(L-R) Omisoore Dryden (audience) reacts to what she perceives as a eurocentric comment from the moderator Fred Kuhr, who apologizes. Audience Q&A, Queer Peers, a Human Rights Panel Discussion on International Transgender Politics,

An evening of Queer Expressions, Photos © Linda Dawn Hammond / IndyFoto.com and Pride Toronto 2009, Tuesday June 23, 2009,

Gladstone Hotel, Toronto

 

Moderator: Fred Kuhr

Panelists:

(L-R) Victor Mukasa, Susan Gapka, Erika Ayala, Evana Ortigoza , Notisha Massaquoi, Christine Decelles, N. Nicole Nussbaum

 

Global Trans Rights Activist Victor Mukasa from Uganda has been chosen as Pride Toronto's 2009 International Grand Marshal. Join us as we pay tribute to the brave queer activists fighting for their rights in Africa and specifically in Uganda. Come and hear Victor speak. As the 2009 International Grand Marshal, he proudly leads Toronto's Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28 at 2:00PM.

 

Victor Mukasa, Chairperson of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), 2009 Pride Toronto's International Grand Marshal: is the Chairperson of SMUG and a human rights defender for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender liberation in his home country of Uganda and across Africa. As a global trans rights activist, he strives to protect and defend the space to exit freely without harassment, threat, or violence and to change this world' traditional gender categories so that people are no longer punished for simply being who they are.

 

Victor Juliet Mukasa is a Ugandan transgender activist who has gained international recognition for bringing light to human rights issues globally. He is a TransLesbian working with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) as Research and Policy Associate for East, Central and Horn of Africa. Victor is a founding member of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), served as SMUG’s Chairperson from March 2004 to October 2007 and is now serving on the organizations Advisory Board. He’s also the Grand Marshall for Pride Toronto 2009.

 

N. Nicole Nussbaum, Barrister & Solicitor is an Employment and Human Rights Lawyer working with the Fred Victor Trans Employment Support Program. She represents both employees and employers on employment agreements, wrongful dismissal litigation, human rights complaints, employment and human rights trainings, corporate employment policy review and drafting, and other related services. Nicole transitioned from male to female in 2006.

 

Susan Gapka is committed to the empowerment of the marginalized community of transgender and transexual people through her dedication to social justice and her activism. She has been vocal in her lobbying the government for the rights of transpeople. Susan has won several awards for her work, worked on several committees, and facilitated many workshops and training sessions.

 

Notisha Massaquoi is originally from Sierra Leone and is the Executive Director of Women's Health in Women's Hands Community Health Centre (WHCHC). Her most recent publication is the edited anthology Theorizing Empowerment: Canadian Perspectives on Black Feminist Thought. She is the winner of the 2008 IRN-Africa Audre Lorde award for outstanding writing and she is currently working on a second collection of writing with Selly Thiam entitled, None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa. Her most recent work has been implementing transgender programming into the WHCHC.

 

Christine Decelles is a volunteer with PWA Speakers Bureau, and an active participant and advocate in the gay community and HIV/AIDS movement who has been living with HIV for 21 years. She has done volunteer work for 10 years at PASAN, working with people who are positive within the prison system. She is the chair of Ritten House, an agency dealing with transformative justice, and also a member of Voices of Positive Women. Christine is working hard to break down the stigma and discrimination around HIV, AIDS, transsexual and transgendered people.

 

Erika Ayala was born in Mexico City, and has been living as a female since she was 15 years old. She first immigrated to the United States where she lived for 10 years, before moving to Canada five years ago. Erika recounts her claim for refugee status, applying as a trans-person and experiencing trans-phobia. The Queer Refugee Experience in Canada

 

Evana Ortigoza is a Trans Sex Outreach Worker with TransPULSE and 519 Community Centre. She was born in Venezuela, immigrated to Canada in 1994, and danced with the National Ballet of Canada for 4 years. She also coordinates the weekly Meal Trans Drop-In for low income trans-people.

In the past year there were many tragic cases of teen suicide, so I decide few months ago to write about my experience with depression and suicidal thoughts. I hope this writing be of help to someone who needs it.

 

Background

 

As you might know I grew up in Iraq to a Roman Catholic family. In the Middle East depression and suicide are almost taboo because of ignorance. Many people equate depression with mental illness (not that mental illness is something to jeer about), and so the general thought patterns goes something like this, “You can’t marry him because his brother has depression and tried to commit suicide once!” To them depression is like bad genes you really don’t want your children to have. So people often times become depressed but don’t tell anyone and don’t get any treatment because they feel ashamed. And if a family member attempted suicide the family doesn’t tell anyone because they feel ashamed, and are scared that nobody will marry from their family anymore. Because depression went untreated there were many cases of suicide especially by women.

 

Growing up as a Roman Catholic didn’t help either. I remember being told since I was a child that God forgives all sins except the sin of suicide. It wasn’t until many years later when I left the Roman Catholic church and embraced Christianity as taught in the Word of God, that I realized the teaching of the Roman Catholic church about suicide has no biblical grounds.

 

Immigration to Canada

 

Immigrating to Canada at the age of 17 was depressing. I found it hard to adjust to the Canadian way of life, and Canada’s long winters didn’t help. Not having extra money meant I couldn’t do a lot in the summer time either. On top of that I was always the introvert thinking type of person and was overly sensitive. Having Trichotillomania also made me more introvert, and both my dad’s family and mom’s family have a history of depression. In the high school years I was doing ok as school kept me busy and I felt that I had a goal—to finish school.

 

But in 2003 when I graduated from high school I went to work in a warehouse as a general labour and forklift operator. My job was very physically exhausting, and the nature of the job (general labour) made doing it very difficult mentally—I felt like I was dead on the inside with no dreams or hopes. My job involved loading and unloading trucks manually on daily basis. My feet were always hurting from lifting heavy things all day long and from wearing the steel-toe work boots. I was physically tired about six days a week.

 

Emotionally and spiritually I was simply in my own world. I had started working in the warehouse after high school because I believed God has a plan for my life and I wanted to know what it was so I could obey Him. (I believed He had a plan even for my career.) I had intended to work in that warehouse as long as I haven’t heard from Him. Of course that presented a problem to my family and people close to me. They didn’t understand my motives and I got no support from them. They told me that’s not how Christianity works--that I had gotten it all wrong. I didn’t care if that’s how Christianity worked or not. My goal wasn’t to succeed—Christianity to me wasn’t about making it big—all I wanted is to know this God who so intimately loved and scarified His Son for me. I wanted to hear His voice, I wanted to know personally that He cared.

 

So through those years of working at the warehouse I was constantly depressed and wanted to die. I didn’t know how long I had to wait for him, and the longer I waited the more I wondered if that’s how I will spend the rest of my life: forgotten by God. And I didn’t know who to talk to or where to search. I knew nobody who waited for God for anything. The best examples were from the Bible, but everybody told me that I had misunderstood how the God of the Bible works.. I constantly heard things like, “God help those who help themselves”, and “You do your own thing and ask God to bless you and He will!” Those ideas didn’t ring a bell to me as I had read the Bible cover to cover before a couple of times, and nothing even remotely close to those ideas appear in the Bible.

 

Suicide

 

Needless to say I wished I would just die and end with the misery. I regularly cried asking God to just end my life. But I never acted on those thoughts for one main reason:

 

You see, my family is originally Roman Catholics but few of them now have become atheists, and the rest abandoned the Roman Catholic church and embraced denominations that teach salvation is by grace alone like the Bible teaches. The atheists always make fun of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Bible. They also scoff at a Christian if something happen to him/her, and they knew I believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. So I knew if I had committed suicide then they would scoff at our Lord saying things like, “Where is his Lord, now? How come Christianity didn’t work for him!” I simply didn’t want to be a bad witness.

 

Another thing that kept coming to my mind were those words by my high school teacher Mrs. Weinstein. On the topic of suicide she told me, “Fadi, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” Being a logical thinker her words made sense to me.

 

The most painful memory I have of depression were of one night when I was talking to a very close friend (someone I loved way more than myself!) and I told her that I was very depressed and wished I was dead. She calmly told me, “Well, it’s not that difficult, all you have to do is take about 20 tables of Tylenol and you won’t wake up in the morning.” I was shocked when she told me this. I remember going to the kitchen later on that night to drink water and I passed by the Tylenol bottle thinking, “WOW! If I was someone else he might have went ahead with it and killed himself.” I remember that incident because she was someone I was willing to give up my life for hers, so those words from her hurt me deeply. Later on, as I matured, I realized that she was just being sarcastic as we talked daily and I was often depressed. I guess she was just sick and tired of listening to me complaining about the same things day after day, without me willing to change my situation so I won’t be depressed anymore!

 

What I want to emphasis here is that don’t joke about suicide with a depressed person...you never know what he/she will do. I was lucky to think logically about the matter. And it wasn’t until later that I realized my friend wasn’t seriously about me committing suicide, but what if I thought she was serious? Depression and suicide are not matters that we should take lightly.

 

Suicide is Selfish

 

If you are depressed the last thing you want to hear is that committing suicide is selfish, but it is true! For many years, as far as I could remember, I felt unworthy. I felt ugly, unwanted, undesirable, unloved, and so on. If someone said a single thing that hurt my feelings I remembered it forever, but if someone made a huge sacrifice for me I rarely remembered it! The best word that described how I felt about myself is ‘expendable’. I felt that way about myself because the culture I grew up in esteemed educated men and I was nothing more than a general labourer. I constantly heard things like, “Oh, this girl is so lucky because she married a pharmacist!” or, “...married a doctor”, and so on. And as a man in my early 20s I yearned to find that young woman who would love me for who I am, but all I found was a society obsessed by what a man has and not who he was.

 

Then when my nephew was born I realized this child really, really loves me! I mean, when my sister’s family visited he would be quiet all day long until I came from work, and then the smile on his face would be shinning because he knew he would be playing with me! All he wanted was to play with me...he loved me. And one day out of nowhere it hit me how selfish it is to take my own life—to strip my nephew and nieces from their only uncle whom they loved. Then I thought about my mom who has dedicated her life and sacrificed everything to make sure I am comfortable and happy. Yet I wanted to take her only son, me, away from her, knowing very well how much that would have devastated her. I thought about my future wife, my kids, and my Lord and realized how selfish I was.

 

May be you are depressed and thinking nobody loves you, and you see yourself as “expendable”. No you are not, and the word “expendable” should never be used to describe a human being. I guarantee you there is at least one person who loves you more than you love yourself, and there are many people who dearly care about you but you don’t know about it. Not necessarily because they haven’t shown their love to you, but may be because of your over sensitivity or (honestly) your selfishness.

 

I haven’t gotten depressed in a long time now, and I haven’t thought about ending my life in years. I’ve matured a lot: I am less sensitive, more confident, less selfish, and a much more joyful person today. God matured me in His own way and His own timing. Pray that He does the same for you. As you mature your look on life will change as you understand life and yourself better. After all my teacher was right: suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

 

PS: Special thanks to my classmate Karen Lindsay for posing for the photo, I hope you like it :)

 

(Toronto, ON; winter 2011.)

   

Organizer Bryen Dunn and Panelists:

(L-R) Victor Mukasa, Susan Gapka, Erika Ayala, Evana Ortigoza , Notisha Massaquoi, Christine Decelles, N. Nicole Nussbaum, Panel Discussion, Queer Peers, a Human Rights Panel Discussion on International Transgender Politics,

An evening of Queer Expressions, Photos © Linda Dawn Hammond / IndyFoto.com and Pride Toronto 2009, Tuesday June 23, 2009,

Gladstone Hotel, Toronto

 

Moderator: Fred Kuhr

Panelists:

(L-R) Victor Mukasa, Susan Gapka, Erika Ayala, Evana Ortigoza , Notisha Massaquoi, Christine Decelles, N. Nicole Nussbaum

 

Global Trans Rights Activist Victor Mukasa from Uganda has been chosen as Pride Toronto's 2009 International Grand Marshal. Join us as we pay tribute to the brave queer activists fighting for their rights in Africa and specifically in Uganda. Come and hear Victor speak. As the 2009 International Grand Marshal, he proudly leads Toronto's Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28 at 2:00PM.

 

Victor Mukasa, Chairperson of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), 2009 Pride Toronto's International Grand Marshal: is the Chairperson of SMUG and a human rights defender for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender liberation in his home country of Uganda and across Africa. As a global trans rights activist, he strives to protect and defend the space to exit freely without harassment, threat, or violence and to change this world' traditional gender categories so that people are no longer punished for simply being who they are.

 

Victor Juliet Mukasa is a Ugandan transgender activist who has gained international recognition for bringing light to human rights issues globally. He is a TransLesbian working with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) as Research and Policy Associate for East, Central and Horn of Africa. Victor is a founding member of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), served as SMUG’s Chairperson from March 2004 to October 2007 and is now serving on the organizations Advisory Board. He’s also the Grand Marshall for Pride Toronto 2009.

 

N. Nicole Nussbaum, Barrister & Solicitor is an Employment and Human Rights Lawyer working with the Fred Victor Trans Employment Support Program. She represents both employees and employers on employment agreements, wrongful dismissal litigation, human rights complaints, employment and human rights trainings, corporate employment policy review and drafting, and other related services. Nicole transitioned from male to female in 2006.

 

Susan Gapka is committed to the empowerment of the marginalized community of transgender and transexual people through her dedication to social justice and her activism. She has been vocal in her lobbying the government for the rights of transpeople. Susan has won several awards for her work, worked on several committees, and facilitated many workshops and training sessions.

 

Notisha Massaquoi is originally from Sierra Leone and is the Executive Director of Women's Health in Women's Hands Community Health Centre (WHCHC). Her most recent publication is the edited anthology Theorizing Empowerment: Canadian Perspectives on Black Feminist Thought. She is the winner of the 2008 IRN-Africa Audre Lorde award for outstanding writing and she is currently working on a second collection of writing with Selly Thiam entitled, None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa. Her most recent work has been implementing transgender programming into the WHCHC.

 

Christine Decelles is a volunteer with PWA Speakers Bureau, and an active participant and advocate in the gay community and HIV/AIDS movement who has been living with HIV for 21 years. She has done volunteer work for 10 years at PASAN, working with people who are positive within the prison system. She is the chair of Ritten House, an agency dealing with transformative justice, and also a member of Voices of Positive Women. Christine is working hard to break down the stigma and discrimination around HIV, AIDS, transsexual and transgendered people.

 

Erika Ayala was born in Mexico City, and has been living as a female since she was 15 years old. She first immigrated to the United States where she lived for 10 years, before moving to Canada five years ago. Erika recounts her claim for refugee status, applying as a trans-person and experiencing trans-phobia. The Queer Refugee Experience in Canada

 

Evana Ortigoza is a Trans Sex Outreach Worker with TransPULSE and 519 Community Centre. She was born in Venezuela, immigrated to Canada in 1994, and danced with the National Ballet of Canada for 4 years. She also coordinates the weekly Meal Trans Drop-In for low income trans-people.

Artist: Hilda Woolnough

Title: Apple Box Noon/Fall '84

Medium: Colour Blocks

Size: 26x32 inches

Acquisition date: 1984

Current locations: Premier's Office, 5th floor, Shaw Building

 

Hilda Woolnough has left her mark on Island art like no other. During her 30 years on the Island, Woolnough has been a teacher and tireless champion of artist's rights and opportunities, serving on the boards of many professional provincial and federal arts organizations. She was a driving force behind The Phoenix Gallery, The Gallery-On-Demand, the Great George Street Gallery, The Arts Guild, the Printmakers Council and the Student Art Expo.

