What are some interesting social historical events or persons in Canada?
May 27, 2021 11:47 AM Subscribe
I am trying to learn more about Canadian history, specifically social events and persons with a social impact in Canada. Are there any underrated social-historical events or persons in Canada worth learning about? Whether it changed the profound course of law, politics, et cetera, but with a sociological impact? I am looking for underrated or lesser-known social events and social persons, but open to all as well.
This is perhaps the broadest question you could possibly ask, but why not start with Louis Riel? Or the War of 1812? Or John Ware, or the October Crisis?
Without knowing your level of knowledge or your interests, it's hard to direct you toward anything in particular, but all of the above are interesting reading.
posted by sagc at 11:53 AM on May 27, 2021 [5 favorites]
Without knowing your level of knowledge or your interests, it's hard to direct you toward anything in particular, but all of the above are interesting reading.
posted by sagc at 11:53 AM on May 27, 2021 [5 favorites]
I'm guessing based on your previous posts that you're hoping to understand some more about Canadian history/culture so that you're kind of in the know before you come here?
If that's the case, Terry Fox (and the Terry Fox run) is an important figure to know about. Also the Canadian Encyclopedia in general that I just linked to is a good resource.
posted by thebots at 11:56 AM on May 27, 2021 [8 favorites]
If that's the case, Terry Fox (and the Terry Fox run) is an important figure to know about. Also the Canadian Encyclopedia in general that I just linked to is a good resource.
posted by thebots at 11:56 AM on May 27, 2021 [8 favorites]
The Toronto Circus Riot of 1855 which led to significant police reform.
Which overlaps with the relatively unknown history of the Orange Order in Toronto.
Modern Toronto isn't the kind of place you think about when you think "street riots" but once upon a time it was a pretty different place.
posted by GuyZero at 11:57 AM on May 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Which overlaps with the relatively unknown history of the Orange Order in Toronto.
Modern Toronto isn't the kind of place you think about when you think "street riots" but once upon a time it was a pretty different place.
posted by GuyZero at 11:57 AM on May 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
You'd probably be interested in Secret Life of Canada (website, podcast).
posted by sockpup at 11:59 AM on May 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by sockpup at 11:59 AM on May 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Seconding Secret Life of Canada.
As regards people: Tom Longboat.
(GuyZero: depending on where you're from, one might be very very alarmingly aware of the Orange Order.)
posted by scruss at 12:09 PM on May 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
As regards people: Tom Longboat.
(GuyZero: depending on where you're from, one might be very very alarmingly aware of the Orange Order.)
posted by scruss at 12:09 PM on May 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Shannen Koostachin was a Cree youth leader from Attawapiskat First Nation who advocated for federal government accountability around reserve schools, which notoriously receive less funding and are horribly maintained compared to off-reserve schools.
Tragically, Shannen died in a car accident just before her 16th birthday in 2010. The legacy of her fight for equal education is Kattawapiskak Elementary School in Attawapiskat, which started construction the day she was supposed to graduate from high school in 2012, and opened in September 2014.
Filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary Hi-ho Mistahey! (it means “I love you” in Cree) is about Shannen and her fight for educational equity for Indigenous children.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:42 PM on May 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Tragically, Shannen died in a car accident just before her 16th birthday in 2010. The legacy of her fight for equal education is Kattawapiskak Elementary School in Attawapiskat, which started construction the day she was supposed to graduate from high school in 2012, and opened in September 2014.
Filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary Hi-ho Mistahey! (it means “I love you” in Cree) is about Shannen and her fight for educational equity for Indigenous children.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:42 PM on May 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yeah, Louis Riel is probably less known, but still a dramatic part of Canada's expansion. The Red River Rebellion helped cement Canada's independent government.
