Browse Exhibits (34 total)
The Beginning and the End of the Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a series of critical constitutional negotiations between the federal government, Quebec, and all the other provinces within Canada. Both the proposition and failure of the Meech Lake Accord had a devastating impact on Canadian federalism, including altering the federal government's relationship with Indigenous peoples, the provinces, and Quebec. This digital museum exhibit will show you excerpts of the intense negotiations through the perspectives of Quebecois, Western Canadians, Indigenous peoples, and the federal government. Exhibits will show how the federal government broke its promise and its duty to Indigenous peoples by excluding them from the constitutional negotiations of the Meech Lake Accord. Exhibits will display Indigenous peoples' responses to the Meech Lake Accord, including Elijah Harper famously holding an eagle feather for spiritual strength as he delayed the house debate on the Meech Lake Accord in the Manitoba Legislature. Some exhibits will describe the perspectives of Western Canadians and their desire to push for their own interests to be included in the Meech Lake Accords while combatting or diminishing Quebec's interests. Other exhibits will discuss how the failure of another constitutional negotiation would be a massive failure for the incumbent Prime Minister and federal government. Those exhibits will show that Quebecois citizens will publicly call for increased discussions on full Quebec sovereignty and separation from Canada due to the death of the Meech Lake Accord, and thus the start of the destruction of the historical scheme of confederation. There will be an exhibit that discusses all the perspectives of various media outlets throughout the country following the death of the Meech Lake Accord, which should give the viewer an incredible insight into the various perspectives throughout the country following its death. Finally, there will be an exhibit that points out the fear of the fall of the Meech Lake Accord due to its failure, with the potential of Quebec pulling out from federation at a time where the national debt was at its highest.
Canada's military contribution in World War II
In 1939, Nazi Germany in Western Europe began to invade Poland, and World War II began. Two days after Germany blitzed Poland, Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany. At this time, Canada was no longer a vassal of Britain and had the right to decide whether to join the war. The Canadian government did not choose to declare war on Germany at the same time as Britain and France, but declared war on the German army six days later on September 10, 1939, which also proved this point well. Although Canada's military strength was not outstanding compared with other major countries participating in the war at that time, such as Britain, France, and the United States, Canada still made its own outstanding contributions in different battlefields and different fields around the world, and these contributions all demonstrated Canada's spirit of international cooperation and sense of responsibility for maintaining peace. Its record may not be as outstanding as that of its main allies, but as an independent country, Canada's participation in the war and its contributions encouraged other peace-loving countries to participate in World War II. The purpose of this exhibition is to let the audience better understand Canada's different contributions in the three different fields of sea, land and air in the military during World War II and in local battlefields in Europe, Asia and America through the deeds of Canada's participation in some of the World War II battles.
Political Violence in Canada: looking back at The 1970 October Crisis
On the 5th of October 1970, Several members of the Front de libération du Québec (further referred to as the FLQ) kidnapped the British diplomat James Cross. Five days later, on October 10th, they followed this up by also kidnapping the deputy premier of Quebec, a man by the name of Pierre Laporte. These kidnappings were the spark that lit the flame we now know as the October Crisis of 1970, where the fragile peace that had existed between the federal government and the Francophone population of Quebec finally broke. The members of the FLQ believed that through the kidnappings of these political figures, they would be able to spread their message of Quebec separatism, which was the political stance that Quebec should separate and be independent from the rest of Canada due to its unique French identity made it culturally distinct from the rest of the predominantly Anglophone country (Tetley 2007, 32) . What followed was a series of events that shook Canada to its very core, as the following months only served to escalate the crisis as the murder of Pierre Laporte led to escalation by the Federal government as they declared martial law (Tetly 2007, 82) in to finally eliminate the FLQ as a political entity.
