Great article. I fully support better teaching of Canadian history. I studied it in high school in the late 1970s(and elementary school prior to that)and at the time, it was taught pretty well (at least in the Protestant school boards in Montreal). This new tendency towards self-flagellation has got to stop.
I couldn't agree with you more. If the study of history is to teach us anything it should teach us firstly nuance, that in most circumstances people cannot be divided into the good side and the evil side. Secondly that people are a product of their time and making the least worst choice given the circumstances of that time can be difficult. The third is the law of unintended consequences.
You can see this lack of education playing out in a sociological manner for example, there is no tolerance for making mistakes when one is younger, you are expected to retrospectively be judged by current standards, not by those of the, say 1980s for example. Everyone is divided into good and evil without exception.
In social justice, for example, the "climate emergency" is a zero sum game of net-zero without consideration to making the least worst choice. Nuclear and natural gas for example are not considered. The only possible solution is an absolute one of the closing of the Oil industry which will have catastrophic human consequences. Leading to, you guessed it, the law of unintended consequences.
Greg Koabel has done a fantastic podcast on Canadian History which is pitched perfectly, nuanced and contexualised. Quillette (Jon Kay) have picked it up for publication, I will be listening to it in the car with my kids as a counter to the school's curriculum.
Wonderful those qualifications including perhaps a University BA will get you a job at McDonalds or I was going to say pumping gas but then there will not be any gas will there. I can see how critical it is in todays world to become an expert on native indian history as then you will fully understand why you are paying so much in taxes to keep so many unemployed drug and booze addicts in comfort.
Your article is a subject close to my heart. Going to public school in the 1950s was a blessing in disguise. We had a very solid history curriculum taught in earnest and not influenced by political correctness. John A. was treated with respect and dignity that he deserved as were the other important contributors of our country. By the 1980s-90s when my children were in school the subject was unrecognizable. The Hudson Bay Company had no other context than a store we visited in the mall. How such a devolution could occur is beyond my comprehension. But as to your question, "are we too embarrassed to teach history;" to be embarrassed by something requires prior knowledge of the subject to which the contemporary generation knows little about. So no, it is not embarrassment but ignorance.
"In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind". –Edmund Burke
Thank you for stating the obvious about our dysfunctional education on the true history of Canada. I pulled my son last year and started home quest for grade 10 only to discover in Social Studies, they teach the kids that the Chinese and "Non-Chinese" settled and built Canada. They also constantly talk about all the inequities and crimes that have been committed towards "certain" immigrants in Canada and how we must all right the wrongs of the past. Talk about shaming Europeans. Would you be interested in creating an online high school history course about Canada?..I'd sign up!
We wonder why voter apathy is so prevalent amongst young people, especially first time voters.
When I came of legal voting age, I couldn’t wait to vote and was reasonably informed when I did so. If young people are isolated from learning about our democracy, where is the incentive to follow current events, be informed and make their voice’s count on election day?
Europe was not “war-torn” at the time of the voyage of the St. Louis. If it had been, the ship would not have been allowed to leave Germany. Germany had passed the Nuremberg laws in 1936 and went on to annex Austria and the Sudetenland without violence but war did not occur until the invasion of Poland on 1 Sept. The ship did not return directly to Germany. The passengers were granted asylum in the UK and in European countries. Unfortunately the ones given asylum in all countries but the UK were rounded up in the Holocaust anyway when those countries surrendered to Nazi Germany in 1940.
The UN has lost almost all of its credibility. Many of its committees and organizations (e.g. WHO) have been captured by the CCP. Its human rights committee is full of dictators and abusers...
History has become narrative. In her April 23rd column this week in Victoria Times-Colonist, Charla Huber writes about the apparent findings of ground penetrating radar in the Sechelt area. Ground penetrating radar does not provide visual images of what is beneath the ground, it can only detect anomalies in the soil. However, Ms. Huber writes...
"As the researchers shared the information, I learned the children’s graves were shallow, and the children were buried in the fetal position. The visual stuck in my mind and eventually I asked: “Why the fetal position?”
The response was that it was less work digging smaller holes. There are many survivor accounts across Canada of children being forced to dig graves for their peers.
It is so disheartening to know this is a part of our history. Imagine how digging a grave for a classmate could affect you for life."
Then Ms. Huber goes on to write "As news of these findings, and findings of other such investigations across Canada, come to light, be mindful of questions you ask. Even a simple question that seems innocent and respectful can be triggering to Elders and other community members. Remember, this is their story to share, not our story to ask."
Then she writes "Shíshálh Nation’s primary message is that the words of survivors are the most important. They already knew the truth, and they have for many years."
This is representative the kind of Canadian history they are teaching these days in the public schools, history as narrative, not to be questioned or examined.
And in an April 20th article the TC includes a quote from the GPR firm: “Depending solely on ground-penetrating radar for data would be inaccurate and inconclusive.” Yet Ms. Huber chooses to disregard that (well, in fairness EVERY native organization ignores this). That the TC prints columns like Ms. Huber's is a reason I don't pay to read it.
We need to have the courage not only to question the elders but to actively discuss the possibility that they may be telling ghost stories remembered from childhood campfires intended to terrify the little ones.
Great article. I fully support better teaching of Canadian history. I studied it in high school in the late 1970s(and elementary school prior to that)and at the time, it was taught pretty well (at least in the Protestant school boards in Montreal). This new tendency towards self-flagellation has got to stop.
I couldn't agree with you more. If the study of history is to teach us anything it should teach us firstly nuance, that in most circumstances people cannot be divided into the good side and the evil side. Secondly that people are a product of their time and making the least worst choice given the circumstances of that time can be difficult. The third is the law of unintended consequences.