An interesting sidenote was that Riels quasi-success encouraged some American Fenians to head to Pembina, ND, and tried to invade Canada to hold it hostage in exchange for Ireland's independence. They got a couple hundred yards into Canada before they got arrested. The Irish were released with the weak defense that it wasn't proven they weren't actually in Canada yet (the border wasn't well defined at the time; the official survey came through a few years later), while the indigenous members of the party were treated more harshly.
posted by AzraelBrown at 1:38 PM on May 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
An interesting sidenote was that Riels quasi-success encouraged some American Fenians to head to Pembina, ND, and tried to invade Canada to hold it hostage in exchange for Ireland's independence. They got a couple hundred yards into Canada before they got arrested. The Irish were released with the weak defense that it wasn't proven they weren't actually in Canada yet (the border wasn't well defined at the time; the official survey came through a few years later), while the indigenous members of the party were treated more harshly.
posted by AzraelBrown at 1:38 PM on May 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
More local, but you might be interested in Meet the Few Women With Vancouver Streets Named After Them"
"Well of course you can be a teacher as a woman of colour, just go get your swimming certs first, those are very critical for teaching math."
...
"Oh, no, sorry, only white people are allowed in the pool."
posted by porpoise at 1:44 PM on May 27, 2021
"Well of course you can be a teacher as a woman of colour, just go get your swimming certs first, those are very critical for teaching math."
...
"Oh, no, sorry, only white people are allowed in the pool."
posted by porpoise at 1:44 PM on May 27, 2021
You need to watch all the Heritage Minutes (only true Canadians know when it is appropriate to say they smell burnt toast) and read everything Charlotte Gray has written.
Adelaide Hoodless saved in an extraordinary amount of lives through education but is relatively little known. She does not have a Minute or a write up by Gray though.
posted by saucysault at 2:55 PM on May 27, 2021 [9 favorites]
Adelaide Hoodless saved in an extraordinary amount of lives through education but is relatively little known. She does not have a Minute or a write up by Gray though.
posted by saucysault at 2:55 PM on May 27, 2021 [9 favorites]
I know you said you're looking for lesser-known ones, but I think you really need to start with the big ones and go from there. The lesser-known ones will be harder to understand without the larger context and just because you may know the history of something from your country's perspective, doesn't mean you'll understand what it means from the Canadian one.
It would help you to understand a bit about the War of 1812, and the Canadian perspective on it (i.e. the U.S. didn't win the war, "Canadians" burned the White House, and Laura Secord and her cow).
From a nation-building perspective, it helps to have some reference about how WWI and WWII shaped and defined Canada as a nation and as a player on the international stage. Similarly, it helps to understand Canada's role in the post-war UN (peace keeping is usually what comes to mind but there's a bit more to it than that).
Other key concepts to understanding why Canada is as it is now include "Two Solitudes," and bilingualism and biculturalism (this might be a good place to start as it's written for educators who are introducing some of these subjects to students), "Quiet Revolution" in Quebec, the Anti-Inflation Act (and wages and price controls and the rise of Western alienation) of the 1970s, the "Oka Crisis," and the Repatriation of the Constitution (The Constitution Act and the infamous "nothwithstanding clause").
The free-trade debate and the free-trade election did more to shape the economic future of this country than pretty much anything in the past half-century.
posted by sardonyx at 3:36 PM on May 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
It would help you to understand a bit about the War of 1812, and the Canadian perspective on it (i.e. the U.S. didn't win the war, "Canadians" burned the White House, and Laura Secord and her cow).
From a nation-building perspective, it helps to have some reference about how WWI and WWII shaped and defined Canada as a nation and as a player on the international stage. Similarly, it helps to understand Canada's role in the post-war UN (peace keeping is usually what comes to mind but there's a bit more to it than that).
Other key concepts to understanding why Canada is as it is now include "Two Solitudes," and bilingualism and biculturalism (this might be a good place to start as it's written for educators who are introducing some of these subjects to students), "Quiet Revolution" in Quebec, the Anti-Inflation Act (and wages and price controls and the rise of Western alienation) of the 1970s, the "Oka Crisis," and the Repatriation of the Constitution (The Constitution Act and the infamous "nothwithstanding clause").
