Monday, November 17, 2014

Canadian Week in Review - 17 November 2014

I have come across the following Canadian websites, social media websites, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too.

History

11 November 1813 -  The Americans were defeated at Crysler’s Farm in the War of 1812.

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11 November 1872 - The Intercolonial Railway was completed between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick.

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12 November 1856 – The Grand Trunk Railway was opened from Quebec City, Quebec to Toronto, Ontario.

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16 November 1885 - Louis Riel was hanged after the Northwest Rebellion.

For further reading, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel

Social Media

(Photos) They served so that men could fly
   “You never hear about these women. It’s a chunk of history that’s just not there,” said local author Glad Bryce. “They were trailblazers. They showed what women could do.”

Newfoundland

Danny Williams hopes documentary teaches people about province
   A new documentary from the National Film Board of Canada looks back on former premier Danny Williams and his political career, and will be shown on 10 screens across Newfoundland and Labrador next week.

Nova Scotia

ED COLEMAN HISTORY: A school arithmetic book from 1840 
   Documents relating to school exercise books used here in the 1840s. The books were recently donated to the museum.

Black Loyalist Heritage Society president receives honorary degree
   Elizabeth Cromwell, president and founder of the Black Loyalist Heritage Society, was presented with an honourary degree from Mount Saint Vincent University on November 2nd for her work with preserving the black history and culture of Nova Scotia.

Ontario

The White Hurricane: The worst storm in Great Lakes history
   Over 250 lives lost. At least 12 ships sunk. Thirty other ships crippled. The worst natural disaster in Great Lakes history.

Ontario's WWII PoW camp casualty of neglect
   The Second World War was fought on many far-flung fronts, but one is much closer than you'd think, and that is PoW Camp 30 in Ontario.

Manitoba

Remembering Canada’s veterans
   Remembering Our Veterans is a limited-edition book to be published this fall. The brainchild of Beverley Anderson of MacGregor, it is a compilation of material she has collected, with the help of other members of an ad hoc group from the local area.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan newspapers printed during WWI now online
   When Saskatchewan soldiers went off to fight in the First World War, their stories and the reactions at home were reported in newspapers across the province. Now, everyone can read those headlines online. Newspaper were written in English, German, French, and Ukrainian.

Alberta

Counting the rings on your family tree
   Clarissa Giese and Annemarie Sarango have done this every spring and fall, both on their own, and with the help of a genealogy program offered at the Multicultural Heritage Centre.

British Columbia

Stanley Park's secret military history
   Stanley Park may seem like a quiet place among the trees to many Vancouverites, but the large park also has a storied military history.

What’s in a name? Time to move beyond “British”
   The discussion revolved around the question of whether it is time to consider a new name for British Columbia, and if so, what could that be?

Story of the Week
Is the long-form census form on its way back?

The long-form census form was stopped in June of 2010 , and was replaced by the National Household Survey (NHS), which is a voluntary survey, and has been the focus of much controversy since then.

The NHS was intended to be sent to about 4.5 million households. Remember when then-Industry Minister Tony Clement said that the change had been made because of privacy-related complaints, but when asked about this, he said that the decision had been made after consulting organizations and governments that worked closely with Statistics Canada.

In 2013, criticism reared its head again with the National Household Survey when the first set of results were released from the survey.

And this is when Liberal MP Ted Hsu stepped in and introduced a private member's bill, “Bill-626, An Act to amend the Statistics Act”, with the intention appointing a Chief Statistician and reinstatement of the long-form census in Canada.

So this is where it stands right at the moment.

On Saturday evening, I received an email from Mike More, former chair of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and former vice-president of the Ontario Genealogical Society, who said that fellow Ottawa blogger, John D. Reid, on his Anglo- Celtic Connections blog, has a piece on the private member's bill http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2014/11/bring-back-mandatory-long-form-census.html, and was asking members of the genealogical community for their support.

The blog says -

“Ted Hsu, Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands has a new private member's bill to bring back the mandatory long-form census. Debate on this bill began last week in Parliament. Your help is sought to build momentum leading up to the vote expected in February.

Debate on this bill began last week in Parliament. Your help is sought to build momentum leading up to the vote expected in February.

The government replaced the 2011 long-form census with a voluntary National Household Survey (NHS). Unsurprisingly, the NHS data is of poor quality and can't be compared with previous census data. Experts who rely on this data, and the continuity of these data sets, call the NHS data worthless.

Bill C-626 is a private member's bill that will reinstate the mandatory long-form census and expand the authority of the Chief Statistician.

Throughout this debate, and leading up to the eventual vote on Bill C-626, you are asked to please:

1) Write or speak to your MP to encourage them to support the bill and reinstate the mandatory long-form census

2) Write a letter or op-ed for your local paper explaining the value of the census and the need to pass Bill C-626

3) Share this information with your friends, family and colleagues

It's not too late to fight for the census! If you wish to contact MP Ted Hsu, please email ted.hsu@parl.gc.ca.”

If you would like to keep informed about the bill as it makes its way through committees, go to http://openparliament.ca/bills/41-2/C-626/?tab=mentions

Reminder: Check the Canadian Week in Review next Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country!

The next post will be on 24 November 2014.