Woolnough has pursued her own work with equal vigour, constantly exploring new media. Her passion is for expressive line in drawing and printmaking but she has also created jewellery, weavings, and quilts. Hilda Woolnough was born into a creative family in Northampton, England. Her mother, uncle, and brother were all painters; her father built and restored houses. In 1952 she began traditional training at the Chelsea School of Art in London, drawing from plaster casts and still life, developing strong discipline and technique. It was here that she first experimented with printmaking, a medium she has passionately pursued throughout her career. But it was with a specialty in painting that she graduated in 1955. Woolnough immigrated to Canada in 1957, settling in Hamilton, Ontario. In 1965 she headed to the San Miguel de Allende Instituto in Mexico, where she studied experimental etching for two years, graduating with a Master's of Fine Art degree in graphics. Back in London, she did post-graduate work at the Central School of Art and Design in metal techniques. After designing the etching and lithography departments at the Jamaica School of Art in Kingston, Jamaica, Woolnough found her way to PEI. Together with her husband, UPEI professor, writer and publisher, Reshard Gool, she formed part of the nucleus for a vibrant arts community.

In 1999 Hilda Woolnough received the Adrien Arsenault Senior Arts Award for "contribution to the arts in Prince Edward Island" and was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy. Her work is in many public and private collections including the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Canada Council Art Bank.

Woolnough most often works in series, exploring an idea fully, guided by both intellect and intuition. Nature and the human form provide a starting point, but she moves beyond the representational to a deeper, more universal expression.

"I'm interested in evolution of plants, land, the world," Woolnough once said in a interview. "There are stages in the growth of the brain that are reptilian or flower-like. They're proof that we are all the sum of our parts, like the land or sea." This interest in evolution embraces the development of myth and human culture and the process of transformation, themes she has explored throughout her career.

"What is most important to me as an artist are 'accidents and mistakes' If I don't make them technically and intellectually on a regular basis I don't feel I'm going anywhere. I have lived on Prince Edward Island for about thirty three years, but I have travelled, taught, and done my own work all over the world; and been fortunate enough to have my work in many collections and exhibitions in Canada and abroad, including the Canadian Pavillion in the Spanish Biennial in Seville."

Hilda Woolnough passed away in December 2007.

 

Recent Accomplishments:

 

2001 June - October TIMEPIECE, a collagraph installation , Confederation Centre of the Arts, PEI sponsored by Canada Council, Ottawa, and the Royal Bank Investment Group

1999, Elected to the Royal Canadian Academy./02 Elected to the board of the RCA

1999, Adrien Arsenault Senior Arts Award Major Provincial Award honouring individual "contribution to the arts in Prince Edward Island."

1999 -04, Fishtales - a marine mythology, Salt Spring Island, B.C. Gallery built especially to house this permanent exhibition, originally curated by Joan Murray,Robert MacLaughlin Gallery .Oshawa; Ontario

Collections (Public)

Air Canada, Montreal, Quebec

Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario

Art Gallery of Jamaica

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, N.S.

Canada Council Art Bank

Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Ottawa, Ontario

Canadian Catholic Conference

Canterbury College of Art, Kent, England

Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario Also archival collection Art Gallery 98 and Museum.1998. (work from 1970-98n)

CBC Montreal

Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Esso Resources Division

Gotland Museum, Visby, Sweden

Government of Prince Edward Island

McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario

McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontar

Memorial University Art Gallery, St. John's, Newfoundland

Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Montreal, P.Q.

New Brunswick Art Gallery and Museum

Prince Edward Island Art Bank

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Shell Canada Collection

St. Mary's University, Halifax, N.S.

Toronto Dominion Bank Collection & Universities of New Brunswick, N.B, & PEI

Lance Sergeant Joseph (Joe) Eli Goulding

Regimental Number: 77374

 

Born May 6th, 1895 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. He immigrated to Canada with his family in 1901. Lived in Nelson at the foot of Front Street, and worked as a bookkeeper. He was also a student at the Kootenay Business College. He enlisted in Victoria on November 11th, 1914. Gave his age as two years older than he actually was; said he was born in 1893. He fought in the battles of Festubert and Ypres, and carried his injured brother, John Stratham, to safety at Ypres. Received his sergeant’s stripes at the front in September, 1916. Reported missing and wounded on Oct 8, 1916, in the Regina Trench; 23 years old. Awarded the Military Medal in January, 1917. Officially declared Killed in Action seven months after on October 8th, 1916. Buried in Adanac Military Cemetery, Somme, France.

This is a photo of a photo taken by a friend's father not long after he immigrated to Canada. He took the picture standing near where my parents now live. The car is a 1959 English Ford Consul (convertible).

 

Photo credit: T. Glave.

Photo of photo: Me.

Private Frederick George Hamblin

Regimental Number: 931146

 

Born January 10th, 1872, in Newbury, Berkshire, England. Immigrated to Canada circa 1892 and came to British Colombia circa 1895. Lived in Nelson at 918 Carbonate Street. Worked as a gardener. Enlisted with the 225th Battalion in Nelson on March 9th 1916. Transferred to the 16th Battalion in February, 1917. Served in France with the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles as well. Demobilized on March 28th, 1919 in Vancouver. Married Evelyn Smith at some point. Worked 50 years as a farmer and horticulturist and retired in 1940. Died on June 7th, 1962 in Vancouver; 89 years old.

 

Private John Gillespie Halliday

Regimental Number: 931148

 

Born March 3rd, 1890 in Howliggate, Troqueer, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. Immigrated to Canada and arrived in Boswell circa 1908. He was employed as a labourer there by Captain Roland Ellis. Enlisted with the 225th Battalion in March, 1916. He was later transferred to the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles. While serving as a machine gunner, he was gassed, but later returned to the firing line. He was killed in action during the battle of Amiens, at Demuin, on August 8th 1918; 29 years old. It was reported that he was killed almost instantly by an explosion from an enemy shell, shortly after leaving the “jumping off” trench. Buried at the Caix British Cemetery, Somme, France.

4446 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, BC.

 

This West 5th Avenue house is a fine example of a

craftsman-style home built shortly before the outbreak

of World War I. One of the first houses built on the

block, the value of the house in 1913 is listed in the

building register at $3,500. In photos acquired by the

current owner, and likely taken in the early 1920s, the house

is shown with a wooden City sidewalk in front and nothing

on the north side of the street. Other early homes can be

seen on the south side of the street and the Queen Mary

Elementary School (1915) is visible in the distance.

While not much is known about the history of the house,

the City Directories at the Vancouver Archives show that

C.W. Misener designed, built and owned the house in 1913.

From 1918 through to the 1940s it was the home of J.W.

Barron, a manufacturer’s agent; and in the 1950s George

and Dorothy Jackson, the owners of Jacksons Meat Market,

a Fourth Avenue institution until just a few years ago, lived

in the house. Dorothy Jackson, who now lives on a heritage

farm in Ladner, related to the guidebook researchers that

the Jackson’s were long-time butchers in London, England

before immigrating to Canada in 1905. The senior Jackson

started by working night shift at a meat-cutting plant and

selling meat from a wheelbarrow to Kitsilano houses. Mrs.

Jackson recalls a 1950s renovation that removed the dark

wood paneling, plate rail and light fixtures in the dining

room and the black iron face plate over the fireplace.

 

The current owners have lovingly restored and rehabilitated

the house, and in 2002 won a City of Vancouver Heritage

Award for the front façade restoration and conservation of

the streetscape.

 

- Vancouver Heritage Foundation

The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard bearing no studio name. Although the card was not posted, someone has written the following on the back:

 

"With fondest love from A. P.

30 Sept. 1951

After a Baptism."

 

There's not much to go on, but if anyone out there recognises the church entrance portal, please leave a note.

 

Charlotte Whitton

 

So what else happened on the day of the baptism?

 

Well, on Sunday the 30th. September 1951, Charlotte Whitton became the 46th. mayor of Ottawa.

 

Charlotte Elizabeth Whitton CBE, who was born on the 8th. March 1896, was a Canadian feminist. She was the first woman mayor of a major city in Canada, serving from 1951 to 1956, and again from 1960 to 1964. Whitton was a social policy pioneer, leader and commentator, as well as a journalist and writer.

 

Charlotte Whitton - The Early Years

 

Charlotte Elizabeth Hazeltyne Whitton was born in Renfrew, Ontario, a small Ottawa Valley town about 100 km northwest of Ottawa.

 

She attended Queen's University, where she was the star of the women's hockey team, and was known as the fastest skater in the league. At Queen's, she also served as editor of the Queen's Journal newspaper in 1917; and was the newspaper's first female editor. She was a top student, winning several scholarships at Queen's. She earned her Master of Arts degree in 1917.

 

Charlotte Whitton's Career and Accomplishments

 

From Queen's, she became a civil servant as the private secretary for Thomas Low, MP and Minister of Trade in Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's first government.

 

When Low lost his parliamentary seat, Whitton then focused on her role as founding director (1922) of the Canadian Council on Child Welfare, and worked there until 1941. This became the Canadian Council on Social Development, and helped bring about a wide array of new legislation to help children and immigrants.

 

In 1934, Whitton was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1934 New Year Honours.

 

Whitton was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by Queen's in 1941.

 

Despite her strong views on women's equality, Whitton was a strong social conservative, and did not support making divorce easier. She was a regular columnist in Ottawa's daily newspapers.

 

Charlotte Whitton's Political Career

 

Whitton was elected to Ottawa's Board of Control in 1950, leading the city-wide polls, and started her term on the 1st. January 1951.

 

Upon the unexpected death of mayor Grenville Goodwin in August 1951, only some eight months into his term, Whitton was immediately appointed acting mayor, and on the 30th. September 1951 was confirmed by city council to remain mayor until the end of the normal three-year term.

 

Whitton is sometimes mistakenly credited as the first woman ever to serve as a mayor in Canada, but this distinction is in fact held by Barbara Hanley, who became mayor of the small Northern Ontario town of Webbwood in 1936. Whitton is nevertheless the first woman to serve as mayor of a large Canadian city.

 

Whitton was elected Ottawa mayor in the general municipal election in her own right in 1953, serving until 1956. She turned it into a full-time job.

 

She ran again for mayor of Ottawa in 1960, and was elected, serving until 1964, when she was defeated on her try for re-election.

 

Charlotte Whitton's Opposition to the New Canadian Flag

 

Whitton was a staunch defender of Canada's traditions, and, as Ottawa mayor, condemned Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson's proposal in 1964 for new national flag to replace the traditional Canadian Red Ensign.

 

Whitton dismissed Pearson's design:

 

"It is a white badge of surrender, waving

three dying maple leaves which might as

well be three white feathers on a red

background. It is a poor observance of

our first century as a nation if we run up

a flag of surrender with three dying maple

leaves on it."

 

For Whitton, the Red Ensign, with its Union Jack and coat of arms containing symbols of England, Scotland, Ireland and France (or a similar flag with traditional symbols on it) would be a stronger embodiment of the Canadian achievement in peace and war.

 

She became well-known for her assertiveness, and for her vicious wit with which many male colleagues, and once the Lord Mayor of London, were attacked. She is noted for the quotation:

 

"Whatever women do they must

do twice as well as men to be thought

half as good.

Luckily, this is not difficult."

 

In 1955, while mayor, she appeared on the American game show and television series What's My Line.

 

In the 1958 federal election, Whitton made her only attempt to run for Parliament, in the riding of Ottawa West, as the Progressive Conservative nominee.

 

Although Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and Ontario Premier Leslie Frost campaigned for her, Charlotte lost to Liberal Party incumbent George McIlraith by 1,425 votes.

 

Whitton was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1967.

 

Charlotte ran for the position of city alderwoman (councillor) in 1967, and was elected, serving until 1972.

 

Accusations of Racism

 

Whitton had many remarkable achievements, but her story is framed by current controversy over some of her actions.

 

Fraidie Martz wrote a book titled 'Open Your Hearts: The Story of the Jewish War Orphans in Canada' which accused Charlotte of espousing a 'scientific' racism that viewed groups such as Jews and Armenians as 'undesirable' immigrants.

 

In 1938, Charlotte attended a conference in Ottawa to launch the Canadian National Committee on Refugees (CNCR). While there she showed opposition to some of the other attendees' arguments.

 

A common belief is that she was directly opposed to Jews, and in particular Jewish children. Oscar Cohen of the Canadian Jewish Congress is reported to have said:

 

"She almost broke up the inaugural

meeting of the congress on refugees

by her insistent opposition and very

apparent anti-Semitism."

 

This sentiment is countered by the official record, which includes notes from her presentation, including:

 

"We need to lobby the government to

initiate a long-term refugee program and

to protect all at risk, particularly Hebrews

in the Reich and in Italy."

 

However, according to the Canadian Jewish Congress:

 

"Certainly in the course of the Second World

War and the Holocaust, she was instrumental

in keeping Jewish orphans out of Canada

because of her belief that Jews would not

make good immigrants, and were basically

inferior."

 

As Mayor in 1964, she declined Bertram Loeb's $500,000 donation to Ottawa Civic Hospital. The official rationale was that the city could not afford to keep the centre operating. However the sentiment also exists that:

 

"She simply didn't want the name

of a Jewish family on an Ottawa

hospital building."

 

According to Patricia Rooke (co-author of a 1987 biography of Whitton), Charlotte was a "complete anglophile" who opposed all non-British immigration to Canada:

 

"Charlotte Whitton was a racist. Her

anti-Semitism, I think, was the least

of it. She was quite racist about the

Ukrainians, for example. She really

didn't like the changing character

of Canadian society."

 

In opposition to the anti-Semite argument, Whitton was well received by various Jewish organizations in her lifetime, including B'nai B'rith and various Jewish-centred publications.

 

She was also a supporter of—and the first to sign the nomination papers of—the first Jewish Mayor of Ottawa, Lorry Greenberg, who served as Ottawa mayor from 1975–1978.

 

In 2011 Whitton's name was kept off a new Archives Building in Ottawa due to the ongoing controversy.

 

Charlotte Whitton's Personal Life

 

Whitton never married, but lived for years in a Boston marriage living arrangement with Margaret Grier (1892 – 9th. December 1947).

 

Her relationship with Grier was not widespread public knowledge until 1999, 24 years after Whitton's death, when the National Archives of Canada publicly released the last of her personal papers, including many intimate personal letters between Whitton and Grier.

 

The release of these papers sparked much debate in the Canadian media about whether the relationship between Whitton and Grier was lesbian, or merely an emotionally intimate friendship between two unmarried women.

 

However, Whitton never publicly identified as lesbian during her political career, and Grier died before Whitton was elected as mayor, so Whitton could not be credited as Canada's first out LGBT mayor regardless of the nature of her relationship with Grier.

 

Grier was laid to rest at Thompson Hill Cemetery, Horton, Ontario. Whitton died aged 78 on the 25th. January 1975, and was laid to rest alongside her.

 

Portrayals of Charlotte Whitton in the Media

 

Whitton's relationship with Grier was dramatized in a 2008 play called Molly's Veil that was written by Canadian playwright and actor Sharon Bajer.

 

Bajer was inspired to write the play after reading letters written between Whitton and Grier, and used these as the basis for the play. The play explores Whitton's relationship with her partner Grier, portraying Whitton as a loving partner in a lesbian relationship, and deals with the tension between Whitton's private life and her public one.

 

Two biographies of Whitton were published in 1987 and 2010. Author David Mullington's 2010 work 'Charlotte: The Last Suffragette' won the 2011 Donald Grant Creighton Award for biography from the Ontario Historical Society.

Organizer Bryen Dunn and Panelists:

(L-R) Victor Mukasa, Susan Gapka, Erika Ayala, Evana Ortigoza , Notisha Massaquoi, Christine Decelles, N. Nicole Nussbaum, Panel Discussion, Queer Peers, a Human Rights Panel Discussion on International Transgender Politics,

An evening of Queer Expressions, Photos © Linda Dawn Hammond / IndyFoto.com and Pride Toronto 2009, Tuesday June 23, 2009,

Gladstone Hotel, Toronto

 

Moderator: Fred Kuhr

Panelists:

(L-R) Victor Mukasa, Susan Gapka, Erika Ayala, Evana Ortigoza , Notisha Massaquoi, Christine Decelles, N. Nicole Nussbaum

 

Global Trans Rights Activist Victor Mukasa from Uganda has been chosen as Pride Toronto's 2009 International Grand Marshal. Join us as we pay tribute to the brave queer activists fighting for their rights in Africa and specifically in Uganda. Come and hear Victor speak. As the 2009 International Grand Marshal, he proudly leads Toronto's Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28 at 2:00PM.