The free-trade debate and the free-trade election did more to shape the economic future of this country than pretty much anything in the past half-century.
posted by sardonyx at 3:36 PM on May 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Sorry, based on something said upthread, I confused you with another MeFite who is moving to Canada from overseas. So ignore my comment about learning the Canadian perspective. I'm sure you've got well in hand.
posted by sardonyx at 4:32 PM on May 27, 2021
posted by sardonyx at 4:32 PM on May 27, 2021
Henry Morgentaler was a reproductive justice advocate starting in the late 1960s and did abortion care (and much more) despite more than one clinic bombing. He was a mensch.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 4:44 PM on May 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Lawn Beaver at 4:44 PM on May 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
My friend studied for her citizenship test almost exclusively by watching heritage minutes and passed with flying colors. 🇨🇦
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:53 PM on May 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:53 PM on May 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
Jim Egan. See Egan v. Canada, in which the Supreme Court dismissed Egan's appeal but simultaneously held that sexual orientation is an "analogous ground" under the Charter. It's hard to understate how important the (positive) legal consequences of this ruling were for Canada. Egan had been out and politically active since the 1940s (!!!) until his death in 2000.
See also Delwin Vriend and Vriend v. Alberta.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:04 PM on May 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
See also Delwin Vriend and Vriend v. Alberta.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:04 PM on May 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
*hard to overstate, rather.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:35 PM on May 27, 2021
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:35 PM on May 27, 2021
I would encourage everybody to take the free course offered by the University of Alberta called Indigenous Canada. Link
“Indigenous Canada is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada.
From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations.”
posted by Juniper Toast at 6:22 PM on May 27, 2021 [6 favorites]
“Indigenous Canada is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada.
From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations.”
posted by Juniper Toast at 6:22 PM on May 27, 2021 [6 favorites]
Perhaps you know all about this already, but for anyone interested in Canadian socio-historic events, I think these are incredibly significant.
The Starlight Tours are not frequently discussed, and had some public ramifications, though far less than was warranted. The underlying effects were unquestionably profound.
The residential school system that closed in 1996 would also fit into this category.
posted by ananci at 10:01 PM on May 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
The Starlight Tours are not frequently discussed, and had some public ramifications, though far less than was warranted. The underlying effects were unquestionably profound.
The residential school system that closed in 1996 would also fit into this category.
posted by ananci at 10:01 PM on May 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
The razing of Africville.
The Halifax Explosion (significant in several ways, including increased understanding of public health and making Halifax a centre for treating eye injuries.)
Freedomites (Doukhobors) in BC whose protests (often nude) lead to the founding of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.
Tommy Douglas, the father of healthcare.
Mary Two-Axe Earley, whose activism highlights the incredible lateness of voting rights in Canada.
I want to add my vote in to learn about residential schools; the last residential school closed in 1996, and horrors are still coming out as late as today.
posted by warriorqueen at 4:20 AM on May 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
The Halifax Explosion (significant in several ways, including increased understanding of public health and making Halifax a centre for treating eye injuries.)
Freedomites (Doukhobors) in BC whose protests (often nude) lead to the founding of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.
Tommy Douglas, the father of healthcare.
Mary Two-Axe Earley, whose activism highlights the incredible lateness of voting rights in Canada.
I want to add my vote in to learn about residential schools; the last residential school closed in 1996, and horrors are still coming out as late as today.
posted by warriorqueen at 4:20 AM on May 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
Nthing Louis Riel, Africville and the still-emerging national disgrace of how Indigenous people have been treated.
Would add how recently Newfoundland joined Canada (1949! and there are still plenty of folks who are pissed about it, and fly the Newfie independence flag which is green/white/pink), as told in the book Colony of Unrequited Dreams, which is historical fiction.
posted by dotparker at 11:18 AM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Would add how recently Newfoundland joined Canada (1949! and there are still plenty of folks who are pissed about it, and fly the Newfie independence flag which is green/white/pink), as told in the book Colony of Unrequited Dreams, which is historical fiction.
posted by dotparker at 11:18 AM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
There's a lot of good suggestions above though I will caution about one thing. JJ McCullough, while not a conspiracist as far as I've seen, is considered a crank & blowhard by some and much of his commentary is often tinged with Alt-Right talking points and a love of Right Wing populism in Canada and abroad. While the history he presents isn't wrong exactly he does tend to lean heavily into viewing it from a very right wing and "old stock" perspective. That may or may not be a problem for you.
