Benns: Posted on March-15-13 10:09 AM
 Military history fans will no doubt be happy with this fall’s offering of ‘Merry Hell: The Story of the 25th Battalion (Nova Scotia Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919’ in hardcover. Looks like an interesting account of the battalion from the First World War, given that it’s a team-up between Captain Robert Clements and professional military historian Brian Douglas Tennyson. According to the publisher, University of Toronto Press, Clements served in the battalion throughout that period and wrote the story long after the war, all based on vivid personal memories and the experiences he had. |
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Roderick Benns: Posted on February-21-13 11:24 AM
 There's agreat conversationgoing on over at Christopher Dummitt's blog, as is often the case. In response to responses and yet more responses, I give my two cents on the teaching and writing of Canadian history. One paragraph from my response: It is not the historian's job to instil pride in one's country. Pride, satisfaction or gratitude for living in a country like Canada, I would think, would occur naturally from a clear understanding of our story. |
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Roderick Benns: Posted on February-17-13 6:55 PM
 Canadian history, in our higher academic institutions, has been piecemeal and ‘social’ in context for a long time. The grand story of Canada, our nation’s political big-picture narrative, has been told by too few for too long. It’s also true at the high school level, where provinces do either a lukewarm or failing job to teach Canadian history in the way any mature nation should teach its own history. In the Ottawa Citizen, columnist Terry Glavinwrites about thisand quotes, in part, historian and blogger Christopher Dummitt. |
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