Party of the People: Peter Lougheed and the Alberta PCs

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Party of the People: Peter Lougheed and the Alberta PCs

The election of New Democrat Rachel Notley has left many Albertans and Canadians in shock – the governing Progressive Conservatives had entered government (just under) 44 years ago, on August 31 1971.  Many of us can’t even remember that and here at Clio’s, we can’t even remember an Albertan Premier before Ralph Klein, who became Premier in 1993.  Many woke up on May 6 wondering if Alberta was resigned to dynasties and if the NDP were setting up for a couple of decades of Alberta rule.  One way or another, the comparison to 1971 when the PCs kicked out the ruling Social Credit Party are thick on the ground.

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What is Environmental History? A Brief Look at the Origins and Dynamics of the Field

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What is Environmental History? A Brief Look at the Origins and Dynamics of the Field

A second massive earthquake overwhelmed Nepal on Tuesday. The quake registered at a magnitude of 7.3, killed 96 people and injured more than 2,300. These unfortunate numbers add to the already high tolls from the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit on April 25. By comparison, the first quake killed more than 8,150 people, injured tens of thousands more and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Yet the treacherous circumstances may worsen, as relief efforts stretch beyond capacity and incoming monsoon rains loom large. The sheer power of nature in such circumstance provides a grim reminder of the fragility of life. Our thoughts and well wishes certainly go out to all persons affected. Today, considering how nature is central to all human affairs, we reflect briefly on the growth and evolution of environmental history.

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The Curious Tale of Cinco de Mayo

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The Curious Tale of Cinco de Mayo

May 5th was Cinco de Mayo, a holiday that sounds like a Mexican celebration but is largely an American one. Latinos Americans first began celebrating the Mexican victory over French forces in 1862. Since then it has spread out from the southeast United States and today Canadians also hold Cinco de Mayo events – or at least, have heard of it.  The curious spread of Cinco de Mayo outside of Mexico reveals the strange nature of public holidays and our celebration of them.

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Canadian Ad Hoc Defence of the Arctic in the Early 1920s – Guest Post by Trevor Ford

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Canadian Ad Hoc Defence of the Arctic in the Early 1920s – Guest Post by Trevor Ford

In August of 2013, Canadians become aware that the Canadian military had been secretly building and testing a stealth snowmobile in the Canadian Arctic. Named Loki, after the mythological shape-shifting Norse god, the snowmobile has been in testing for some time with over $620,000 spent on its development to date. This has led many critics to question what they believe is an exorbitant cost.  However, government officials have pointed out that the research was part of a larger plan to increase Canada’s military presence in the Arctic, which includes the placement of ships, troops, and armed bases throughout Canada’s North.

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Agency and Victimization: Exploring Themes in Aboriginal History

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Agency and Victimization: Exploring Themes in Aboriginal History

In our last post we took a brief look at the historical legacy of Canada’s founding Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, who historian James Daschuk claims instituted a policy of starvation against First Nations in an effort to “clear” prairie lands for railway construction. Aboriginal peoples were either denied food or given rotten meat and diseased animals. Thousands died as a result, but the Dominion government secured its railway and considered the policy a success. Daschuk’s widely acclaimed book Clearing the Plains is one of the more recent examples in Canadian historical literature to have employed a narrative structure that focuses on the colonial victimization of Aboriginal peoples. Today we offer a quick survey of some of the more influential works on Aboriginal history and Native-Newcomer relations, laying the foundation for a short series that explores the growth and evolution of the field.

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Hero or Villain: Sir John A. Macdonald in Recent Canadian memory

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Hero or Villain: Sir John A. Macdonald in Recent Canadian memory

Much has been made of the 200th anniversary of Sir John A. Macdonald’s birth this past January. You may have heard of the events and speeches in Kingston, the city most associated with Macdonald, or more likely read about Macdonald in the spate of articles debating whether he should venerated by Canadians at all. The argument that Macdonald is the most important Father of Confederation – the man who (some suggest singlehandedly) created our nation – is not new, but its rejection question some seminal myths about Canada.