If you're a bookish sort I have some suggestions. I don't think it is a particularly lesser known event, at least among French Canadians, but I recently read A Great and Noble Scheme by John Mack Faragher about the Acadian Expulsion which, while largely from an American historical perspective, does an good job with filling of the big knowledge holes that, at least I had, when it came to the lead up to and the Acadian Expulsion itself (and I say that as someone of Acadian descent). I think the book's greatest weakness might be in the lack of Quebec and Canadian history in the history of the Acadian Expulsion as there are times I think certain historical incidents could use more context. Overall it does a good job illustrating the historical reasons for the differences between the French on the East Coast of Canada from those of Quebec, the relationship of Europe with its colonies and how that relationship played out here and the persecution Catholics faced in the New World. In terms of specific individuals, some very well known and others not so much, there's the book series from Penguin that covers Extraordinary Canadians which are all fairly decent, relatively short and readable.
In recent years, there's been a lot of really great books about Canada’s Indigenous peoples, whose stories often get severely neglected in our histories. Some good ones (but a non-exhaustive list): The North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel's People, the Metis Nation by Jean Teillet, The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Bob Joseph, Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga and the really interesting and largely unknown story of indigenous people who travelled to Egypt called Mohawks on the Nile by Carl Benn.
A couple of older books I think are interesting to look at - Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in New France by Brett Rushford and particularly Canada's Forgotten Slaves: Two Hundred Years of Bondage by Marcel Trudel and George Tombs which look specifically at slavery of Africans and indigenous people in Canada which, as Canadians, is definitely a topic we are deeply ignorant of to the point many think we never had any kind of slavery in our country.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:28 AM on May 28, 2021
If you're a bookish sort I have some suggestions. I don't think it is a particularly lesser known event, at least among French Canadians, but I recently read A Great and Noble Scheme by John Mack Faragher about the Acadian Expulsion which, while largely from an American historical perspective, does an good job with filling of the big knowledge holes that, at least I had, when it came to the lead up to and the Acadian Expulsion itself (and I say that as someone of Acadian descent). I think the book's greatest weakness might be in the lack of Quebec and Canadian history in the history of the Acadian Expulsion as there are times I think certain historical incidents could use more context. Overall it does a good job illustrating the historical reasons for the differences between the French on the East Coast of Canada from those of Quebec, the relationship of Europe with its colonies and how that relationship played out here and the persecution Catholics faced in the New World. In terms of specific individuals, some very well known and others not so much, there's the book series from Penguin that covers Extraordinary Canadians which are all fairly decent, relatively short and readable.
In recent years, there's been a lot of really great books about Canada’s Indigenous peoples, whose stories often get severely neglected in our histories. Some good ones (but a non-exhaustive list): The North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel's People, the Metis Nation by Jean Teillet, The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Bob Joseph, Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga and the really interesting and largely unknown story of indigenous people who travelled to Egypt called Mohawks on the Nile by Carl Benn.
A couple of older books I think are interesting to look at - Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in New France by Brett Rushford and particularly Canada's Forgotten Slaves: Two Hundred Years of Bondage by Marcel Trudel and George Tombs which look specifically at slavery of Africans and indigenous people in Canada which, as Canadians, is definitely a topic we are deeply ignorant of to the point many think we never had any kind of slavery in our country.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:28 AM on May 28, 2021
Currently taking the Indigenous Canada course with a number of friends (okay, yes, because Dan Levy tweeted about it) - not 'lesser known' but it has radically altered my understanding of the treaties we live under and the many many many many times the state has broken and continues to break those treaties...
posted by stray at 1:12 PM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by stray at 1:12 PM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: @stray Thank you for the wealth of feedback -- this list is fantastic.
posted by RearWindow at 9:58 AM on May 29, 2021
posted by RearWindow at 9:58 AM on May 29, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kevinbelt at 11:52 AM on May 27, 2021 [1 favorite]