 

Victor Mukasa, Chairperson of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), 2009 Pride Toronto's International Grand Marshal: is the Chairperson of SMUG and a human rights defender for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender liberation in his home country of Uganda and across Africa. As a global trans rights activist, he strives to protect and defend the space to exit freely without harassment, threat, or violence and to change this world' traditional gender categories so that people are no longer punished for simply being who they are.

 

Victor Juliet Mukasa is a Ugandan transgender activist who has gained international recognition for bringing light to human rights issues globally. He is a TransLesbian working with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) as Research and Policy Associate for East, Central and Horn of Africa. Victor is a founding member of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), served as SMUG’s Chairperson from March 2004 to October 2007 and is now serving on the organizations Advisory Board. He’s also the Grand Marshall for Pride Toronto 2009.

 

N. Nicole Nussbaum, Barrister & Solicitor is an Employment and Human Rights Lawyer working with the Fred Victor Trans Employment Support Program. She represents both employees and employers on employment agreements, wrongful dismissal litigation, human rights complaints, employment and human rights trainings, corporate employment policy review and drafting, and other related services. Nicole transitioned from male to female in 2006.

 

Susan Gapka is committed to the empowerment of the marginalized community of transgender and transexual people through her dedication to social justice and her activism. She has been vocal in her lobbying the government for the rights of transpeople. Susan has won several awards for her work, worked on several committees, and facilitated many workshops and training sessions.

 

Notisha Massaquoi is originally from Sierra Leone and is the Executive Director of Women's Health in Women's Hands Community Health Centre (WHCHC). Her most recent publication is the edited anthology Theorizing Empowerment: Canadian Perspectives on Black Feminist Thought. She is the winner of the 2008 IRN-Africa Audre Lorde award for outstanding writing and she is currently working on a second collection of writing with Selly Thiam entitled, None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa. Her most recent work has been implementing transgender programming into the WHCHC.

 

Christine Decelles is a volunteer with PWA Speakers Bureau, and an active participant and advocate in the gay community and HIV/AIDS movement who has been living with HIV for 21 years. She has done volunteer work for 10 years at PASAN, working with people who are positive within the prison system. She is the chair of Ritten House, an agency dealing with transformative justice, and also a member of Voices of Positive Women. Christine is working hard to break down the stigma and discrimination around HIV, AIDS, transsexual and transgendered people.

 

Erika Ayala was born in Mexico City, and has been living as a female since she was 15 years old. She first immigrated to the United States where she lived for 10 years, before moving to Canada five years ago. Erika recounts her claim for refugee status, applying as a trans-person and experiencing trans-phobia. The Queer Refugee Experience in Canada

 

Evana Ortigoza is a Trans Sex Outreach Worker with TransPULSE and 519 Community Centre. She was born in Venezuela, immigrated to Canada in 1994, and danced with the National Ballet of Canada for 4 years. She also coordinates the weekly Meal Trans Drop-In for low income trans-people.

I kept this envelope in my work desk for close to 30 years until I retired to remind me of the reality that many refugees had faced before immigrating to Canada. It had been given to me by a Vietnamese man who had escaped Vietnam by boat. His boat had been set upon by Thai pirates but somehow he survived the ordeal by being picked up by a freighter. I suspect that he eventually made his way to either the Thai, Hong Kong or Palawan, Philippines refugee camp, eventually arriving in Toronto as a sponsored refugee. Eventually I worked settling refugees in Ontario.

 

If you look closely, you will see the one boat filled with refugees, and a number of Thai fishing boats with no nets attacking their boat, robbing them, tossing the men and children overboard, and making off with their women. The man who gave me this set of photos told me that he had lost his family in this manner. He somehow got his hands on these ariel photos, likely while he was in his refugee camp. These photos may well have been part of the evidence which motivated the world to become aware of the plight of the seabound Vietnamese refugees and to start their Boat Movement. His name may have been Van Nghia Tran. I can't remember correctly or read his script properly. Many freighters, even if they sighted refugees bobbing in the water ignored them as it would be costly to stop and troublesome to deal with the paperwork.

 

I eventually on my own dime visited the old refugee camp near Puerto Princesa on the Island of Palawan Philippines. I viewed what was left of the camp as it had become a military base and took a look at the new, improved and safer camp.

 

A related subject: www.flickr.com/photos/30797556@N08/6250387262/in/photolis...

 

www.flickr.com/photos/25857074@N03/5260443084/in/photolis...

On February 7th, 2008 Carmelina and I [Charles Bray] and the kids will be celebrating our wedding anniversary, 49 years married.

How did I meet Carmelina: I go back to December 1957 when I was young 21-years-old with the British Royal Air Force. In 1957 I was posted in Malta at RAF Ta-Kali from RAF Nicosia, Cyprus. Than transferred to 203 S.U. Radar site at Dingli right by the cliffs.

One day I went to Valletta, [down town] to buy a Record called Diana by Paul Anka, coming out from the record shop, while I was looking at the record cover, this young lady hits me by accident, and she broke the record. I was a bit rude to her, by saying, don’t you watch were you’re going, look what you did, you broke my record. She answered back, and said sorry, don’t worry; I’ll will buy you another one. We both went inside the store, and the owner said, sorry, that was the last one you took, come back in two weeks time, and I will have more. Still, I didn’t know her name, I told her that I will meet her here by the store in two weeks time, she agreed.

Two weeks past, and I went to Valletta to get the record Diana, never dreamed that I will see her again, but there she was waiting for me by the record store. I was kind of shocked, seeing her so beautiful waiting for me. I said to her you kept your promise, she answered of course. We went both inside the store, and I got the record Diana, of course I paid for it. I asked her if she would like to come with me to have a drink, or for tea, or coffee. She answered I’m not allowed to go to Bars, but I will come for a cup of tea with you. Walking with her, I felt little proud, due that she was so very beautiful, and all the Maltese Wolves, were giving me such a dirty look, due that I was in Royal Air Force uniform. Of course none of them knew that I was a half breed, Maltese/English/Irish.

While we were having a tea, she hardly looked at me due to her shyness; I asked her if she would like to see me again. She answered yes. So we kept seeing each other, until one day, I asked her if she would like to marry me. With those big eyes she stirred at me and she said yes, I will… Story shorts on February the 7th, 1959; we got married at St. Joseph Church at St.Venera.

On December 1959 Carmelina gave a birth to a baby girl, in which we named her Diana, so we could always remember our little love story, how we met with each other. At the end of 1961, I was posted back to England. In 1962 I volunteered to go to Africa in Congo, in 1963 returned back to England. Carmelina joined me in London.

In December 1964, Carmelina gave birth to another baby girl, in London, England, and we named her Ramona. In 1965 we immigrated to Canada, because all her family, were living in Canada. Same year, I joined the Toronto Transit Commission. In May 1969 Carmelina gave a birth to a baby Boy in which we named him Charles Jr. four years later in September 1972, Carmelina gave another birth to a baby Boy and we named him Shaun. I could write a book about our love and understanding. Up to day we still enjoy each other and the kids. “What’s our secret?”

We always made sure that the kitchen is for cooking; the living room for relaxing with family and friends, but the bedroom is a private domain of love and intimacy where we never bring our anger or cares of the day. Since our life is a gift from God, we always thank him. The children will benefited so much, to see their own family always happy, and united, ready to help each other in all needs.

  

Charles and Carmelina posing together in our Wedding Day February 7th 1959.

On February 7th, Carmelina and I [Charles Bray] and the kids will be celebrating our Happy Wedding Anniversary, as together we been ever since.

How did I meet Carmelina: I go back to December 1957 when I was young 20-years-old with the Royal Air Force Regiment posted in Malta at Ta-Kali from RAF Nicosia, Cyprus. Than transferred to 203 S.U. Radar site at Dingli right by the cliffs.

One day I went to Valletta, [down town] to buy a Record called Diana by Paul Anka, coming out from the record shop, while I was looking at the record cover, this young lady hits me by accident, and she broke the record. I was a bit rude to her, by saying, don’t you watch were you’re going, and look what you did, you broke my record. She answered back, by saying I’m sorry, and don’t worry; I’ll buy you another one. We both went inside the record store, and the sales man said, I’m sorry, that was the last one you took, you could come back in two weeks time, and I will have more. Meantime I Still didn’t know her name, I told her that I will meet her here by the store in two weeks time, she agreed.

Two weeks past, and I went to Valletta to try to get the record Diana, never dreamed that I will see her again, but there she was waiting for me by the record store as she promised. I was kind of shocked, seeing her so beautiful waiting for me. I said to her you kept your promise, she answered of course. We went both inside the store, and I got the record Diana, of course I paid for it. I asked her if she would like to come with me to have a drink, or for tea, or coffee. She answered I’m not allowed to go inside any Bars, but I will come for a cup of tea with you.

Walking with her, I felt little proud, due that she was so beautiful, and all the Maltese Wolves, were giving me such a dirty look, due that I was in Royal Air Force uniform. Of course none of them knew that I was a half breed, Maltese/English/Irish.

While we were having a tea, she hardly looked at me due to her shyness; I asked her if she would like to see me again. She answered yes. So we kept seeing each, than one day, I asked her if she would like to marry me. With those big eyes she stirred at me and she said yes, I will? Story shorts on February the 7th, 1959; we got married at St. Joseph Church at St.Venera.

On December 1959 Carmelina gave a birth to a baby girl, in which we named her Diana, so we could always remember our little love story, how we met with each other. At the end of 1961, I was posted back to England. In 1962 I volunteered to Africa in Congo, in mid 1963 returned back to England. Carmelina joined me in London.

In December 1964, Carmelina gave birth to another baby girl, in London, England, and we named her Ramona. In 1965 we immigrated to Canada, because all her family, were living in Canada. Same year, I joined the Toronto Transit Commission. In May 1969 Carmelina gave a birth to a baby Boy in which we named him Charles Jr. four years in September 1972, Camelina gave another birth to a baby Boy and we named him Shaun. I could write a book about our love and understanding. Up to day we still enjoy each other and the kids. What’s our secret, you might ask?

We always made sure that the kitchen is for cooking; the living room for relaxing with family and friends, but the bedroom is a private domain of love and intimacy where we never bring our anger or cares of the day. Since our life is a gift from God, we always thank him, and our children will benefit to see the family always happy and united.

 

SMITH, GEORGE WASHINGTON, barber and news-vendor; b. 15 March 1845 in Charles Town (W. Va), son of Washington Smith and Sydney ------; m. 5 July 1866 Eliza Jane Campbell in Toronto, and they had two daughters and three sons; d. there 24 Dec. 1921.

 

George Washington Smith immigrated to Canada in 1864 at age 18 or 19, and settled in Toronto. Two years later he and Eliza Jane Campbell, a young black woman from Bowmanville, were married by Baptist minister Thomas Ford Caldicott*. By this time, Smith had already established an entrepreneurial presence, having started out on King Street as a barber. By 1871 he had a shop in the Queen’s Hotel on Front Street, in addition to his Colossal Shaving Parlour at King and York streets. An advertisement in the city directory of 1874 promised patrons a “good refreshing bath” and “shampooing, shaving, and hairdressing done with neatness and civility.” By this juncture Smith had clearly come into his own; his business was doing so well that he had set up shop at yet another location, the American Hotel at Yonge and Front.

 

Smith’s success set a foundation from which he was able to prosper for some years. Between the mid 1870s and the turn of the century, the Evening Telegram would note at his death, he was “well known in downtown business circles.” His barber-shops, which appeared at various times on Queen Street and in Union Station, with periodic returns to King Street, were evidently frequented by many of the city’s business elite. According to the Toronto Daily Star, his economic presence simultaneously enabled him to become “prominent . . . in Toronto’s political circles.” Though generally a staunch Conservative, he supported Robert John Fleming, a populist, Liberal-leaning mayor who ran on anti-business platforms that advocated worker’s rights and temperance. His campaigns were also infused with undertones of racial and gender equality. Smith’s affiliation with the Royal Templars of Temperance as well as his black identity likely drew him to Fleming, even though this position was arguably antithetical to his interests as a businessman. Taking to the stump in support of Fleming on several occasions between 1891 and 1897, Smith earned a reputation as an entertaining and compelling orator. His other associations helped cement his standing: he was a member of the Orange lodge, the Ancient Order of Foresters, and the York Pioneers. Thus, through his various affiliations, he became known as a leader of Toronto’s “colored colony.”

 

Despite his success, Smith found himself compelled to give up barbering around 1909 or 1910, likely because he had lost his sight and perhaps because of advancing age. The death in 1907 of his wife, who owned the family home, may also have affected his state of affairs. Eliza left her property to him and four children but stipulated in her will that George was to take possession only after relinquishing all other claims to her estate. He managed to sustain himself as a newspaper dealer. The status he had enjoyed in earlier years can be gauged from the fact that his stand, at the northwest corner of Queen Street and Spadina Avenue, was, the Globe would recall, “the first permitted on the city corners.”

 

Smith met a tragic end. On a cold December night in 1921 he reportedly fell against a hot stove in his news-stand. He was taken to Toronto Western Hospital, where, after 24 hours, he died of “shock following burns,” an agonizing death for a blind man of 77 years. He was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The circumstances surrounding his passing made the city take note – the Globe, the Star, and the Telegram all ran brief chronicles of his life. Probate records indicate that his estate consisted of residential property, real estate, and Victory Bonds with a total value of $2,716.46, a figure that placed him in the ranks of the city’s tiny black bourgeoisie. A lifelong Baptist, he left $150 to the Beverley Street Baptist Church.

 

George Washington Smith’s life is intriguing. A relatively obscure figure in Canadian black history, he had nonetheless been known to contemporaries as a leader in Toronto’s black community and, later, as a stock figure of sorts at street corners. Further research is needed, however, to determine whether he was widely seen as a leader by members of the black community or whether the mantle was a result of his associations with the city’s white elite and the integrationist ethos that characterized much of his life. There is no doubt that, at his peak, Smith had managed to carve out a place for himself at a time when the majority of Toronto’s “colored colony” struggled in the face of racial slurs, Jim Crowism, and residential, social, and occupational discrimination.

Pacific Mall is an Asian shopping mall in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Opened in the mid-1990s amid a period of significant Chinese immigration to Canada, Pacific Mall is the largest indoor Asian shopping mall in North America.

 

Coming 2021: B&W Night Photography.

Coming 2022: 80s&90s Television.

37089 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC.

 

Description of Historic Place:

 

The Abbotsford Sikh Temple is a one and one-half storey, wood-frame vernacular structure set on a full raised basement, with a false front parapet, an upper balcony running along three of the facades, and a prominent poured concrete stairway leading to the main central entrance on the upper level. It is located on a prominent knoll on South Fraser Way in the centre of Abbotsford, between the early settlements of Clearbrook and downtown Abbotsford. The Sikh Temple has been designated as a National Historic Site, including the original Temple building with its additions, the present 'Nishan Sahib' (flag pole) and the bases of earlier flag poles, including the remnants of the base of the original 'Nishan Sahib'.

 

Heritage Value:

 

The Abbotsford Sikh Temple ('Gurdwara') is a valuable symbol of the early roots of the Sikh community and the larger Indo-Canadian community in this region of Canada. The builders of this temple were part of the initial wave of immigration from India, before a restrictive immigration policy was implemented, making further immigration virtually impossible for the next fifty years. The Sikh population was centred in Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island, and consisted mainly of male sojourners, whose families remained in India. Locally, most of the Sikhs worked for the Abbotsford Lumber Company, once B.C.'s third largest forestry employer. The use of local materials to construct the Temple was significant, representing the Sikh connection to the lumber industry and to the Abbotsford Lumber Company, which donated the lumber for the temple, demonstrating the mutual interdependence of large, isolated industrial plants and their local workforce.