You can see this lack of education playing out in a sociological manner for example, there is no tolerance for making mistakes when one is younger, you are expected to retrospectively be judged by current standards, not by those of the, say 1980s for example. Everyone is divided into good and evil without exception.
In social justice, for example, the "climate emergency" is a zero sum game of net-zero without consideration to making the least worst choice. Nuclear and natural gas for example are not considered. The only possible solution is an absolute one of the closing of the Oil industry which will have catastrophic human consequences. Leading to, you guessed it, the law of unintended consequences.
Greg Koabel has done a fantastic podcast on Canadian History which is pitched perfectly, nuanced and contexualised. Quillette (Jon Kay) have picked it up for publication, I will be listening to it in the car with my kids as a counter to the school's curriculum.
Is there a link to that podcast?
Hi Alison, Quillette has taken on to publish it as a written series https://quillette.com/blog/2023/04/07/introducing-the-nations-of-canada/ and it’s on Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-nations-of-canada/id1531471267
Wonderful those qualifications including perhaps a University BA will get you a job at McDonalds or I was going to say pumping gas but then there will not be any gas will there. I can see how critical it is in todays world to become an expert on native indian history as then you will fully understand why you are paying so much in taxes to keep so many unemployed drug and booze addicts in comfort.
Your article is a subject close to my heart. Going to public school in the 1950s was a blessing in disguise. We had a very solid history curriculum taught in earnest and not influenced by political correctness. John A. was treated with respect and dignity that he deserved as were the other important contributors of our country. By the 1980s-90s when my children were in school the subject was unrecognizable. The Hudson Bay Company had no other context than a store we visited in the mall. How such a devolution could occur is beyond my comprehension. But as to your question, "are we too embarrassed to teach history;" to be embarrassed by something requires prior knowledge of the subject to which the contemporary generation knows little about. So no, it is not embarrassment but ignorance.
"In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind". –Edmund Burke
Thank you for stating the obvious about our dysfunctional education on the true history of Canada. I pulled my son last year and started home quest for grade 10 only to discover in Social Studies, they teach the kids that the Chinese and "Non-Chinese" settled and built Canada. They also constantly talk about all the inequities and crimes that have been committed towards "certain" immigrants in Canada and how we must all right the wrongs of the past. Talk about shaming Europeans. Would you be interested in creating an online high school history course about Canada?..I'd sign up!
We wonder why voter apathy is so prevalent amongst young people, especially first time voters.
When I came of legal voting age, I couldn’t wait to vote and was reasonably informed when I did so. If young people are isolated from learning about our democracy, where is the incentive to follow current events, be informed and make their voice’s count on election day?
Europe was not “war-torn” at the time of the voyage of the St. Louis. If it had been, the ship would not have been allowed to leave Germany. Germany had passed the Nuremberg laws in 1936 and went on to annex Austria and the Sudetenland without violence but war did not occur until the invasion of Poland on 1 Sept. The ship did not return directly to Germany. The passengers were granted asylum in the UK and in European countries. Unfortunately the ones given asylum in all countries but the UK were rounded up in the Holocaust anyway when those countries surrendered to Nazi Germany in 1940.
I think we should learn more about Native American slavery, especially in BC. My understanding is that it was common, especially amongst the Haida.
Trudeau is Canada's biggest problem.
The UN has lost almost all of its credibility. Many of its committees and organizations (e.g. WHO) have been captured by the CCP. Its human rights committee is full of dictators and abusers...
History has become narrative. In her April 23rd column this week in Victoria Times-Colonist, Charla Huber writes about the apparent findings of ground penetrating radar in the Sechelt area. Ground penetrating radar does not provide visual images of what is beneath the ground, it can only detect anomalies in the soil. However, Ms. Huber writes...
"As the researchers shared the information, I learned the children’s graves were shallow, and the children were buried in the fetal position. The visual stuck in my mind and eventually I asked: “Why the fetal position?”
The response was that it was less work digging smaller holes. There are many survivor accounts across Canada of children being forced to dig graves for their peers.
It is so disheartening to know this is a part of our history. Imagine how digging a grave for a classmate could affect you for life."
Then Ms. Huber goes on to write "As news of these findings, and findings of other such investigations across Canada, come to light, be mindful of questions you ask. Even a simple question that seems innocent and respectful can be triggering to Elders and other community members. Remember, this is their story to share, not our story to ask."
Then she writes "Shíshálh Nation’s primary message is that the words of survivors are the most important. They already knew the truth, and they have for many years."
This is representative the kind of Canadian history they are teaching these days in the public schools, history as narrative, not to be questioned or examined.
And in an April 20th article the TC includes a quote from the GPR firm: “Depending solely on ground-penetrating radar for data would be inaccurate and inconclusive.” Yet Ms. Huber chooses to disregard that (well, in fairness EVERY native organization ignores this). That the TC prints columns like Ms. Huber's is a reason I don't pay to read it.
She is repeating what the Chief of the Shishal group told her. Basically, in this video put out by the band, the Chief accuses former Augustine residential school staff of the murder of 40 children whose remains "have been found." https://shishalh.sharepoint.com/sites/ITDepartment/_layouts/15/stream.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FITDepartment%2FShared%20Documents%2FDocuments%2FShared%20Links%2Fgpr%2Dshishalh%2Dresults%2Dcommunity%2DcharlahuberAndTamar1080p%2Emp4%2Emp4&ga=1
this is a locked sharepoint site. unfortunately. I wouldn't mind seeing it.
Maybe here: https://shishalh.com/2023/04/20/results-of-the-shishalh-ground-penetration-radar/
That works. The word crafters for these bands sure have it down pat. It's some kind of weird mass something. I don't even know what to call it.
We need to have the courage not only to question the elders but to actively discuss the possibility that they may be telling ghost stories remembered from childhood campfires intended to terrify the little ones.