Contesting Arctic Sovereignty: A Brief History of “Canadian” Interest in the North

/

The Arctic continues to be a topic of heated discussion in Canada. Political, cultural, and environmental concerns have sparked research and scholarship into regions and peoples that have long escaped the public eye. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made Arctic sovereignty a top priority during his current eight-year tenure. He is amongst those who have suggested that real threats toward Canada’s circumpolar autonomy exist, and he seems determined to protect Canadian interests in a northern world that is undergoing significant and rapid change. Yet Harper’s Arctic diplomacy is highly questionable, both from historical and contemporary perspectives. To insinuate that the Arctic is Canadian territory, which Harper has done on a number of occasions, assumes that the massive northern region is holistically the property of a governmental body that has historically been at odds with much of that regions native population. Since Euro-Canadians are not indigenous to the Arctic territories which Harper has proclaimed their own, can his Conservative government actually claim some measure of ownership and stewardship over contested northern territory?

Read More

Caring for our Veterans: The History of VAC

/

On 31 January, thousands of Canadian veterans gathered to protest Veterans Affairs Canada’s [VAC] decision to close eight offices across the country. As early as the First World War, local offices have been the primary point of contact between veterans and the government, allowing hundreds of thousands of ex-servicemen to access VAC’s client services in a direct, timely, and (most importantly) personable fashion. The Canadian government has justified the closures as a cost-saving measure in anticipation of declining demand from clients. The closures, however, will deeply affect thousands of Canadian veterans who frequent these outlets. Saskatoon’s regional office, for example, served some 4500 veterans with a staff of only 14. These men and women will now have to visit their local Service Canada center where a dedicated VAC representative will handle their queries. Prince Edward Island, where VAC’s head office is located, has also lost its regional office, leaving veterans with no direct access to frontline services on the island. Instead, as many as 2,200 PEI veterans’ files have been transferred to two caseworkers in Saint John, NB. The closure of these offices has understandably raised the ire of Canadian veterans and their advocates. To place their discontent in context, we should explore the history and trajectory of VAC and its antecedents.

Read More

The Long History of Practical (University) Education

/

Over the past few years, newspapers, blogs, and other media sources have recounted the endemic problems associated with the underemployment of university graduates. One of the latest pieces to explore this topic was CBC’s The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti, which aired last week and focused on the income gap between tenured-track professors and adjunct or sessional instructors. The vast majority of commentary has highlighted the “gloom and doom” of humanities and liberal arts graduates. Many are quick to point out that humanities students are less likely to find a well-paying job following graduation, while others show that graduates in history or philosophy are almost always paid less than those with degrees outside of arts or humanities. Still others, like The Current, have focused on those people at the problem’s apogee: PhDs in the humanities.

Read More

The Forgotten Francophonie Canadienne

/

A few months ago a reader commented on one of our posts, noting that we had incorrectly called Quebec the “sole bastion of French speakers in North America.” That description was one Quebecois preferred to create (or at least, emphasize) to enhance their own French-speaking identity within the boundaries of their province. In fact, there is a wide spread of French-speaking or French-descended communities across the continent. The division between la francophonie canadienne and the les Québecois was not inevitable. The rise of Quebec neo-nationalism turned the province away from its French-speaking brethren as they focused on what they believed to be the best hope for the survival of French Catholicism in North America: themselves.

Read More

Debunking the debunking of myths about the First World War

/

We are now in the centenary year of the outbreak of the First World War. No doubt some events will be incorporated into the ongoing commemorations, while others will be forgotten despite their seeming relevance at the time, like the trial of Madame Cailloux that enthralled the public in July 1914 just as the crisis in the Balkans unfolded. Memory – the combination of history that is remembered and forgotten – is hard to distinguish from history for non-historians. This is precisely why, as we've discussed before, it's important that the memory of the war be reasonably and clearly debated in the public forum. Though we might accept that the government has some license to instil a patriotic narrative about the war, it's equally vital that this narrative not overpower some of the basic historical facts put forward by historians. Outing “myths” about the war is especially useful for remembering what happened one hundred years ago and what has been forgotten.

Read More

“Canada Supports Israel Because It Is Right To Do So” Harper’s Knesset Address

/

Last week Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Canadian delegation began their inaugural visit to Israel. The visit, which included laying a cornerstone at the Hula Lake Nature and Bird Park in the north, galvanizes an immense shift in Canada’s position on Israel and the Middle East. We have discussed the Conservative shift on the Middle East several times before, but this week we want to concentrate on Harper’s historic address to the Knesset in particular.

Read More

Nielsen to Netflix and Radio to Digital

/

 Over the last year Netflix stock has excelled both literally and figuratively. More and more North Americans are using the online streaming service to watch TV shows, movies and documentaries. The capability to “binge” on a show, where you watch many episodes in one viewing, is more entertaining than having to wait week to week on network television. We know this because Netflix has detailed knowledge of its audience's viewing habits. The direct access to a consumer's behaviour has given Netflix the upper edge over traditional media outlets. They are able to shape their programming using massive amounts of data. It is dream that has been a chased for a long time in the world of media-providers, going all the way back to the age of radio.