 

The Abbotsford Sikh Temple is the only Gurdwara from the pioneer phase of Sikh immigration to Canada that has survived, and is the oldest surviving Sikh Temple in North America. Construction started on the Temple in 1910 and was completed by 1912. Built of wood-frame construction, the false front parapet, simple rectangular floor plan and front gabled roof are typical of vernacular commercial buildings of the period. This was a pragmatic adaptation of Sikh traditions using a common frontier style, which expressed the men's limited financial resources and their desire to integrate with the community. The building is typical of early purpose-built Canadian Sikh temples, containing all the elements of a traditional Gurdwara, including the prayer hall on the upper level and a communal kitchen and dining area at ground level. The utilitarian interior, with tongue-and-groove wooden walls and regular fenestration, became common features of early Canadian temples. The location at the crest of a hill on busy South Fraser Way contributes to the Sikh Temple's landmark status.

 

The Temple was the centre of Abbotsford's Sikh community, serving both religious and social needs and acting as the reception centre for new immigrants. It was enlarged to the rear in 1932 to extend the prayer hall and a second addition was built in the late 1960s, changes which reflect the growth of the Sikh community, particularly once wives and children were allowed to immigrate. A new, much larger Temple was constructed across the road in 1983, but the original Temple was retained as a symbol of the struggles and achievements of the Sikh pioneers.

 

Source: City of Abbotsford

 

Character-Defining Elements:

 

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Sikh Temple include its:

- original location on a prominent knoll on South Fraser Way

- institutional, vernacular form, scale and massing as expressed by its one and one-half-storey height, full raised basement, simple rectangular floor plan, and informal additions to the rear

- exterior architectural details such as its: false front parapet; front gable roof with generous porch roof, supported by steel posts; wraparound upper verandah running along three sides; a prominent central, poured concrete stairway leading to the main entrance on the upper level; five separate staircases to access the upper level

- wood-frame construction, with horizontal wooden drop siding, and door and window mouldings of dimensional lumber

- masonry elements such as board-formed concrete foundations and brick chimneys

- exterior details of the two rear additions, the first with a dropped roofline and the second with a slightly sloped roof

- regular fenestration, with double-hung 1-over-1 wooden-sash windows

- spatial configuration of the interior, such as the main central entrance opening directly into the upper-storey prayer hall, with a community kitchen and dining hall on the lower level

- interior details in the prayer hall including: narrow tongue-and-groove wooden panelling; picture rails; raised floor; wooden arches and ornate canopy defining the altar; and early pendant light fixture

- the present 'Nishan Sahib' (flag pole) and the bases of earlier flag poles, including the remnants of the base of the original 'Nishan Sahib'.

 

Canada's Historic Places

Pacific Mall is an Asian shopping mall in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Opened in the mid-1990s amid a period of significant Chinese immigration to Canada, Pacific Mall is the largest indoor Asian shopping mall in North America.

 

Coming 2021: B&W Night Photography.

Coming 2022: 80s&90s Television.

La Maison Pierre du Calvet (The Pierre du Calvet House), at 401 rue Saint-Paul Est, was built in 1771. With a characteristic sloped roof meant to discourage snow buildup and raised end walls that serve as firebreaks, the building is constructed of Montréal graystone. It is now a hostellerie and restaurant, with an entrance at no. 405 rue Bonsecours.

 

Pierre du Calvet, believed to be the original owner, was a French Huguenot, and known as a trader, justice of peace, political prisoner and lampoonist. Pierre du Calvet immigrated to Canada in 1758. He participated the in last French victory battle on the coast of Lévis. After the conquest, he became a prosperous merchant and obtained the Sir Rivière David title where he also played the role of justice of the peace in Montreal A supporter of the American Revolution, Calvet met with Benjamin Franklin here in 1775 and was imprisoned from 1780 to 1783 for supplying money to the Americans.

 

In 1962, Jean-Jacques Trottier and Gertrude Beaupré Trottier decided to relocate their family and seven children to the old house Pierre du Calvet where they founded the restaurant Les Filles du Roy. They furnished it with family antiques, wicker chairs with counterpane cushions made of boys pants and family portraits adorning the walls. Gaëtan Trottier and his associate Ronald Dravigné, later became the owners of the Calvet house, transforming it into a fine grocery store and café where they held cultural meetings called "Thursdays at Calvet". Over time they joined the contiguous house to the original Calvet house and created what is known today as The Pierre du Calvet Hostelries.

It was overcast in Toronto today with showers coming and going. I was downtown and decided to take a half hour stroll down Yorkville Ave. which was once the heart of the “hippie”culture in the city but has since become a very upscale residential and shopping street.

 

There weren’t nearly as many people out and about as I had expected in the early afternoon but as I passed by a driveway between tall buildings I noticed this man sitting on a ledge relaxing. (Come to think of it, I could probably make a separate set of photos comprised of Strangers who were sitting on ledges.) There was something about this man’s face in the soft light bouncing off the buildings and pavement that caught my interest so I turned around and backtracked toward him. He met my eye contact and stood up to receive my invitation to take his photo for my 100 Strangers project. I was happy with his quick positive reaction and he asked what I needed. Meet Daniel.

 

I explained the project and found out that Daniel was working at a valet for a high-end specialty food shop located in the highrise building that towered above him. He parks customers’ cars, retrieves them, and helps carry their groceries and packages. I had known of this shop and knew it was upscale but I never imagined a specialty food shop having a valet service.

 

I told Daniel that he needn’t stand and for him to return to sitting on the ledge would be fine. I gave my usual instruction to simply look right into the lens of my camera and explained that I would take a few photos to guard against blinks and camera movement. He asked if his glasses should be on or off. I suggested a couple with them on but then a few with them off since I could see his eyes would photograph quite well. He also agreed to hold my reflector in position for all but the initial three or four photos. His facial expression was quite sad-looking but I felt there was a sensitivity in his face along with a very nice, sincere quality to his presence.

 

I find that some of my subjects appear serious and a bit intense with the initial photos which I assume has to do with their wanting to “do their best” for my project. Others are simply smilers. With those who appear very serious, after the serious photos I often tell them “You can use any expression you want. You certainly don’t have to smile, but if there is a smile in there, you can go ahead and let it out.” I think there is something about this somewhat unexpected wording (rather than simply telling them to “Smile please”) that usually cracks them up in a rather natural way. Daniel had a half-smile which caused me to joke a bit and then this smile appeared and I snapped it. While making the photos I had to back a bit into the driveway to get enough distance and asked Daniel if he could warn me if a car was coming. “Getting killed by a car is not part of the 100 Strangers project” I said. He said he had an eye out and not to worry.

 

My chat with Daniel was very interesting and quite revealing. He told me he is 52 years old, was born and raised in Toronto, and has been working as a valet for about two years. Prior to that he was in the construction business working with concrete. His first job was painting cars. “I guess you could say I started out painting cars and wound up parking them” he said. I asked how people treat him and he said the vast majority are very polite and friendly and that people are generally quite good at heart. I said it was encouraging to hear that. He went on to tell me about the famous tenants in the condo above the store who he sees on a regular basis. Some are professional athletes and others are in the entertainment industry. “I know who they are but I pretend I don’t. Part of being professional is granting them their privacy and not asking for autographs etc.”

 

Daniel really liked the 100 Strangers project and we talked about how many of the photographers doing the project describe themselves as shy about approaching strangers and that we enjoy learning how to “step outside our comfort zone” and that I now love the project for all the interesting people I meet. When I asked what he likes most about his job he said “It’s kind of like your photo project. What I like most is meeting so many nice people in a day.” He went on to say he is quite shy by nature and never used to talk easily with people. “I was the guy who would hide against the wall at a party and most of my jobs were either working alone or with a very small, consistent team. This job forced me to get used to meeting new people all the time and it’s been good for me. If you’d met me two years ago, we couldn’t have had this conversation.” I told him that we have both grown through stepping outside our comfort zones and he agreed.

 

Daniel asked what made me approach him for the project and I said I sensed a friendliness in his face. He said that really pleased him. “Lots of people say I look so serious and kind of angry. I’m glad you could tell that I’m not.”

 

I told Daniel how much I had enjoyed getting to know him and how much I appreciated his doing the photos. He said “I’m here most days so if you’re ever in the neighbourhood, please stop by and say hello and tell me how your project is going. It would really make my day.” The vast majority of my Stranger encounters are quite positive but some really leave me with a large smile – both inside and out. This encounter was one of those.

 

Thanks again Daniel for participating in 100 Strangers. You are now Stranger #227 in Round 3 of my project.

 

Additional update: Five months later I was in the area yesterday and stopped by to take Daniel up on his invitation to visit. I had his photo with me since he doesn't use a computer. His welcoming my arrival was enthusiastic and his handshake warm despite the cold weather. There was a sincerity in his interest in how my project is going and he was happy for me when I told him it was going great. His boss was there and proved a fascinating man with an interesting story of his immigration to Canada from Afghanistan many years ago as a refugee. Unfortunately, concern for the safety of relatives back home and abroad prevented him from being photographed for the project. He told a wonderful story about how he met Daniel as a neighbour when Daniel was suffering serious medical complications caused by unsafe job conditions where he was working. This man got Daniel a job as a valet where he himself was working (he is in a position of influence in the company) and it turned Daniel's health (and life) around. Daniel confirmed this account. This meeting was a great follow-up on a memorable Stranger encounter and Daniel was grateful for the photo.

 

Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

 

To browse Round 1 of my 100 Strangers project click here: www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157633145986224/

 

To browse Round 2 of my 100 Strangers project click here:www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157634422850489/

The Cranna house is culturally significant as a unique South Okanagan example of a whimsical and extravagant form of architecture known as “Storybook”. This style, based loosely on a mixture of European cottage styles, is associated with the exposure of North American troops to European architecture during World War One, and with the sets of Hollywood films in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

The Cranna house expresses many Storybook features. The side gabled form with steeply pitched roof and rolled eaves is typical. Other Storybook elements include the use of smooth stucco on the walls and chimney, triple windows with many small lights, the prominent conical tower, and the use of arched windows and an arched doorway in the tower. The heavy board door, decorative quoins around windows and doorways, and the extended battered walls are also important features true to the Storybook style.

This historic place is important for its association with the use of Lakeshore Drive as a residential neighborhood for prominent Penticton citizens in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The house was built for W.R. Cranna, a successful jeweler who moved to Penticton from Merritt where he had been mayor.. William Cranna was born in 1887 and immigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1907 due to health reasons. He first established himself in Merrit, where he became the

mayor and owned a jewelry store with a partner.

In 1927, Merrit was on a downturn and Penticton was seen as an opportunity. Mr. Cranna bought out H.M. Ramsey's jewelry store in Penticton and relocated here. In doing so, he also taking on the watch inspector or timekeeper function for the Kettle Valley Railroad; which had specifications on what makes of watches its employees could use and who could service them, ensuring the trains ran on schedule. He also established a store in Oliver.

 

Maker: James Douglas Hope (1819-1892)

Born: Scotland

Active: USA

Medium: albumen print

Size: 4 1/4 in x 7 in

Location:

 

Object No. 2018.872

Shelf: E-12-H

 

Publication:

 

Other Collections:

 

Provenance: philarts

Rank: 5

 

Notes: James Hope was born in Scotland on November 29, 1819. After the death of his mother, his father immigrated to Canada. Hope’s father died in 1831, and James left Canada to apprentice as a wagon-maker in Fairhaven, Vermont. In 1841, he married Julia Marietta Smith (b. December 28, 1820) in West Rutland. Hope developed a skill for portraiture (and later for painting landscapes). After studying in Montreal, he supported his family by teaching painting and drawing at the Castleton (Vermont) Seminary. In the early 1850s, he took a studio in New York City where he painted and marketed his work during the winter and returned to his home in Castleton in the summer. In 1872, Hope built a studio and art gallery in Watkins Glen, New York, where he lived until his death on October 20, 1892.

 

To view our archive organized by Collections, visit: OUR COLLECTIONS

 

For information about reproducing this image, visit: THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHIVE

Maker: James Douglas Hope (1819-1892)

Born: Scotland

Active: USA

Medium: albumen print

Size: 4 in x 6 in

Location:

 

Object No. 2018.870

Shelf: E-52-MISC-US

 

Publication:

 

Other Collections:

 

Provenance: greatie1

Rank: 30

 

Notes: James Hope was born in Scotland on November 29, 1819. After the death of his mother, his father immigrated to Canada. Hope’s father died in 1831, and James left Canada to apprentice as a wagon-maker in Fairhaven, Vermont. In 1841, he married Julia Marietta Smith (b. December 28, 1820) in West Rutland. Hope developed a skill for portraiture (and later for painting landscapes). After studying in Montreal, he supported his family by teaching painting and drawing at the Castleton (Vermont) Seminary. In the early 1850s, he took a studio in New York City where he painted and marketed his work during the winter and returned to his home in Castleton in the summer. In 1872, Hope built a studio and art gallery in Watkins Glen, New York, where he lived until his death on October 20, 1892.

 

To view our archive organized by Collections, visit: OUR COLLECTIONS

 

For information about reproducing this image, visit: THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHIVE

Address: 37 Arnold Crescent

 

The structure at 37 Arnold Crescent is known as the William Cooper House. William Cooper immigrated to Canada from England sometime before 1851 and worked in the Richmond Hill area as a professional house painter until his death in 1872. Cooper was also involved in purchasing building lots and constructing houses for investment and rental income. 37 Arnold Crescent was one of these houses. Constructed in 1860 following Cooper purchasing this lot from John R. Arnold, there is little evidence to suggest that William Cooper or his wife Mary Ann Cooper ever lived in this house. It is likely this clapboard frame, one-and-a-half storey house was used as a rental property by the Coopers. This house was willed to a friend of the family, Andrew Loomis Skeele, who operated a jewelry store and clock repair shop. The property had several owners after Mary Ann Coopers death in 1878. Alex and Helena Patterson remodeled the house around 1860 with a hip roofed porch and an Edwardian Classical style porch. The William Cooper House became a designated heritage property in 2000.

 

Photo courtesy of Richmond Hill Public Library.

 

Sources

Town of Richmond Hill Bylaw # 15-00 heritage designation

 

Town of Richmond Hill, Inventory of Buildings of Architectural and Historical Importance, 2008

  

© Frank Newfeld

 

Here's the blurb about the event, Thursday, April 2, 2009 at SFU:

-----

The Alcuin Society is delighted to announce that one of the judges of the Alcuin Society's 27th Annual Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada has agreed to give a talk on the Thursday evening preceding the competition, during this rare trip to Vancouver.

 

One of the original judges at the first Alcuin book design competition, Frank Newfeld, book designer, illustrator, art director, and former Vice President, Publishing at McClelland & Stewart, will share some of his thoughts on illustrated books, particularly those for the younger reader. This should be of special interest to fans of Newfeld's illustrations for Alligator Pie (poems by Dennis Lee).

 

Educated in England, Frank Newfeld immigrated to Canada in 1954, after having spent a few months here back in 1947. On his return he founded his own design company in Toronto. In 1956 Newfeld, along with Frank Davies, Leslie (Sam) Smart and John Gibson founded the Society of Typographic Designers of Canada (TDC). He was elected president of the Society in 1959, the year that it received its Ontario charter. In the early sixties Frank joined the firm of McClelland & Stewart as art director, and was appointed to the board of directors in 1963. He held the position of Vice President, Publishing, when he resigned in 1970 to form his own company again.

 

Over his career Newfeld has designed, illustrated and/or art directed well over 600 books for publishers and art galleries in Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States. He has won over 170 awards. He is a Fellow of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, and a member of the Royal Canadian Academy. For many years he was associated with Sheridan College where he served first as an instructor of illustration, and later as Head, Illustration Program.

 

This co-sponsored free event is brought to you by The Alcuin Society, in co-operation with The Graphic Designers of Canada – British Columbia (GDC/BC), the Canada Council Book Publishers Promotion Fund, Communications Designers of Toronto (CDOT), and the Writing & Publishing Program of Simon Fraser University.

BALDWIN, CONNELL JAMES, soldier and public servant; b. 1777 at Clogheneagh (County Cork, Republic of Ireland), son of Dr James Baldwin, mp, and Mary O’Connell; m. in 1830 Mary Sprague of Albany, N.Y., by whom he had one son and six daughters; d. 14 Dec. 1861 at Toronto, Canada West.

