Archive for May, 1999
Canada Corner
Settling For Scrip
“The mission of the…Half-breed Commission has been entirely successful,” boasted commissioners James Walker and Arthur Côté in their final report to the federal government’s minister of the interior. Writing from Calgary in the fall of 1899, Walker and Côté had every reason to be pleased with themselves. Their four-month expedition to the Athabasca country north of Edmonton had just “quieted” the land claims of some 1,200 Métis by handing out land grants or scrip worth an incredible $300,000. At [...]
May 1, 1999, by Jeffrey S. Murray
Canada Corner
A Capital In Bloom
In January 1943, a foreign country’s flag flew from the top of the Peace Tower in Ottawa for the first and only time. Even though Canada was at war, the flag raising was not an aggressive act, but a symbol of joy.
Princess Juliana of the Netherlands had just given birth to her third daughter, Princess Margriet, at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. She and her children were taking shelter in Ottawa during WW II. Due to a Dutch law that required any heir to the throne to be born on Dutch soil, Parliament had taken the extraordinary step of declaring the [...]
May 1, 1999, by Laura Byrne Paquet
War Art
Pegi Nicol MacLeod
Pegi Nicol MacLeod’s abiding respect for Canadian servicewomen is recognized in her war art. From top to bottom: Spoon Bouquet, Shy WRCN and Morning Parade.
Pegi Nicol MacLeod’s paintings are alive [...]
May 1, 1999, by Jennifer Morse
Defence Today
The Canada Forces Today: Part 4 of 4 – The Navy Charts Its Course
by Bill Fairbairn
The need to improve the quality of life for Canadian Forces personnel has been a recurring theme throughout this four-part series. In Part 4, the head of Canada’s navy explains why he thinks it is so important to address this concern.
Vice-Admiral Greg Maddison believes that no matter how modern or sophisticated your equipment is, it is the sailors and their families who must be taken care of first. “Pay is the core issue in addressing Canada’s sailors and their families,” he told the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs last year.
Maddison says the [...]
May 1, 1999
Canadian Military History in Perspective
The Toll Of Verrières Ridge: Army, Part 26
General Bernard Montgomery’s armoured blitzkrieg–Operation Goodwood–ended July 20, 1944, in a storm of rain and recriminations. Before the battle, Montgomery had talked confidently of a “real showdown on the eastern flank” with his armour reaching as far as Falaise. When the operation ended the industrial suburbs of Caen had been cleared and some 40 square miles added to the Orne bridgehead. Falaise, however, was a distant dream.Montgomery’s critics at Allied headquarters were scathing in their comments, arguing that Montgomery had again failed to press home his attack. Others, especially front-line soldiers, thought the operation had been far too costly. The [...]