Read More

Canada's Role in Global Nuclear Activity

/

A six-nation group made up of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – U.S., Britain, France, Russia, and China – and Germany, has struck an accord with Iran that will see it open its nuclear program to international inspection. The deal in principle had been in place since November, but remained unsigned prior to this week. Massimo Aparo of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will head the inspections, which will include talks with Iranian nuclear officials as part of a verification process to determine the scope and capability of Iran’s nuclear activity

Read More

A Brief History of CSIS - National Security in a Liberal Democracy

/

In the ever-changing world of digital society, national security apparatuses have continuously expanded their scope and capabilities. New ways of tracking and collecting information has pushed the legal limits of current legislation, while often ambiguous threats from home and abroad has forced our security agencies to use any means at their disposal. Though all in the attempt to keep Canadian citizens and values secure, the result has been a precarious mixture of surveillance of Canadians and inappropriate government oversight. Senator Hugh Segal (retiring this year) wrote an article in the National Post last week demanding that a commission be held to sort out these serious issues. His call for the “modernization of our national security culture” is timely and echoes some of the concerns that led to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's (CSIS) creation nearly thirty years ago.

Read More

Clio’s Current’s Year in Review, 2013-2014

/

In his book, The Rites of Spring, historian Modris Eksteins tries to encapsulate what Europeans thought on the eve of the First World War in 1914. He turned to culture and the arts, and attempted to gauge whether Europeans knew that one of the costliest and deadliest wars in global history was going to envelop the continent in a few short months.

Read More

Film Reviews in the Digital Age and the History of IMDB

/

Times of great change are always appealing to historians – if only because change gives us much more to talk about than its sibling, continuity. Changes over time, large or small, is the bread and butter of history. Perhaps that is why the advent of digital society is so intriguing. We've talked before about some of the transformation of digital society. Today we can witness a vast array of transformations all happening at once. Even seemingly innocuous facets of our lives have been affected, such as how we choose what movies to see.

Read More

From Shell Shock to PTSD: How Far Have We Really Come? by Kellen Kurschinski

/

Kellen Kurschinski, a PhD candidate at McMaster University, offers an in-depth look at the historical development of PTSD. This is a timely and critical piece that places the recent suicides of four Canadian combat veterans in historical context.

Read More

Wheat and Oil: Diefenbaker, Harper and Canadian-American Trade by Matthew Wiseman

/

Matthew Wiseman, a PhD candidate at Wilfrid Laurier University, explores some of the ways in which Canadian prime ministers of the past have capitalized on Canada's resource-rich environment. He provides a historical background to debates surrounding Alberta's tar sands and Canadian economic policy.

Read More

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and "Black Peter"

/

It seems that every November the same question about political correctness arises: is it okay to say “Merry Christmas” as opposed to the more inclusive “Happy Holidays”? While some businesses opt for the all-encompassing holiday wishes, others vehemently oppose getting rid of their Christmas wishes.

Read More

Roger Casement - Traitor and Humanitarian

/

International and moral humanitarian action is very much a product of the 20th century. We've written about the history of humanitarianism in the past and its roots into centuries previous. Today we're exploring a facet of modern humanitarianism as it emerged in the early 20th century in the context of colonies and Empires.

Read More

Opposition to Israeli Policy Isn’t Anti-Semitic

/

Discussions about Israeli policy, Palestinian statehood, and just about any other issue involved in today’s Middle Eastern geopolitical landscape elicits a great deal of emotion. Some North Americans see a critique of Israeli state policy as an attack on not just the State of Israel, but also on Jews. Our previous post on Harper’s stance towards Israel fomented some heated discussion online, so we want to take an opportunity to provide a more pointed discussion on Israel.

Read More

Stephen Harper's Strange Obsession with Israel

/

The Canadian government's position on Israel has once again entered the spotlight this week, as Liberal fundraiser Stephen Bronfman pointed out that Justin Trudeau had actually been to Israel, while Israel's close friend Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not. A day later, reports emerged that the Prime Minister would be visiting Israel shortly – perhaps to visit the Bird Sanctuary that is being named in his honour. Again, the strange connection the Conservatives have forged with Israel seems stronger than ever but no less explicable.

Read More

Canadian and EU Integration: No Easy Road

/

Last week we explored some issues involving EU integration and Kiev’s decision not to sign the historic EU Association Agreement, which some argue would have put the Ukraine firmly on the road to prosperity. In light of the recent riots in the Ukraine’s capital—and the harsh government reaction to them—this post looks at some of the difficulties North Americans have when conceptualizing EU’s endless objective of expansion.

Read More