 

Connell James Baldwin was a member of a distinguished Irish family which included such military men as General Count Daniel O’Connell of the Irish Brigade of the French army. Baldwin’s brother Herbert became mp for Dublin, and Daniel O’Connell, “the Liberator,” was his cousin; the Upper Canadian Reform leader, Robert Baldwin*, was also a distant relative. After an education at a Jesuit college, probably either Saint-Omer in Brittany or Stonyhurst School in England, Connell Baldwin joined the Royal Navy at 14. Invalided out at 16, he joined the army and took a course at Farnham Military College. He fought with distinction in many of the major battles of the Peninsular War, gaining a medal and ten clasps, the position of aide-de-camp to General Thomas Picton, the rank of captain, and a pension because of four wounds.

 

After the war Baldwin did garrison duty as brigade-major in Britain and in the West Indies from 1820 until 1826, when he retired on half pay. From 1826 to 1828 he was involved in raising and commanding a regiment, composed largely of troops he had commanded in the Peninsular War, to serve under Emperor Dom Pedro I in Brazil. When his troops were used as common labourers Baldwin demanded a discharge for the men and passage home to Ireland.

 

In 1828 Baldwin immigrated to Canada and was joined by some of the men he had commanded in Brazil, including Father William John O’Grady*. Baldwin was granted 400 acres near Peterborough, where he lived briefly, and 400 acres in Toronto Gore Township where in 1830 he built a school and church for his neighbours, followers, and dependents, and established himself as a country squire. He served as a justice of the peace and had a reputation for great fair-mindedness in his decisions in the minor civil suits with which he dealt. A commissioner of roads, he was also a militia colonel from 1835 to 1851. Politically he was a moderate Reformer strongly identified with Irish Catholic interests. In the mid 1830s he corresponded publicly with William Lyon Mackenzie over the activities of the Orange Order and Tory indifference to what he saw as the Orange menace.

 

When rebellion broke out in 1837, however, Baldwin remained loyal to the government. He raised a corps of 1,200 men at his own expense for the defence of the Niagara frontier. This operation caused him much difficulty later: because of their poor quality Baldwin had refused uniforms he had ordered, and the supplier successfully sued for payment. Baldwin refused to petition for compensation because he felt the government would of itself grant aid, and he was forced to commute his half pay to discharge his debts. Left with only his wound pension, Baldwin had to reduce the scale of his activities. He closed his school but served on the board of trustees of the local separate school district when it was organized in 1841. He continued as a jp, but as a matter of pride never accepted a fee.

 

In the 1841 election he was a Reform candidate in the Orange stronghold of the 2nd York riding. Running against a rabid Orangeman, George Duggan* Jr, Baldwin withdrew to avoid bloodshed, but was not renominated when a new election was ordered in 1842, probably as a result of the disadvantage posed by his religion. In 1847, when cholera swept Toronto, Baldwin turned his home into a private hospital and cared for many of the destitute and diseased immigrants. He knew intimately and worked closely in the cause of Catholicism with bishops Alexander Macdonell *, Michael Power*, and Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel*. In 1859–60 he was a leader in the successful struggle of Toronto-area Catholics to stop the visiting Prince of Wales from recognizing the Orange Order by walking through its welcoming arch.

 

Baldwin died in 1861 while visiting Toronto. He had served in many capacities, particularly for the Reform party, the Catholic Church, and the underprivileged. Yet when he died, and after the death of his son some months later, his wife and daughters were left with heavy debts. Only a strong campaign by his nephew, Moore A. Higgins, and some of his friends secured Mrs Baldwin a tiny pension.

WALLACE, WILLIAM, police officer; b. 9 March 1867 in County Donegal (Republic of Ireland), son of Samuel Wallace and Sarah McConnell; m. 25 June 1902 Annie Jane McNair in Toronto, and they had two sons; d. there 25 Oct. 1928.

 

Born in Donegal not far from Londonderry, William Wallace immigrated to Canada in 1886. He was part of an influx of Irish Protestants into Toronto and its police; a large minority in the city, British immigrants were a majority on the police force. Within a few years of joining the department as a patrolman on 1 April 1890, he was promoted to plainclothesman by Detective Alfred Cuddy. He made acting detective in 1903 and full detective six years later. Wallace was not given to a military style of policing, but he was tough. Once, he dared to apprehend three “thugs” in a pawnshop on York Street but he was beaten into unconsciousness, which permanently affected his health.

 

During World War I, Wallace was on loan to the federal government to monitor aliens, communists, and other radicals. His recommendations to Dominion Police commissioner Sir Arthur Percy Sherwood* and Minister of Justice Charles Joseph Doherty* anticipated Ottawa’s anti-radical legislation of 1919. The government asked him to continue his surveillance after the war, but he missed his family and preferred regular detective work, so he returned to Toronto. Detectives, because of their relative autonomy, their aura of glamour, and the perception that they dealt with real crime, were subjected to little public criticism during Wallace’s tenure on the force.

 

In 1919 he became assistant inspector of detectives, under George Guthrie. This was no mere administrative position: Wallace worked long hours, particularly when high-profile investigations arose. His biggest case was the murder in 1921 of druggist Leonard Cecil Sabine by Roy Hotram and William McFadden, who were convicted and hanged. Years of detective work convinced Wallace that criminals were not victims of environment, heredity, or poverty, as social science suggested, but “lazy, selfish, vicious scoundrels.”

 

Wallace was a typical career officer. His community involvement included the freemasons, Erskine Presbyterian (United) Church, and possibly the Orange lodge, whose members dominated Toronto’s civic politics and departments. His professional importance stemmed from his participation in the Chief Constables’ Association of Canada, a police-lobby organization founded in 1905 which accepted detectives as members. As its secretary-treasurer from 1921 to 1926, he published the proceedings of its annual conventions and the Canadian Police Bulletin (Toronto), both valuable sources for the study of the professionalization and ideology of Canadian police.

 

Through the Bulletin and the CCAC’s yearly conferences, Wallace reflected the hardline crime-fighting ethos that dominated municipal police circles. At the 1922 conference he gave a speech entitled “Are we encouraging crime by pampering and coddling criminals?” He criticized the rehabilitative approach in criminology and perceived political interference in police work and the administration of criminal justice. In 1923 he spoke out against a bill introduced by an Ontario Independent Labor party mla, Thomas Tooms, to place municipal police under the control of elective officials rather than boards of police commissioners dominated by appointed officials. Police administration under popular control, he opined, was open to abuse by radical politicians and “parasites” in labour organizations. Wallace also espoused a common belief among detectives: the need to change the federal Identification of Criminals Act to allow the fingerprinting of all persons in lawful custody, not simply those charged with indictable offences. Another pet peeve was the tendency of reformers, religious organizations, and the media to lionize notorious ex-convicts, such as the infamous Norman (Red) Ryan*, “a plaster hero” in Wallace’s estimate.

 

Wallace was a strong critic of granting leave to convicts under the federal Ticket of Leave Act. His most noteworthy concern, however, was Ontario’s Parole Act and its administration. He blamed parole, psychiatry, and the misguided efforts of reformers for the supposed crime wave of the 1920s. Wallace’s sustained attacks seriously undermined the work of Alfred Edward Lavell of the Ontario Board of Parole, who first tried to placate Wallace and then appealed over his head to chief constable Samuel J. Dickson and judge Emerson Coatsworth of the Toronto Board of Police Commissioners. Wallace used his positions within the Toronto police and the CCAC to discredit Ontario’s parole system and prevent its adoption by Manitoba and other provinces. Lavell in turn accused Wallace of misrepresenting rehabilitative efforts and misusing his CCAC office. In 1924 he wrote that the tenacious detective was succeeding in “giving the police the idea that the Ontario Board of Parole is the work of foolish and sentimental fanatics, ineffective, unjust and a menace to the public good.”

 

On 28 Sept. 1928, just weeks before his death, Wallace was appointed chief of detectives. He had recently attended the annual gathering of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, where his conservative views on crime-fighting would have been the norm. He died in the early morning of 25 October at his home on Fern Avenue. Honoured with a full police ceremony and a massive procession, he was buried in Prospect Cemetery. Colleagues noted that he was known within police circles across North America, and as an “outstanding criminologist” and “the most technical Police officer in the country.”

Mennonite girls at 2007 Drayton Agricultural Fair. This Mennonite community, marked by their flowery dresses, emigrated from Canada to Mexico where farming was particularly difficult, and then re-immigrated to Canada. The older women wear black kerchiefs instead of the more common bonnets.

SMITH, GEORGE WASHINGTON, barber and news-vendor; b. 15 March 1845 in Charles Town (W. Va), son of Washington Smith and Sydney ------; m. 5 July 1866 Eliza Jane Campbell in Toronto, and they had two daughters and three sons; d. there 24 Dec. 1921.

 

George Washington Smith immigrated to Canada in 1864 at age 18 or 19, and settled in Toronto. Two years later he and Eliza Jane Campbell, a young black woman from Bowmanville, were married by Baptist minister Thomas Ford Caldicott*. By this time, Smith had already established an entrepreneurial presence, having started out on King Street as a barber. By 1871 he had a shop in the Queen’s Hotel on Front Street, in addition to his Colossal Shaving Parlour at King and York streets. An advertisement in the city directory of 1874 promised patrons a “good refreshing bath” and “shampooing, shaving, and hairdressing done with neatness and civility.” By this juncture Smith had clearly come into his own; his business was doing so well that he had set up shop at yet another location, the American Hotel at Yonge and Front.

 

Smith’s success set a foundation from which he was able to prosper for some years. Between the mid 1870s and the turn of the century, the Evening Telegram would note at his death, he was “well known in downtown business circles.” His barber-shops, which appeared at various times on Queen Street and in Union Station, with periodic returns to King Street, were evidently frequented by many of the city’s business elite. According to the Toronto Daily Star, his economic presence simultaneously enabled him to become “prominent . . . in Toronto’s political circles.” Though generally a staunch Conservative, he supported Robert John Fleming, a populist, Liberal-leaning mayor who ran on anti-business platforms that advocated worker’s rights and temperance. His campaigns were also infused with undertones of racial and gender equality. Smith’s affiliation with the Royal Templars of Temperance as well as his black identity likely drew him to Fleming, even though this position was arguably antithetical to his interests as a businessman. Taking to the stump in support of Fleming on several occasions between 1891 and 1897, Smith earned a reputation as an entertaining and compelling orator. His other associations helped cement his standing: he was a member of the Orange lodge, the Ancient Order of Foresters, and the York Pioneers. Thus, through his various affiliations, he became known as a leader of Toronto’s “colored colony.”

 

Despite his success, Smith found himself compelled to give up barbering around 1909 or 1910, likely because he had lost his sight and perhaps because of advancing age. The death in 1907 of his wife, who owned the family home, may also have affected his state of affairs. Eliza left her property to him and four children but stipulated in her will that George was to take possession only after relinquishing all other claims to her estate. He managed to sustain himself as a newspaper dealer. The status he had enjoyed in earlier years can be gauged from the fact that his stand, at the northwest corner of Queen Street and Spadina Avenue, was, the Globe would recall, “the first permitted on the city corners.”

 

Smith met a tragic end. On a cold December night in 1921 he reportedly fell against a hot stove in his news-stand. He was taken to Toronto Western Hospital, where, after 24 hours, he died of “shock following burns,” an agonizing death for a blind man of 77 years. He was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The circumstances surrounding his passing made the city take note – the Globe, the Star, and the Telegram all ran brief chronicles of his life. Probate records indicate that his estate consisted of residential property, real estate, and Victory Bonds with a total value of $2,716.46, a figure that placed him in the ranks of the city’s tiny black bourgeoisie. A lifelong Baptist, he left $150 to the Beverley Street Baptist Church.

 

George Washington Smith’s life is intriguing. A relatively obscure figure in Canadian black history, he had nonetheless been known to contemporaries as a leader in Toronto’s black community and, later, as a stock figure of sorts at street corners. Further research is needed, however, to determine whether he was widely seen as a leader by members of the black community or whether the mantle was a result of his associations with the city’s white elite and the integrationist ethos that characterized much of his life. There is no doubt that, at his peak, Smith had managed to carve out a place for himself at a time when the majority of Toronto’s “colored colony” struggled in the face of racial slurs, Jim Crowism, and residential, social, and occupational discrimination.

Obituary of Bro. Kassoum Diamoutene.

 

Remembered In Our Hearts .....

Passed away peacefully at Mount Sinai Hospital on July 15, 2020 at the age of 61. Beloved husband of Agata. Loving father of Daniel and David. Kassoum will be lovingly remembered by his siblings, many extended family, friends, and colleagues. Due to current restrictions on public gatherings, a private family service and burial will take place. A Memorial Service will be held at a later date. Donations made to Grace Between Nations Ministries would be greatly appreciated by the family.

 

Kassoum Diamoutene: Born in Farakala, Mali, Dr. Diamoutene obtained a Masters Degree in Structural Engineering at Wroclaw University in Poland, (he spoke excellent Polish to the surprise and admiration of a number of Polish members of our lodge) through a scholarship and subsequently a PhD. He immigrated to Canada late in 2000. He attended Laurentian University and attained a Bachelors Degree in Education (Mathematics, Science and Physics). He has worked for the Toronto District School Board since 2005, and provides consulting in Structural Design. He is the co-founder of the Malian Community Association in Toronto, and has been President since 2004.

 

Fatoumata Keita: Born in Bamako, Mali, Ms. Keita lived in Germany for 6 years, where she studied Biology at the University of Leipzig , obtaining a Diploma in 1990 (equivalent to Bachelor of Science in Canada). She immigrated to Canada in 1996, where she pursued other Biology and Science related studies. She obtained a Diploma in Clinical Research from the Kriger Research Center, and also a Bachelor of Education Degree from Laurentian University in 2011. She is currently employed by the French Public School Board where she teaches Grade 6. She is a member and the past vice President of the Malian Community Association in Toronto.

 

vimeo.com/16634192

 

Brethren,

 

I write this email with a very heavy heart. Bro. Kassoum Diamoutene passed away last night July 15, 2020. The Lodge has offered any support to the family that they may need.

 

There is no additional information at this time. I will provide you with more details as they become known. Please say a prayer for a good man and a wonderful mason.

 

Regards, Romel Cipriani, Secretary University Lodge No.496.

 

July 17, 2020

Brethren,

We are all very sad and still in the state of disbelief of the passing to the Celestial Lodge above of our Senior Warden, Bro. Kassoum Diamoutene, who has left this material world. For those who had the privilege of knowing him, we can say that he has been one of the most illustrious and distinguished members of University Lodge No. 496.

 

Bro. Kassoum Diamoutene, was an outstanding man in Canadian educational life. He belonged to that class of men who, to proclaim the value of life and urge us to follow the path with joy and optimism.

Kassoum was a man of clear and defined positions, sometimes made public without doubts, deeply committed to his promotion and his triumph with the weapons of reason and by democratic methods.

He was also always an open mind and tolerant person. Kassoum was able to contribute with many initiatives and ideas for the good of our lodge.

 

Our Brother Kassoum Diamoutene began his Masonic life at University Lodge in 2010, being initiated on 10th January, passed to FC 22nd April 2010 and raised to MM 9th, June 2011.

 

Our lodge and others of the district have been faithful witnesses of his more than 10 years of Masonic activity and as well of his diffusion and defense of the Masonic principles and values.

Kassoum was elected Senior Warden in 2019 and should have been installed as Worshipful Master of University Lodge No. 496 in May 2020, but due to the circumstances of COVID-19 he decided to remain, like all the officers of the lodge, in his chair until the next elections of our Lodge. In all the positions that he held, he never hesitated to assume the responsibilities of his rank, which allowed him to exercise his permanent masonic vocation.

 

Kassoum, left us his immense work for the good of Freemasonry and particularly for University Lodge No. 496, and his example of consequence of thought and action demonstrated throughout his life.