This exhibit attempts to examine the October crisis through multiple lenses by examining newspapers, media interviews, and photos, and other sources from the time to try and examine the many perspectives people had about the October crisis when it was happening. It will look into how the FlQ crisis affected the general population's views of both the Quebec separatist movement, and how the population of Canada responded to the federal government's response to the crisis through the unprecedented use of the War Measures Act in a time of peace. Through the examination of these topics, we will also discuss the legacy of the FLQ crisis, in both how it impacted the then-growing Quebec separatist movement and discussions on why the War Measures Act was used and if its use was a justifiable decision given the extraordinary circumstances faced by the provincial and federal government.
Bibliography:
Tetley, William. 2007. The October Crisis, 1970 : An Insider’s View. McGill-Queen’s University Press. https://search-ebscohost-com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat03710a&AN=alb.7228079&site=eds-live&scope=site.c
Canadian Residential Schools
This exhibit focuses on Residential schools that began as early as the 1800s and lasted till the late 1900s. The terms Indigenous, Aboriginal, or Native are used to describe the first nations people as a group (Miller, 2022). These residential schools were created to force Indigenous people to assimilate into the dominant Christian culture. They were usually created in Churches and had all Christian teachers (Miller, 2009). Indigenous people faced an extensive amount of trauma in these schools that still impact their lives to the present day. Kids as young as 3 or 4 years old were taken away from their families and placed into these schools. They were beaten, and abused physically, sexually, and emotionally (Miller, 2009). The goal of this abuse was to strip them away from their cultural beliefs, traditions, and their own identity. This exhibit aims to acknowledge and share the injustice and horrifying experiences Indigenous people faced in residential schools. This exhibit is going to explain and educate people about what happened inside residential schools. The goal is to share an important part of the Canadian history.
A few of the punishments kids as young as 3 years old had to face were getting beat up for speaking in their native language instead of english. Alongside, many kids got sexually assaulted. To this day, many indigenous women are getting taken advantage of. A study done in 2008 showed that Indigenous women are abused by their intimate partners at a rate three times higher than non-Indigenous women (Ogden, 2023). A huge factor of this is the residential schools. To an extent, they normalized the act of abusing Indigenous people. Although few changes are being made, many people are still holding racist thoughts caused by the oppression and unfair events that took place, such as residential schools.
Bibliography
Miller, James Rodger. (2009). Shingwauk’s vision: A history of native residential schools. University of Toronto Press.
Miller, J. R. (2022). Residential Schools and Reconciliation: Canada confronts its history. University of Toronto Press.
Ogden, C., & Tutty, L. M. (2023). My Parents, My Grandparents Went Through Residential School, and All this Abuse has Come From it: Examining Intimate Partner Violence Against Canadian Indigenous Women in the Context of Colonialism. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(23/24), 12185–12209. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1177/08862605231192580
The October Crisis and separatism in Quebec
In 1970, Quebec became ground zero for a crisis that gripped the nation, with provincial minster Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross being kidnapped by the Front de Libération du Québec, a separatist group of Québecois who advocated for an independent, socialist state of Québec. The terrorist organisation was founded in 1963, enraged by the language-based discrimination they faced by the anglophone national majority. Their first years were marked by bombings of buildings they felt were tied to the power which was oppressing them as well as writings such as manifestos or books written by their leaders painting the average Québecois as second-class citizens pushed down by the Canadian anglophones. On October 5th, 1970, James Cross is kidnapped by the FLQ and they deliver their demands to the Canadian government in order to secure his release. With the governments of Canada and Québec refusing to meet their demands, another FLQ cell kidnaps Laporte. By the 16th of October, negotiations have gone nowhere and the Federal government invokes the War Measures Act, suspending civil liberties, grants police power to arrest and hold citizens indiscriminately, and outlaws FLQ membership in all forms. In response to these measures, the cell holding Laporte kills him and dumps his body in a car. On December 3rd, Cross’ release is negotiated in exchange for safe passage of his captors to Cuba. Soon after, the army withdraws from Québec and the cell holding Laporte is captured and charged with his kidnapping and murder, marking the official end of the October Crisis. However, this did not mark the end of separatist sentiment in Québec, with ties to the FLQ, the Parti Québecois remained a force in the Assemblée Nationale and with their conviction as strong as ever, held two referendums in 1980 and 1995 in an attempt to separate from Canada. The artifacts included in this exhibit were chosen to provide a view of the October Crisis from both sides of the table both with written pieces and powerful visuals to capture the essence of the crisis as a whole. The exhibit is designed to shed some light on the position of the Canadian government and how Canadians felt about the linguistic and social divide between anglophone and francophone Canadians throughout Canada’s history.