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Eyes on Target: Military Domestic Surveillance in Canada - Guest Post by Trevor Ford

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Eyes on Target: Military Domestic Surveillance in Canada - Guest Post by Trevor Ford

In wake of Bill C-51 being introduced in parliament, there has been much discussion about what kind of latitudes law enforcement agencies should have when it comes to terrorism prevention through the monitoring of Canadians. Today many Canadian’s know what CSIS is and how the RCMP complements their intelligence gathering abilities to combat all forms of perceived threats. Yet, in recent years there has been some alleged violations of their mandate by launching investigations on Aboriginal rights activists such as Associate Professor Cindy Blackstock who was researching welfare for Aboriginal children on reserves. Likewise, another Aboriginal rights activist Pam Palmater, a Mi'kmaq lawyer and professor at Ryerson University, has alleged that CSIS and the RCMP opened up investigations on her due to her association to the Idle No More protest movement. In both cases the entire story is unclear but it can be surmised from the available evidence against both activists that some form of investigation has taken place.

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Teaching Alberta’s Dark Secret: The History of Eugenics

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Teaching Alberta’s Dark Secret: The History of Eugenics

On Clio’s Current we have not been shy to express our opinions on a range of historical and contemporary issues related to Canadian and international topics. We continually rethink our approach to the research and writing process, and attempt to make our intensions clear and well-known. We like to think our work offers a perspective or unique approach to developing more in-depth critical awareness of important and everyday matters. But often times our work is constrained within the confines of our platform. We speak about change, yet seldom do our arguments extend beyond one blog or a series of related posts. Seldom does our work spark a widespread discussion. In today’s post we highlight once instance where the work of a group of young historians is sparking a strong social awareness and response to historical and contemporary issues: the education of eugenics in Alberta.

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Closing the Door: A Short History of Canada's "Open Nominations"

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Closing the Door: A Short History of Canada's "Open Nominations"

In 2013, Justin Trudeau announced that under his leadership the Liberal Party would be committed to open nominations of Liberal Party candidates. The promise remains in a prominent place on the Liberal website, though his commitment to it has been questioned many times in the last two years. Both the NDP and the Conservative parties have offered a commitment to open nominations, cementing it as an “important” part of the lead-up to the 2015 federal election. Today we look at how the principle of open nominations (or lack thereof) became part of Canada’s political process.

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The Legacy of Military Training in the Canadian Arctic

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The Legacy of Military Training in the Canadian Arctic

Today the likelihood of Canada being attacked by either land, sea or air seems remote. Our territory and sovereignty are not only protected by our own resources but those of our allies as well. Yet the increasing globalization of our world continues to create pressures that will eventually boil over. With this in mind Clio’s Current has previously discussed the Canadian Arctic. We have focused on the importance (or lack thereof) to assertions of territorial sovereignty made by past and present Canadian governments, but we have yet to examine in any depth the possibility of Canada’s north coming under attack. Although such an idea may seem farfetched, it’s important to reflect on a time when the Canadian Arctic was vulnerable and concerns for many were high in our country

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The October Crisis of 1970 and Bill C-51: When is the government more important than the individual?

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The October Crisis of 1970 and Bill C-51: When is the government more important than the individual?

The introduction of Bill C-51 has garnered some of the fiercest debates over individual rights and government powers in recent Canadian history. While its supporters point to its purpose in defending Canada from the threat of terrorism, many of its critics reject its necessity as a means of protecting Canadians. Some have alluded to another time in Canadian history when individual rights were compromised in the name of the greater good, the 1970 October Crisis. Today we examine this comparison and consider whether there are any lessons from government reaction to the FLQ that can be applied to the debate over C-51 in 2015.

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Canadian Economics and the Keystone Pipeline Debate

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As oil prices remain volatile on global markets Canadians across the nation are reacting quite differently. Some are pleased with the overall dip in fuel prices at the pump, while others are pessimistic over the downward spiral of the Canadian dollar. The Harper government has placed a considerable amount of store in the extraction of oil, a topic which we previously broached in brief. But given the ongoing saga of the Keystone pipeline stateside, perhaps it’s time we revisit Canada’s position in the global economic system to further assess the wider impact of recent events. 