These moments should serve to reflect and commit ourselves to transmit to future generations the rich legacy of virtues, examples, and teachings that Kassoum has left in us.

Senior Warden Bro. Kassoum Diamoutene, rest in peace! Rodolfo Matos

Worshipful Master.

Dr. Raghbir Singh Bains - Surrey

Dr. Raghbir Singh Bains immigrated to Canada in 1990, and has since worked tirelessly as a volunteer, community activist and educator for many organizations to promote cultural understanding and mutual respect between the Indo-Canadian and other communities in B.C.

 

Dr. Bains has presented at seminars and conferences worldwide on the subjects of AIDS awareness, drugs and youth, environmental issues, multiculturalism and world peace. He is the author of the Encyclopedia of Sikhism, an educational reference that covers Sikh religion, history, culture and heritage. Dr. Bains produced and programmed the Multimedia Sikh Museum in India, the first of its kind in the world, using new technology to make it easily accessible and interactive for all.

 

Dr. Bains has produced many publications on drug and alcohol addiction, its prevention, and treatment. He has also written on many other wide-ranging topics, from HIV/AIDs awareness, to poverty, and world peace. He is an active volunteer and role model in the Indo-Canadian community, acting as an interpreter and assisting new immigrants to become accustomed to Canadian living.

 

Dr. Bains has won more than 60 local, national and international awards. He was declared Scholar of the 20th Century by the Government of Punjab, and received the Order of Khalsa, the Bhai Gurdas International Award, the Wisdom of Age Mentorship Award, the Good Citizen of the Year Award from the City of Surrey, and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for outstanding community service.

   

This kid fell asleep on my shoulder at one point. He & his family had traveled all the way from India to immigrate to Canada. The Flight attendant remarked I'd made a friend for life LOL. (KLM's 767 PH-BZE "Rialto Bridge")

WALLACE, WILLIAM, police officer; b. 9 March 1867 in County Donegal (Republic of Ireland), son of Samuel Wallace and Sarah McConnell; m. 25 June 1902 Annie Jane McNair in Toronto, and they had two sons; d. there 25 Oct. 1928.

 

Born in Donegal not far from Londonderry, William Wallace immigrated to Canada in 1886. He was part of an influx of Irish Protestants into Toronto and its police; a large minority in the city, British immigrants were a majority on the police force. Within a few years of joining the department as a patrolman on 1 April 1890, he was promoted to plainclothesman by Detective Alfred Cuddy. He made acting detective in 1903 and full detective six years later. Wallace was not given to a military style of policing, but he was tough. Once, he dared to apprehend three “thugs” in a pawnshop on York Street but he was beaten into unconsciousness, which permanently affected his health.

 

During World War I, Wallace was on loan to the federal government to monitor aliens, communists, and other radicals. His recommendations to Dominion Police commissioner Sir Arthur Percy Sherwood* and Minister of Justice Charles Joseph Doherty* anticipated Ottawa’s anti-radical legislation of 1919. The government asked him to continue his surveillance after the war, but he missed his family and preferred regular detective work, so he returned to Toronto. Detectives, because of their relative autonomy, their aura of glamour, and the perception that they dealt with real crime, were subjected to little public criticism during Wallace’s tenure on the force.

 

In 1919 he became assistant inspector of detectives, under George Guthrie. This was no mere administrative position: Wallace worked long hours, particularly when high-profile investigations arose. His biggest case was the murder in 1921 of druggist Leonard Cecil Sabine by Roy Hotram and William McFadden, who were convicted and hanged. Years of detective work convinced Wallace that criminals were not victims of environment, heredity, or poverty, as social science suggested, but “lazy, selfish, vicious scoundrels.”

 

Wallace was a typical career officer. His community involvement included the freemasons, Erskine Presbyterian (United) Church, and possibly the Orange lodge, whose members dominated Toronto’s civic politics and departments. His professional importance stemmed from his participation in the Chief Constables’ Association of Canada, a police-lobby organization founded in 1905 which accepted detectives as members. As its secretary-treasurer from 1921 to 1926, he published the proceedings of its annual conventions and the Canadian Police Bulletin (Toronto), both valuable sources for the study of the professionalization and ideology of Canadian police.

 

Through the Bulletin and the CCAC’s yearly conferences, Wallace reflected the hardline crime-fighting ethos that dominated municipal police circles. At the 1922 conference he gave a speech entitled “Are we encouraging crime by pampering and coddling criminals?” He criticized the rehabilitative approach in criminology and perceived political interference in police work and the administration of criminal justice. In 1923 he spoke out against a bill introduced by an Ontario Independent Labor party mla, Thomas Tooms, to place municipal police under the control of elective officials rather than boards of police commissioners dominated by appointed officials. Police administration under popular control, he opined, was open to abuse by radical politicians and “parasites” in labour organizations. Wallace also espoused a common belief among detectives: the need to change the federal Identification of Criminals Act to allow the fingerprinting of all persons in lawful custody, not simply those charged with indictable offences. Another pet peeve was the tendency of reformers, religious organizations, and the media to lionize notorious ex-convicts, such as the infamous Norman (Red) Ryan*, “a plaster hero” in Wallace’s estimate.

 

Wallace was a strong critic of granting leave to convicts under the federal Ticket of Leave Act. His most noteworthy concern, however, was Ontario’s Parole Act and its administration. He blamed parole, psychiatry, and the misguided efforts of reformers for the supposed crime wave of the 1920s. Wallace’s sustained attacks seriously undermined the work of Alfred Edward Lavell of the Ontario Board of Parole, who first tried to placate Wallace and then appealed over his head to chief constable Samuel J. Dickson and judge Emerson Coatsworth of the Toronto Board of Police Commissioners. Wallace used his positions within the Toronto police and the CCAC to discredit Ontario’s parole system and prevent its adoption by Manitoba and other provinces. Lavell in turn accused Wallace of misrepresenting rehabilitative efforts and misusing his CCAC office. In 1924 he wrote that the tenacious detective was succeeding in “giving the police the idea that the Ontario Board of Parole is the work of foolish and sentimental fanatics, ineffective, unjust and a menace to the public good.”

 

On 28 Sept. 1928, just weeks before his death, Wallace was appointed chief of detectives. He had recently attended the annual gathering of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, where his conservative views on crime-fighting would have been the norm. He died in the early morning of 25 October at his home on Fern Avenue. Honoured with a full police ceremony and a massive procession, he was buried in Prospect Cemetery. Colleagues noted that he was known within police circles across North America, and as an “outstanding criminologist” and “the most technical Police officer in the country.”

Quebec is aiming to revamp immigration system for addressing shortages in labor force.

Throughout Canada there were 462,000 job vacancies during the first quarter of 2018. Quebec reported the largest yearly increase, for the quarter, as per the new figures of Statistics Canada.

Zuidwolde, Drenthe, Netherlands.

 

Parents Bouwe and Diena (Post) Zijlstra, and their children. This image was shown at the memorial service for Jantina 'Tina' or 'Tini' or even 'Tiny' (Zijlstra/Zylstra) Wallace January 27, 2017. Prior to immigrating to Canada, she was known as Tini van der Wal. She passed away on the 21st of January 2017 at age 99. This was 1937 taken for their 25th wedding anniversary. My Oma Jantje is the 4th child in the back row; she was born May 23, 1913. I love the vase on the table...but I'm not sure if it's an urn or an heirloom.

Johannes Post, Dutch resistance fighter, was the uncle to all the children in this photo.

It's remarkable Tini could have 4 possible spellings of her last name and 4 possible spellings of her first name, and all of them could be considered correct, based on the time. And she was only married once. Oh, and during WWII in the Dutch Underground, she was known as Trintje. My great grandparents were commemorated by Yad Vashem, and were close friends of Max 'Nico' Leons.

 

More about Tini from our family archive:

drive.google.com/open?id=13AB0lPv3TwyRDjV_zWxJs4Yhz7HhhrIg

I met this gentle soul at the BC Cultures Day Event.

 

She told me all about her country of origin - Venezuela. Esther immigrated to Canada and had to adjust to speaking English when she arrived in Canada.

 

Esther described the hardships of the economy in Venezuela and how she still has friends and family there. She showed me many beautiful photos of their landscapes.

 

She's thankful to be a Canadian and tries to help other immigrants adjust to life here.

 

I was so happy Esther agreed to be in my 100 Strangers project.

 

I wish her well.

 

Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at:www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/

Montreal’s Portuguese community is celebrating two big milestones this year: a decade of the “Festival Portugal International de Montreal” and the 70th anniversary of Portuguese immigration to Canada.

 

Meyer Optik Gorlitz Trioplan 35mm f/2.8

The woman in the front, wearing a dark jacket and glasses, is Elizabeth Fleet, who served on the Selkirk College board from 1983 to 1992 and was the board chair for four years. She’s now a lifetime member of the board. She’s also served on the board of the Open Learning Agency in BC and as the director of the Advanced Education Council of BC in the 1990s. A graduate of Cambridge University, she immigrated to Canada in 1966, and has worked as a teacher in Prince Rupert, Terrace, and Castlegar. She continues to live in Castlegar, and is the author of "Another Land: Glimpses of Life in Prose and Poetry", a memoir published in 2019.

 

La Maison Pierre du Calvet (The Pierre du Calvet House), at 401 rue Saint-Paul Est, was built in 1771. With a characteristic sloped roof meant to discourage snow buildup and raised end walls that serve as firebreaks, the building is constructed of Montréal graystone. It is now a hostellerie and restaurant, with an entrance at no. 405 rue Bonsecours.

 

Pierre du Calvet, believed to be the original owner, was a French Huguenot, and known as a trader, justice of peace, political prisoner and lampoonist. Pierre du Calvet immigrated to Canada in 1758. He participated the in last French victory battle on the coast of Lévis. After the conquest, he became a prosperous merchant and obtained the Sir Rivière David title where he also played the role of justice of the peace in Montreal A supporter of the American Revolution, Calvet met with Benjamin Franklin here in 1775 and was imprisoned from 1780 to 1783 for supplying money to the Americans.

 

In 1962, Jean-Jacques Trottier and Gertrude Beaupré Trottier decided to relocate their family and seven children to the old house Pierre du Calvet where they founded the restaurant Les Filles du Roy. They furnished it with family antiques, wicker chairs with counterpane cushions made of boys pants and family portraits adorning the walls. Gaëtan Trottier and his associate Ronald Dravigné, later became the owners of the Calvet house, transforming it into a fine grocery store and café where they held cultural meetings called "Thursdays at Calvet". Over time they joined the contiguous house to the original Calvet house and created what is known today as The Pierre du Calvet Hostelries.

BALDWIN, CONNELL JAMES, soldier and public servant; b. 1777 at Clogheneagh (County Cork, Republic of Ireland), son of Dr James Baldwin, mp, and Mary O’Connell; m. in 1830 Mary Sprague of Albany, N.Y., by whom he had one son and six daughters; d. 14 Dec. 1861 at Toronto, Canada West.

 

Connell James Baldwin was a member of a distinguished Irish family which included such military men as General Count Daniel O’Connell of the Irish Brigade of the French army. Baldwin’s brother Herbert became mp for Dublin, and Daniel O’Connell, “the Liberator,” was his cousin; the Upper Canadian Reform leader, Robert Baldwin*, was also a distant relative. After an education at a Jesuit college, probably either Saint-Omer in Brittany or Stonyhurst School in England, Connell Baldwin joined the Royal Navy at 14. Invalided out at 16, he joined the army and took a course at Farnham Military College. He fought with distinction in many of the major battles of the Peninsular War, gaining a medal and ten clasps, the position of aide-de-camp to General Thomas Picton, the rank of captain, and a pension because of four wounds.

 

After the war Baldwin did garrison duty as brigade-major in Britain and in the West Indies from 1820 until 1826, when he retired on half pay. From 1826 to 1828 he was involved in raising and commanding a regiment, composed largely of troops he had commanded in the Peninsular War, to serve under Emperor Dom Pedro I in Brazil. When his troops were used as common labourers Baldwin demanded a discharge for the men and passage home to Ireland.

 

In 1828 Baldwin immigrated to Canada and was joined by some of the men he had commanded in Brazil, including Father William John O’Grady*. Baldwin was granted 400 acres near Peterborough, where he lived briefly, and 400 acres in Toronto Gore Township where in 1830 he built a school and church for his neighbours, followers, and dependents, and established himself as a country squire. He served as a justice of the peace and had a reputation for great fair-mindedness in his decisions in the minor civil suits with which he dealt. A commissioner of roads, he was also a militia colonel from 1835 to 1851. Politically he was a moderate Reformer strongly identified with Irish Catholic interests. In the mid 1830s he corresponded publicly with William Lyon Mackenzie over the activities of the Orange Order and Tory indifference to what he saw as the Orange menace.

 

When rebellion broke out in 1837, however, Baldwin remained loyal to the government. He raised a corps of 1,200 men at his own expense for the defence of the Niagara frontier. This operation caused him much difficulty later: because of their poor quality Baldwin had refused uniforms he had ordered, and the supplier successfully sued for payment. Baldwin refused to petition for compensation because he felt the government would of itself grant aid, and he was forced to commute his half pay to discharge his debts. Left with only his wound pension, Baldwin had to reduce the scale of his activities. He closed his school but served on the board of trustees of the local separate school district when it was organized in 1841. He continued as a jp, but as a matter of pride never accepted a fee.

 

In the 1841 election he was a Reform candidate in the Orange stronghold of the 2nd York riding. Running against a rabid Orangeman, George Duggan* Jr, Baldwin withdrew to avoid bloodshed, but was not renominated when a new election was ordered in 1842, probably as a result of the disadvantage posed by his religion. In 1847, when cholera swept Toronto, Baldwin turned his home into a private hospital and cared for many of the destitute and diseased immigrants. He knew intimately and worked closely in the cause of Catholicism with bishops Alexander Macdonell *, Michael Power*, and Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel*. In 1859–60 he was a leader in the successful struggle of Toronto-area Catholics to stop the visiting Prince of Wales from recognizing the Orange Order by walking through its welcoming arch.

 

Baldwin died in 1861 while visiting Toronto. He had served in many capacities, particularly for the Reform party, the Catholic Church, and the underprivileged. Yet when he died, and after the death of his son some months later, his wife and daughters were left with heavy debts. Only a strong campaign by his nephew, Moore A. Higgins, and some of his friends secured Mrs Baldwin a tiny pension.

WALLACE, WILLIAM, police officer; b. 9 March 1867 in County Donegal (Republic of Ireland), son of Samuel Wallace and Sarah McConnell; m. 25 June 1902 Annie Jane McNair in Toronto, and they had two sons; d. there 25 Oct. 1928.

 

Born in Donegal not far from Londonderry, William Wallace immigrated to Canada in 1886. He was part of an influx of Irish Protestants into Toronto and its police; a large minority in the city, British immigrants were a majority on the police force. Within a few years of joining the department as a patrolman on 1 April 1890, he was promoted to plainclothesman by Detective Alfred Cuddy. He made acting detective in 1903 and full detective six years later. Wallace was not given to a military style of policing, but he was tough. Once, he dared to apprehend three “thugs” in a pawnshop on York Street but he was beaten into unconsciousness, which permanently affected his health.

 

During World War I, Wallace was on loan to the federal government to monitor aliens, communists, and other radicals. His recommendations to Dominion Police commissioner Sir Arthur Percy Sherwood* and Minister of Justice Charles Joseph Doherty* anticipated Ottawa’s anti-radical legislation of 1919. The government asked him to continue his surveillance after the war, but he missed his family and preferred regular detective work, so he returned to Toronto. Detectives, because of their relative autonomy, their aura of glamour, and the perception that they dealt with real crime, were subjected to little public criticism during Wallace’s tenure on the force.

 

In 1919 he became assistant inspector of detectives, under George Guthrie. This was no mere administrative position: Wallace worked long hours, particularly when high-profile investigations arose. His biggest case was the murder in 1921 of druggist Leonard Cecil Sabine by Roy Hotram and William McFadden, who were convicted and hanged. Years of detective work convinced Wallace that criminals were not victims of environment, heredity, or poverty, as social science suggested, but “lazy, selfish, vicious scoundrels.”