Robert G. May, “F.R. Scott, the FLQ, and the October Crisis. (Front de liberation du Québec)“ American Council for Quebec Studies 55 (2013) : 119-133, https://eds-p-ebscohost-com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=bdf3cdb4-66d6-4e01-86b9-4fc256fdb08d%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=edscpi&AN=edsgcl.346808478
Marc Laurendeau and Andrew McIntosh, “Front de liberation du Quebec (FLQ)” The Canadian Encyclopedia, August 11, 2013, Updated October 2, 2020, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/front-de-liberation-du-quebec
The Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928: The Case of Leilani Muir
This exhibit will define eugenics and the effects of the Alberta Sterilization Act of 1928, focusing on personal cases from patients who attended the Red Deer Provincial Training for the Mentally Defective institution during the years of 1928-1977, while also highlighting Canada’s failed attempt to eliminate mental and physical disabilities through sterilization.
The Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act, established in 1928 focused on the concept of negative eugenics. According to Canadian Psychology negative eugenics is, “the practice of compulsory sterilization, referring to the breeding out of certain characteristics in the population.” [1] The idea of this act was to create a facility to practice the sterilization of feeble-minded individuals, or children of individuals who voluntarily brought their kids to try and rid their disability for future generations. Through a selection system conducted by a panel, feeble minded individuals were deemed to be either sterilized or non-sterilized based on insufficient pre-screening and testing as well as consent.
This exhibit will demonstrate through personal cases, photographs, legislation and newspaper articles how The Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928 was detrimental in Canadian history, arguing that this sterilization act fostered debate between individual and collective rights amongst individuals with disabilities or racial minorities. More specifically, this exhibit will define eugenics and the effects of the Alberta Sterilization Act of 1928, focusing on personal cases from patients who attended the Red Deer Provincial Training for the Mentally Defective through the years of 1928-1977, while also highlighting Canada’s failed attempt to eliminate mental and physical disabilities through sterilization.
Finally, viewers of this exhibit will be exposed to the negative impacts of eugenics within Canada, and how Canada tried but failed in irradicating disabilities within children, compromising individual rights and freedoms and essentially leaving individuals left to deal with the consequences later in life. Academic journal article written in the Journal of Peace and Psychology states that there is a “larger eugenics movement in Canada and the legal application of “negative” eugenics, which compromises individual rights under the guise of the collective betterment of society through science,”[2]essentially arguing that eugenics within Canada was noted as a science experiment for the goal of bettering society by phasing out certain disabilities, however failing to demonstrate the proper practices of selection and if this experiment did irradicate disabilities for future generations.
[1] Moss, E. L., Stam, H. J. & Kattevilder, D. “From Suffrage to Sterilization,” 105
[2] McCavitt, C.M. “Eugenics and Human Rights in Canada: The Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928,” 362.