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Technology and Commemoration: Remembering the Unknown Soldier

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Technology and Commemoration: Remembering the Unknown Soldier

In the aftermath of the First World War, many of the belligerent nations instituted memorials to the Unknown Soldier. First in France, Britain and Italy – then others – governments laid to rest the remains of a soldier that could not be identified. It symbolized the futility and terribleness of modern war that left so many of the dead lost to the churning trenches of European battlefields. The Unknown Soldier, though still familiar to us today, is a symbol of a time increasingly distant from contemporary commemoration.

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A Colonial Burden: Aboriginal Educational Reform in Canada

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The next Canadian federal election is scheduled for this coming October. While that date may seem far away, we are nearing a new campaign season which is sure to generate much interest and debate. One of the key issues entering the next election will surely be Aboriginal relations and the growing gap that exists between First Nations and the rest of Canada. The gap can be viewed in terms of financial and health related issues, as well as education of youth in particular. Indeed, First Nations communities currently face multiple crises. In light of this, today’s post focuses specifically on the push in Canada for Aboriginal educational reform.

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Remembering to Forget: The Curious History of the London Stone

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One of the lesser-known mysteries of London, England, is tucked away between the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral. At 111 Canon Street, inside a WHSmith (a British book retailer and, incidentally, the inventor of the ISBN catalogue system) behind a protective grille sits the London Stone. No one knows the purpose or significance of the Stone other than the one imposed upon it by generations of Londoners and writers. Many have mentioned it over the last 900 years as a significant object for London’s history, but no clue remains as to its origins. In a sense, it is historically important because people have made it so.

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A Delayed Response: Historians and the Study of Film

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Film is today widely used by many historians to investigate past and present social, cultural and political currents. Film historians make use of the traditional primary source materials—production records, scripts, trade journals, the diaries and memories of film-makers, and publicity records such as box-office sales and film reviews—but the main sources for film historians are the films themselves. This creates a unique dilemma, because films are complex cultural texts that are in many ways different from traditional historical sources such as letters and government records or even traditional literary texts such as novels. As such the analysis of film requires specialist methods and skills that are unique to film history.

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Local to Global: The Globalization of Sport

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A few weeks ago Canadians celebrated their victory over Russia in World Junior Hockey Championship. Ten teams took part in the tournament from nations around the world. While thousands of Canadians were able to attend the games in Montreal and Toronto, and thousands of others travelled the long distance from their own countries, millions more tuned in to watch the games on television. While sport is primarily a community activity, over the last century and a half it has expanded its international reach considerably. It has managed to straddle the local and global with remarkable ease.

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Back to the Future: ISIL and Confessional Conflict in the Modern World

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Recent attacks in Paris and Nigeria have once again cast a light on extreme elements of Islam. Many in the West condemn these extremists, some through hyperbolic statements denouncing the Islamic faith, others with declarations of unity with the majority of Muslims who practice their faith peacefully. The rise of Islamic extremism is a complex issue. Few commentators have compared it with Christianity’s religious history and the relationship between extreme ideology and transforming political structures. In the case of ISIS, some useful and interesting parallels exist.

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Cloudy Visions: Weapons and Defence in Canada

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The infamous mushroom cloud synonymous with a nuclear explosion evokes a different response depending on audience. Most will immediately harken back to the Second World War when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Others may think of Cold War nuclear tests by Britain and the former Soviet Union (Russia). Depending on perspective, you might awe at the display of power or cringe at the thought of chaos and annihilation. Today we are far removed from the volatile circumstances that resulted in the first use of atomic weaponry, despite what former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev might think. Yet the evolution and proliferation of weapons technology continues at a rapid pace, and destruction of both property and peoples is ongoing. In attempting to somehow measure or quantify human life, many scholars point to death toll statistics in times of both war and peace. These studies aim not to reduce the fragility of human existence to numbers, but rather to help explore the conditions that led to an awful reality. One of those conditions is weapons creation, and on that topic Canada is certainly not as innocent as many think.

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New Identities and the Cultural History of #GamerGate

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If you have an ear to the gaming world, you might have recently read about the #GamerGate campaign and the furious debate between its supporters and opponents. Both sides hold complex opinions that are blurred by the variety of individuals supporting them – it’s hard to pin down what each actually represents. The diversity of positions and actions taken in the name of one side or the other obscures any claims to the debate’s cohesion. To better understand #GamerGate, we turn to cultural historians to shed light on the problems raised by the messy divides of the newest “culture war” in 2014.

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