 

Wallace was a typical career officer. His community involvement included the freemasons, Erskine Presbyterian (United) Church, and possibly the Orange lodge, whose members dominated Toronto’s civic politics and departments. His professional importance stemmed from his participation in the Chief Constables’ Association of Canada, a police-lobby organization founded in 1905 which accepted detectives as members. As its secretary-treasurer from 1921 to 1926, he published the proceedings of its annual conventions and the Canadian Police Bulletin (Toronto), both valuable sources for the study of the professionalization and ideology of Canadian police.

 

Through the Bulletin and the CCAC’s yearly conferences, Wallace reflected the hardline crime-fighting ethos that dominated municipal police circles. At the 1922 conference he gave a speech entitled “Are we encouraging crime by pampering and coddling criminals?” He criticized the rehabilitative approach in criminology and perceived political interference in police work and the administration of criminal justice. In 1923 he spoke out against a bill introduced by an Ontario Independent Labor party mla, Thomas Tooms, to place municipal police under the control of elective officials rather than boards of police commissioners dominated by appointed officials. Police administration under popular control, he opined, was open to abuse by radical politicians and “parasites” in labour organizations. Wallace also espoused a common belief among detectives: the need to change the federal Identification of Criminals Act to allow the fingerprinting of all persons in lawful custody, not simply those charged with indictable offences. Another pet peeve was the tendency of reformers, religious organizations, and the media to lionize notorious ex-convicts, such as the infamous Norman (Red) Ryan*, “a plaster hero” in Wallace’s estimate.

 

Wallace was a strong critic of granting leave to convicts under the federal Ticket of Leave Act. His most noteworthy concern, however, was Ontario’s Parole Act and its administration. He blamed parole, psychiatry, and the misguided efforts of reformers for the supposed crime wave of the 1920s. Wallace’s sustained attacks seriously undermined the work of Alfred Edward Lavell of the Ontario Board of Parole, who first tried to placate Wallace and then appealed over his head to chief constable Samuel J. Dickson and judge Emerson Coatsworth of the Toronto Board of Police Commissioners. Wallace used his positions within the Toronto police and the CCAC to discredit Ontario’s parole system and prevent its adoption by Manitoba and other provinces. Lavell in turn accused Wallace of misrepresenting rehabilitative efforts and misusing his CCAC office. In 1924 he wrote that the tenacious detective was succeeding in “giving the police the idea that the Ontario Board of Parole is the work of foolish and sentimental fanatics, ineffective, unjust and a menace to the public good.”

 

On 28 Sept. 1928, just weeks before his death, Wallace was appointed chief of detectives. He had recently attended the annual gathering of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, where his conservative views on crime-fighting would have been the norm. He died in the early morning of 25 October at his home on Fern Avenue. Honoured with a full police ceremony and a massive procession, he was buried in Prospect Cemetery. Colleagues noted that he was known within police circles across North America, and as an “outstanding criminologist” and “the most technical Police officer in the country.”

In 1831, James Worts immigrated to Canada from England at which time he established a grist mill. One year later, his brother-in-law, William Gooderham, a successful merchant and miller in England, immigrated to Canada with 2 families, their servants and 11 orphans - in all 54 people. Shortly after his arrival, he decided to invest $3.000 into Worts milling business and thus the Gooderham and Worts partnership was born. Two years later Worts' wife died during childbirth. So distraught was James Worts, that on that day, he took his own life by throwing himself into the company well. Despite this, Gooderham continued building the business later partnering with James Worts' eldest son. In 1837, spurred on by the increase in the harvest of grain from Upper Canada's farms, he decided to add a distillery and that same year produced his first whiskey. By the 1850s, the Gooderham and Worts distillery was thriving and it's numerous facilities included flour mills, a wharf, the distillery, storehouses, an ice house, a cooper shop and a dairy. In 1859 the construction of the new Gooderham and Worts Distillery on Mill Street east of Parliament was heralded as the most important contribution to Toronto's manufacturing interests. The imposing main building which accommodated the steam mills and distillery stood 5 stories high-topped with a 100 ft. chimney. The costs for the building and it's contents was believed to be nearly $200,000, according to newspaper reports of the day. In 1869, a huge fire destroyed the wooded interior of the main building but left the grey limestone exterior intact, costing the company $100,000. Happily the setback did not hamper the distillery's financial growth. In 1871, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery's annual whiskey and spirits production totaled a whopping 2.1 million gallons - close to half of the total spirits production in all of Ontario. What's more, production rose in ten short years and its booming million gallon export business was shipping to major clients in Montreal, Quebec, Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, New York as well as Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and other ports in South America. 1881 was a turning point for the distillery. Following the deaths of William Gooderham and James Worts Jr. within a year of each other, George Gooderham inherited the distillery and became it's sole proprietor. But during the next two decades the distillery's fortunes would be severely affected by World War One, and Canada's short lived prohibition era that brought production of alcohol beverages to a standstill. In order to support the war effort during World War One, the distillery converted its operations to manufacturing acetone. In 1923, Harry C. Hatch purchased the declining business. Three years later he purchased Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. and in 1927, the companies merged under the parent company of Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. All efforts were focused on developing the successful Canadian Club brand. The bulk of operations shifted to the Walkerville plant in Windsor, Ontario. In 1957 Gooderham & Worts stopped producing rye whiskey. It concentrated instead on the distilling of rum products. In 1986, the conglomerate Allied-Lyons, bought Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. In 1990, after 153 years of continuous production, the Gooderham & Worts Distillery - once the largest distillery in the British empire - ceased operations. During the 90s, The Distillery became the number one film location in Canada, and the second largest film location outside of Hollywood. In December 2001 Cityscape Holdings Inc. purchased The Distillery, later partners with Dundee Realty Corporation. In May 2003, The Distillery was officially opened, thereby implementing an ambitious plan by the owners to create a pedestrian - only village entirely dedicated to arts, culture and entertainment. In 1831, James Worts immigrated to Canada from England at which time he established a grist mill. One year later, his brother-in-law, William Gooderham, a successful merchant and miller in England, immigrated to Canada with 2 families, their servants and 11 orphans - in all 54 people. Shortly after his arrival, he decided to invest $3.000 into Worts milling business and thus the Gooderham and Worts partnership was born. Two years later Worts' wife died during childbirth. So distraught was James Worts, that on that day, he took his own life by throwing himself into the company well. Despite this, Gooderham continued building the business later partnering with James Worts' eldest son. In 1837, spurred on by the increase in the harvest of grain from Upper Canada's farms, he decided to add a distillery and that same year produced his first whiskey. By the 1850s, the Gooderham and Worts distillery was thriving and it's numerous facilities included flour mills, a wharf, the distillery, storehouses, an ice house, a cooper shop and a dairy. In 1859 the construction of the new Gooderham and Worts Distillery on Mill Street east of Parliament was heralded as the most important contribution to Toronto's manufacturing interests. The imposing main building which accommodated the steam mills and distillery stood 5 stories high-topped with a 100 ft. chimney. The costs for the building and it's contents was believed to be nearly $200,000, according to newspaper reports of the day. In 1869, a huge fire destroyed the wooded interior of the main building but left the grey limestone exterior intact, costing the company $100,000. Happily the setback did not hamper the distillery's financial growth. In 1871, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery's annual whiskey and spirits production totaled a whopping 2.1 million gallons - close to half of the total spirits production in all of Ontario. What's more, production rose in ten short years and its booming million gallon export business was shipping to major clients in Montreal, Quebec, Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, New York as well as Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and other ports in South America. 1881 was a turning point for the distillery. Following the deaths of William Gooderham and James Worts Jr. within a year of each other, George Gooderham inherited the distillery and became it's sole proprietor. But during the next two decades the distillery's fortunes would be severely affected by World War One, and Canada's short lived prohibition era that brought production of alcohol beverages to a standstill. In order to support the war effort during World War One, the distillery converted its operations to manufacturing acetone. In 1923, Harry C. Hatch purchased the declining business. Three years later he purchased Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. and in 1927, the companies merged under the parent company of Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. All efforts were focused on developing the successful Canadian Club brand. The bulk of operations shifted to the Walkerville plant in Windsor, Ontario. In 1957 Gooderham & Worts stopped producing rye whiskey. It concentrated instead on the distilling of rum products. In 1986, the conglomerate Allied-Lyons, bought Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. In 1990, after 153 years of continuous production, the Gooderham & Worts Distillery - once the largest distillery in the British empire - ceased operations.

HUNTER, JOHN HOWARD, educator, civil servant, and author; b. 22 Dec. 1839 near Bandon (Republic of Ireland), son of William Hunter and Charlotte Howard; m. 1862 Annie Gordon, daughter of John Gordon of Inverness, Scotland, and they had four sons and three daughters; d. 6 Oct. 1910 in Toronto.

 

J. Howard Hunter received his early education in Ireland, training first in mathematics and sciences before entering two years of study at Queen’s College in Cork. In 1859 he immigrated to Canada to further his studies at the University of Toronto: in 1861 he received a ba and the following year an ma. In 1862, soon after his marriage, he was appointed first principal of the Beamsville Grammar School. He subsequently became headmaster of the united grammar and common schools of Dundas (1865), principal of the St Catharines Grammar School (1871), and, finally, principal of the Ontario Institution for the Education and Instruction of the Blind in Brantford (1874). He remained head of this institution until, under a cloud of controversy, he was removed in 1881.

 

Hunter possessed an uncanny ability to outrage Ontario’s educational and government élites, a characteristic which won this quiet but remarkable man the uncertain distinction of being, as one early biographer put it, the “best abused man in the province” by the late 19th century. In 1868 he had called a public meeting of the Ontario Grammar School Masters’ Association, which he had organized the year before, to protest against the entrenched privileges of Upper Canada College in Toronto. The same year he published treatises that charged it with plundering educational trusts, improperly spending endowments, and bribing grammar-school students with scholarships. Public reaction to these treatises was overwhelming and sympathetic. A move was made in the provincial assembly for the disendowment of the college, but the uproar died down.

 

Though Hunter would be credited with persuading the government, by 1871, to award more moneys to grammar schools, the UCC flare-up was not the end of his attacks on Ontario’s educational system. By 1869 he was bristling over the encroachment of chief superintendent of education Egerton Ryerson* on local authorities. He published two analyses of the school bills of 1868–69, pleading with Ryerson to oppose their illiberal measures, such as the imprisonment of parents who failed to send their children to school. Soon after his appointment to St Catharines in 1871, he began agitating against the unrepresentative nature of both the province’s Council of Public Instruction and the senate of the University of Toronto. The reform of the council was attributed in part to articles written by Hunter in the Ontario Teacher and the Canadian Monthly and National Review (Toronto) in 1873. In the former publication, that same year, he berated the university for the closed sessions of its senate.

 

Hunter’s tenure at the Brantford school for the blind was marred by his continued ruffling of bureaucratic feathers. His appointment had, however, been welcomed by some educational observers and his contributions to the educational development of the blind were certainly commendable. He is credited with introducing the students to telegraphy and to the raised-dot system of printing known as New York point (a system used in the school for the next 50 years), with inventing a flexible rubber writing tablet, and with implementing the system for teaching music devised by American authority William Bell Wait. As well, he involved the students in a challenging academic program and published several academic texts for the blind. His annual reports were widely sought by similar institutions in Europe and the United States.

 

An international status did not prevent Hunter from attacking bureaucrats within the Department of Education over the operation of his school. A dramatic rise in enrolment, which he encouraged, led to overwhelming physical needs. He often asked for additional supplies and new buildings, but the department was not prepared to grant more funding to the experimental school. In 1879 Hunter charged its bursar, Walter Nicholl Hossie, with obstruction and with providing it with substandard products. Despite evidence that a good many of Hunter’s allegations were true, the provincial inspector of prisons, asylums, and public charities, John Woodburn Langmuir*, warned the recalcitrant principal to change “his bearing towards and manner of dealing with the Bursar and other officials of the Institution.” Within a few years the bursar would have his revenge. After a student complained of mistreatment, public outcry prompted a government investigation in 1881. During the hearing students claimed that Hunter was an aloof taskmaster who showed little interest in the day-to-day functioning of the school. The teachers charged that he attempted to cause them to mistrust educational officials and was contemptuous of staff. Hossie topped off the list of complaints with the observation that he spent too much time fiddling with his inventions and not enough in the classroom. Langmuir, while conceding that Hunter possessed ability as an educationist, concluded that he lacked sufficient administrative expertise. He therefore recommended that the principal be relieved of his duties and shifted to some other government post. Consequently, in April 1881, Hunter was replaced by Alfred Hutchinson Dymond.

 

Within a short time of Hunter’s resignation, he was appointed Ontario’s first inspector of insurance. In this position his no-nonsense attitude would be an asset. His task was formidable: to pull together the disparate legislation dealing with insurance and loan companies and to control an industry which was still largely unregulated even in Europe and the United States. In the 1870s, in Ontario, the government of Oliver Mowat had produced early legislation relating to the functioning and regulation of insurance companies. (Jurisdiction did not extend to federally chartered firms, which were subject to dominion regulation from 1875 [see John Bradford Cherriman].) Hunter’s far-reaching achievements in insurance reform built on this initiative.

 

To start, he prepared a detailed compilation of statutes, which was followed by comprehensive legislation in 1881–82. Under the Insurance Corporations Act of 1892, he had the Ontario Insurance Act of 1876 amended to give his department control over all corporations and societies (including benevolent, provident, mutual, and friendly societies) undertaking insurance in the province. In the same act he attempted to control the influx of fraudulent American societies by having the benevolent societies act of 1874 amended to prohibit any foreign society not already in operation in Ontario. Under the act of 1892 Hunter became the province’s first registrar of friendly societies, as well as inspector. From his annual reports it is clear that the insurance business within Hunter’s jurisdiction became tightly regulated.

 

To protect themselves against this new era of government regulation, several of the large fraternal orders in Ontario that specialized in insurance organized the Canadian Fraternal Association in 1892 [see Oronhyatekha]. It soon discovered that Hunter’s innovative research in the field of actuarial science could actually help to legitimize the operations of the orders. Hunter was a frequent guest lecturer at the association’s annual meetings and over the years he worked closely with the CFC in sorting out premiums, actuarial liabilities, solvency quotas, reserve funds, and the financial capabilities of aged members. In January 1897 he published an actuarial table based on the experience of the Canada Life Assurance Company from 1847 to 1893 [see Hugh Cossart Baker*]. This table, the first of its kind to be based upon Western social classes, was hailed by American and Canadian fraternalists as a significant step in ensuring the solvency of life-insurance operations. In 1899 it would be adopted by the National Fraternal Congress in the United States.

 

Hunter assumed additional responsibilities in 1897 as the first registrar of loan corporations, a position created to oversee funds secured by real-estate speculation. Each of his annual reports as inspector of insurance is filled with a multitude of improvements to the body of insurance law which would provide the framework for legislation throughout the 20th century. By the end of his life Hunter was considered one of the foremost North American authorities on insurance law and actuarial science. Qualified to appear in the Canadian law list (Toronto) by 1890, he was created a kc in 1902. At the CFA meeting of April 1910 he was introduced as the “father of fraternalism in Ontario” for his work in the area of solvency quotas. His distaste for bureaucratic structures was evidently still in place, for he replied that he was happy the meeting had taken him away “from the wilderness and waste of official routine.”

 

Hunter’s accomplishments in education and insurance have tended to overshadow his literary achievements. Originally trained as an English teacher, he wrote for Rose-Belford’s Canadian Monthly and National Review, often with grand poetic flourish; among his articles was an appreciation of poet Louis Fréchette. In several articles published in 1882–83 in Picturesque Canada [see George Monro Grant], he attempted, one biographer wrote, to restore “much romantic history, which had been altogether lost or forgotten.” In 1882 the Ontario government selected him to compile and edit a set of Royal readers for use in normal schools and government institutions.

 

In the fall of 1910, while working at his desk at Queen’s Park, Hunter felt unwell and left for his home on nearby St Mary Street. Within a week he was dead from pneumonia. His grieving widow, Annie, died within three months. J. Howard Hunter’s will reveals that he had invested substantially in municipal debentures and in land-development companies, but evidently he had not felt the need to invest in a life-insurance policy.

Named after Peter Inglis, an Scottish millwright who immigrated to Canada in 1845. Soon after discovering the falls, he constructed a mill just upriver.

 

It was a perfect day for taking photos, unfortunately we didn't have the time to linger. I would have liked to descend the cliff, but it was a bit iffy going. These falls are 18m high so given my time constraint I couldn't risk it.

 

(I'm doing a 365 project on a different flickr page, an almost identical photo is featured as my day 16)

Young Khalil, the son of Mr. Fadi Kattan a Syrian refugee trying to immigrate to Canada, carefully watches as his family passports are recorded during Operation PROVISION at the processing centre, in Amman, Jordan on December 16, 2015..

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Photo: MCpl Bernie Kuhn, Canadian Forces Joint Imagery Centre

RE27-2015-9999-493

The community of Wilno, Ontario is situated on the border of Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards and Madawaska Valley townships in Renfrew County, Ontario.

Wilno is nestled in the rolling, picturesque terrain of the Madawaska valley which was largely shaped during the demise of the Laurentide ice sheet at the end of the last North American Ice Age.

History

Wilno is the first and oldest Polish settlement in Canada. The original settlers in this area circa 1858 were mainly of Kashubian origin from the then German-occupied area of Poland. One of the reasons they chose this area to settle was because of the landscape which reminded them of their original homes.

At one time, John Rudolphus Booth's Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway ran through the town mainly serving the lumber industry. The former train route has now been redeveloped into a recreational path. The former train station has likewise been converted into an early settler building and museum that presents the early history of the town. The museum contains the history of the first Kaszebe people as well as their immigration to Canada, freedom and eventually, after many hardships, journey to the Wilno area.

Wilno's namesake was the city of Wilno, then in a Russian-occupied area of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, (now Vilnius, capital of Lithuania), the birthplace of Reverend Ludwik Dembski, who was a prominent community spiritual leader and town founder, who would not have wanted the town named after himself. Therefore, the townsfolk, grateful for his contributions to their town, may have suggested the name of Wilno. (Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilno,_Ontario)

 

Like his fellow Manitoban, Frank Fredrickson, the hockey hall-of-famer who did his duty for Canada in both world wars, Sveinbjorn Loptson, was the son of Icelanders who had immigrated to Canada in the 1890s.

 

Sveinbjorn, better known to his hockey-playing friends as 'Barney', had just turned 20 in 1914 when he took to the ice as a member of the defence corps of the Edmonton Albertas, Edmonton Senior Hockey League. Barney's teammates included another future hall-of-famer and another Barney: Barney Stanley. The '14-15 Albertas also featured someone who would become a flier 'ace' in the war and go on to a long career in major-league pro hockey, Art Duncan.

 

On the first day of summer, June 21, 1915, Loptson became a soldier in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He went off to war with Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). He did himself proud as an infantryman. He was wounded but survived and was awarded a Military Medal for gallantry. He was promoted, given an officer's commission, then earned a second gallantry decoration, the Military Cross.

 

On September 28, 1918, well past the midpoint of the war's 'Last Hundred Days' the PPCLI was in the vanguard of the attack on enemy positions in the village of Tilloy. Progress had been slowed by enemy wire entanglements when Lt Loptson was severely wounded by machine gun fire. He soon died of his wounds.

 

The mortal remains of Lt Sveinbjorn Loptson, MC, MM, lie for evermore in Ontario Cemetery, Sains-les-Marquion on the road from Arras to Cambrai. There are 145 Canadian graves here, behind a vine-covered stone wall. The cemetery is bordered on one side by flowering crabapple trees and flowers bloom in profusion among the graves.

 

In 1831, James Worts immigrated to Canada from England at which time he established a grist mill. One year later, his brother-in-law, William Gooderham, a successful merchant and miller in England, immigrated to Canada with 2 families, their servants and 11 orphans - in all 54 people. Shortly after his arrival, he decided to invest $3.000 into Worts milling business and thus the Gooderham and Worts partnership was born. Two years later Worts' wife died during childbirth. So distraught was James Worts, that on that day, he took his own life by throwing himself into the company well. Despite this, Gooderham continued building the business later partnering with James Worts' eldest son. In 1837, spurred on by the increase in the harvest of grain from Upper Canada's farms, he decided to add a distillery and that same year produced his first whiskey. By the 1850s, the Gooderham and Worts distillery was thriving and it's numerous facilities included flour mills, a wharf, the distillery, storehouses, an ice house, a cooper shop and a dairy. In 1859 the construction of the new Gooderham and Worts Distillery on Mill Street east of Parliament was heralded as the most important contribution to Toronto's manufacturing interests. The imposing main building which accommodated the steam mills and distillery stood 5 stories high-topped with a 100 ft. chimney. The costs for the building and it's contents was believed to be nearly $200,000, according to newspaper reports of the day. In 1869, a huge fire destroyed the wooded interior of the main building but left the grey limestone exterior intact, costing the company $100,000. Happily the setback did not hamper the distillery's financial growth. In 1871, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery's annual whiskey and spirits production totaled a whopping 2.1 million gallons - close to half of the total spirits production in all of Ontario. What's more, production rose in ten short years and its booming million gallon export business was shipping to major clients in Montreal, Quebec, Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, New York as well as Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and other ports in South America. 1881 was a turning point for the distillery. Following the deaths of William Gooderham and James Worts Jr. within a year of each other, George Gooderham inherited the distillery and became it's sole proprietor. But during the next two decades the distillery's fortunes would be severely affected by World War One, and Canada's short lived prohibition era that brought production of alcohol beverages to a standstill. In order to support the war effort during World War One, the distillery converted its operations to manufacturing acetone. In 1923, Harry C. Hatch purchased the declining business. Three years later he purchased Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. and in 1927, the companies merged under the parent company of Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. All efforts were focused on developing the successful Canadian Club brand. The bulk of operations shifted to the Walkerville plant in Windsor, Ontario. In 1957 Gooderham & Worts stopped producing rye whiskey. It concentrated instead on the distilling of rum products. In 1986, the conglomerate Allied-Lyons, bought Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. In 1990, after 153 years of continuous production, the Gooderham & Worts Distillery - once the largest distillery in the British empire - ceased operations. During the 90s, The Distillery became the number one film location in Canada, and the second largest film location outside of Hollywood. In December 2001 Cityscape Holdings Inc. purchased The Distillery, later partners with Dundee Realty Corporation. In May 2003, The Distillery was officially opened, thereby implementing an ambitious plan by the owners to create a pedestrian - only village entirely dedicated to arts, culture and entertainment. In 1831, James Worts immigrated to Canada from England at which time he established a grist mill. One year later, his brother-in-law, William Gooderham, a successful merchant and miller in England, immigrated to Canada with 2 families, their servants and 11 orphans - in all 54 people. Shortly after his arrival, he decided to invest $3.000 into Worts milling business and thus the Gooderham and Worts partnership was born. Two years later Worts' wife died during childbirth. So distraught was James Worts, that on that day, he took his own life by throwing himself into the company well. Despite this, Gooderham continued building the business later partnering with James Worts' eldest son. In 1837, spurred on by the increase in the harvest of grain from Upper Canada's farms, he decided to add a distillery and that same year produced his first whiskey. By the 1850s, the Gooderham and Worts distillery was thriving and it's numerous facilities included flour mills, a wharf, the distillery, storehouses, an ice house, a cooper shop and a dairy. In 1859 the construction of the new Gooderham and Worts Distillery on Mill Street east of Parliament was heralded as the most important contribution to Toronto's manufacturing interests. The imposing main building which accommodated the steam mills and distillery stood 5 stories high-topped with a 100 ft. chimney. The costs for the building and it's contents was believed to be nearly $200,000, according to newspaper reports of the day. In 1869, a huge fire destroyed the wooded interior of the main building but left the grey limestone exterior intact, costing the company $100,000. Happily the setback did not hamper the distillery's financial growth. In 1871, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery's annual whiskey and spirits production totaled a whopping 2.1 million gallons - close to half of the total spirits production in all of Ontario. What's more, production rose in ten short years and its booming million gallon export business was shipping to major clients in Montreal, Quebec, Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, New York as well as Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and other ports in South America. 1881 was a turning point for the distillery. Following the deaths of William Gooderham and James Worts Jr. within a year of each other, George Gooderham inherited the distillery and became it's sole proprietor. But during the next two decades the distillery's fortunes would be severely affected by World War One, and Canada's short lived prohibition era that brought production of alcohol beverages to a standstill. In order to support the war effort during World War One, the distillery converted its operations to manufacturing acetone. In 1923, Harry C. Hatch purchased the declining business. Three years later he purchased Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. and in 1927, the companies merged under the parent company of Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. All efforts were focused on developing the successful Canadian Club brand. The bulk of operations shifted to the Walkerville plant in Windsor, Ontario. In 1957 Gooderham & Worts stopped producing rye whiskey. It concentrated instead on the distilling of rum products. In 1986, the conglomerate Allied-Lyons, bought Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. In 1990, after 153 years of continuous production, the Gooderham & Worts Distillery - once the largest distillery in the British empire - ceased operations.

In 1831, James Worts immigrated to Canada from England at which time he established a grist mill. One year later, his brother-in-law, William Gooderham, a successful merchant and miller in England, immigrated to Canada with 2 families, their servants and 11 orphans - in all 54 people. Shortly after his arrival, he decided to invest $3.000 into Worts milling business and thus the Gooderham and Worts partnership was born. Two years later Worts' wife died during childbirth. So distraught was James Worts, that on that day, he took his own life by throwing himself into the company well. Despite this, Gooderham continued building the business later partnering with James Worts' eldest son. In 1837, spurred on by the increase in the harvest of grain from Upper Canada's farms, he decided to add a distillery and that same year produced his first whiskey. By the 1850s, the Gooderham and Worts distillery was thriving and it's numerous facilities included flour mills, a wharf, the distillery, storehouses, an ice house, a cooper shop and a dairy. In 1859 the construction of the new Gooderham and Worts Distillery on Mill Street east of Parliament was heralded as the most important contribution to Toronto's manufacturing interests. The imposing main building which accommodated the steam mills and distillery stood 5 stories high-topped with a 100 ft. chimney. The costs for the building and it's contents was believed to be nearly $200,000, according to newspaper reports of the day. In 1869, a huge fire destroyed the wooded interior of the main building but left the grey limestone exterior intact, costing the company $100,000. Happily the setback did not hamper the distillery's financial growth. In 1871, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery's annual whiskey and spirits production totaled a whopping 2.1 million gallons - close to half of the total spirits production in all of Ontario. What's more, production rose in ten short years and its booming million gallon export business was shipping to major clients in Montreal, Quebec, Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, New York as well as Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and other ports in South America. 1881 was a turning point for the distillery. Following the deaths of William Gooderham and James Worts Jr. within a year of each other, George Gooderham inherited the distillery and became it's sole proprietor. But during the next two decades the distillery's fortunes would be severely affected by World War One, and Canada's short lived prohibition era that brought production of alcohol beverages to a standstill. In order to support the war effort during World War One, the distillery converted its operations to manufacturing acetone. In 1923, Harry C. Hatch purchased the declining business. Three years later he purchased Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. and in 1927, the companies merged under the parent company of Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. All efforts were focused on developing the successful Canadian Club brand. The bulk of operations shifted to the Walkerville plant in Windsor, Ontario. In 1957 Gooderham & Worts stopped producing rye whiskey. It concentrated instead on the distilling of rum products. In 1986, the conglomerate Allied-Lyons, bought Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. In 1990, after 153 years of continuous production, the Gooderham & Worts Distillery - once the largest distillery in the British empire - ceased operations. During the 90s, The Distillery became the number one film location in Canada, and the second largest film location outside of Hollywood. In December 2001 Cityscape Holdings Inc. purchased The Distillery, later partners with Dundee Realty Corporation. In May 2003, The Distillery was officially opened, thereby implementing an ambitious plan by the owners to create a pedestrian - only village entirely dedicated to arts, culture and entertainment. In 1831, James Worts immigrated to Canada from England at which time he established a grist mill. One year later, his brother-in-law, William Gooderham, a successful merchant and miller in England, immigrated to Canada with 2 families, their servants and 11 orphans - in all 54 people. Shortly after his arrival, he decided to invest $3.000 into Worts milling business and thus the Gooderham and Worts partnership was born. Two years later Worts' wife died during childbirth. So distraught was James Worts, that on that day, he took his own life by throwing himself into the company well. Despite this, Gooderham continued building the business later partnering with James Worts' eldest son. In 1837, spurred on by the increase in the harvest of grain from Upper Canada's farms, he decided to add a distillery and that same year produced his first whiskey. By the 1850s, the Gooderham and Worts distillery was thriving and it's numerous facilities included flour mills, a wharf, the distillery, storehouses, an ice house, a cooper shop and a dairy. In 1859 the construction of the new Gooderham and Worts Distillery on Mill Street east of Parliament was heralded as the most important contribution to Toronto's manufacturing interests. The imposing main building which accommodated the steam mills and distillery stood 5 stories high-topped with a 100 ft. chimney. The costs for the building and it's contents was believed to be nearly $200,000, according to newspaper reports of the day. In 1869, a huge fire destroyed the wooded interior of the main building but left the grey limestone exterior intact, costing the company $100,000. Happily the setback did not hamper the distillery's financial growth. In 1871, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery's annual whiskey and spirits production totaled a whopping 2.1 million gallons - close to half of the total spirits production in all of Ontario. What's more, production rose in ten short years and its booming million gallon export business was shipping to major clients in Montreal, Quebec, Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, New York as well as Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and other ports in South America. 1881 was a turning point for the distillery. Following the deaths of William Gooderham and James Worts Jr. within a year of each other, George Gooderham inherited the distillery and became it's sole proprietor. But during the next two decades the distillery's fortunes would be severely affected by World War One, and Canada's short lived prohibition era that brought production of alcohol beverages to a standstill. In order to support the war effort during World War One, the distillery converted its operations to manufacturing acetone. In 1923, Harry C. Hatch purchased the declining business. Three years later he purchased Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. and in 1927, the companies merged under the parent company of Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. All efforts were focused on developing the successful Canadian Club brand. The bulk of operations shifted to the Walkerville plant in Windsor, Ontario. In 1957 Gooderham & Worts stopped producing rye whiskey. It concentrated instead on the distilling of rum products. In 1986, the conglomerate Allied-Lyons, bought Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. In 1990, after 153 years of continuous production, the Gooderham & Worts Distillery - once the largest distillery in the British empire - ceased operations.

Dr. Raghbir Singh Bains - Surrey

Dr. Raghbir Singh Bains immigrated to Canada in 1990, and has since worked tirelessly as a volunteer, community activist and educator for many organizations to promote cultural understanding and mutual respect between the Indo-Canadian and other communities in B.C.

 

Dr. Bains has presented at seminars and conferences worldwide on the subjects of AIDS awareness, drugs and youth, environmental issues, multiculturalism and world peace. He is the author of the Encyclopedia of Sikhism, an educational reference that covers Sikh religion, history, culture and heritage. Dr. Bains produced and programmed the Multimedia Sikh Museum in India, the first of its kind in the world, using new technology to make it easily accessible and interactive for all.

 

Dr. Bains has produced many publications on drug and alcohol addiction, its prevention, and treatment. He has also written on many other wide-ranging topics, from HIV/AIDs awareness, to poverty, and world peace. He is an active volunteer and role model in the Indo-Canadian community, acting as an interpreter and assisting new immigrants to become accustomed to Canadian living.

 

Dr. Bains has won more than 60 local, national and international awards. He was declared Scholar of the 20th Century by the Government of Punjab, and received the Order of Khalsa, the Bhai Gurdas International Award, the Wisdom of Age Mentorship Award, the Good Citizen of the Year Award from the City of Surrey, and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for outstanding community service.