Canadian Women in WWI and WWII
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was the catalyst of a four-year-long global conflict, which is known as World War I.[1] The First World War resulted in senseless deaths and destruction of many nations and societies. This war began in 1914 and ended in 1918, and many countries were immersed. It was estimated around 650,000 Canadians participated in the battle, and of those, 66,000 died, and 172,000 were wounded. [2] Not to mention, it was estimated that over 2,800 Canadian women partook in war work. [3] Twenty-five years after WWI, the Second World War took place. This six-year global battle began in 1939 and ended in 1945, and it was estimated that 1,159,000 Canadian men and women served, and 44,090 died. [4]
The First World War and Second World war are valuable pieces of history that moved many and continues to do so through the recognition of adversities faced by soldiers and their patriotism. However, historical narratives often overlook the female perspective in war efforts and are commonly portrayed through the male lens. Canadian women were involved in the conflict from their home country and overseas next to the frontlines, and many contributed and faced tribulations because of war. Most of the Canadian Army Medical Corps were made up of women, and without their active participation, many more would have died on battlefields. Women who served and died in WWI and WWII acted on the grounds of patriotism, and their experience was just as horrific as those serving on the frontlines. The wars redefined societal roles, and women were stepping foot into labour work, the Canadian Army Medical Corps and managing households as single providers. Not to mention the extraordinary women who used their talents and determination to achieve unprecedented milestones by earning roles in aviation, engineering, and nursing. And despite societal barriers, Indigenous and disabled Canadian women significant contributions to the war effort by breaking through stereotypes and demonstrating their skills throughout the wars. The harsh realities of global war have shed light on their resilience and resourcefulness. This museum exhibit will highlight their untold narratives and the multifaced perspectives of Canadian women in WWI and WWII through historical artifacts, newspaper clippings, and photographs.
Bibliography
[1] Canada, Veterans Affairs. “First World War (1914 – 1918) - Veterans Affairs Canada.” (1914 – 1918) - Veterans Affairs Canada, March 6, 2024. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/wars-and-conflicts/first-world-war.
[2] Ibid.
[3] “Women in the Canadian Military.” Women in the Canadian Military | Learn | Canadian War Museum. Accessed October 23, 2024. https://www.warmuseum.ca/learn/women-in-the-canadian-military/#:~:text=During%20the%20First%20World%20War,in%20the%20First%20World%20War.
[4] Canada, Library and Archives. “Service Files of the Second World War - War Dead, 1939-1947.” Library and Archives Canada, October 18, 2022. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/second-world-war/second-world-war-dead-1939-1947/Pages/files-second-war-dead.aspx.
Positive Contribution of Indigenous Peoples to the Development of Canada
The exhibit focuses on the positive contribution of Indigenous Peoples to the development of Canada’s history, culture, and identity. First Nations, Métis, and Inuit, are referred to as Indigenous Peoples and are the original inhabitants of this land, having lived here for thousands of years before it became what we now call Canada. These communities are diverse, with groups such as the Blackfoot, Cree, Dene, and many others, each with their own unique cultures and histories.
Although much of what we know is the trauma and hurt that Indigenous Peoples experienced and still continue to even today which is what they call generational trauma because of how they were stripped off of their culture. Starting with the passing of the Indian Act, then the Residential Schools that have a purpose of “to kill the Indian out of the child.” This is a part of Canada's history that we still continue to heal from this day.
While we acknowledge this painful part of our history we must also celebrate the great contributions Indigenous Peoples had to Canada over the years. Indigenous people have been an essential part of Canada in shaping its heritage and culture from then until now. From the land they have lived on that they have nurtured and know how to live on despite the extreme weather conditions we have and the arts and cultural practices they share[1]. This exhibition not only shows their influence as a whole but will even show real life examples and stories of people who have made great contributions to what Canada is now for example, those who joined the military to fight for World War 1, Indigenous leaders who have fought for Indigenous rights and, those who played a key role in helped guide this country before and also those who continue to now.
[1] Daniel J.K. Beavon, Cora Jane Voyageur, and David Newhouse, eds., Hidden in Plain Sight: Contributions of Aboriginal Peoples to Canadian Identity and Culture, vol. 1 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005), 17.
The Canadian Pacific railway and the effect it had on chinese immigrants.
The Great Canadian Pacific railway was an extremely laborious and long railway. The railway starting in Montreal Canada ending all the way in the Port Moody B.C, the railway was a great innovation for the time as it was going to help expedite trade throughout the country and assist in colonizing the empty parts of western Canada. The railway was first introduced by late prime minister John A. Macdonald, with the help of "mining magnate" Alexander Tilloch. The first day of official building was on May 15 1880 it began in Bonfield, Ontario. The last spike was driven on Craigellachie, British Columbia, on November 7, 1885 just 5 years after it first began. The railway ended up being 6 years ahead of schedule. The railway was going to be an amazing opportunity for Canada and was but what they don't say is that it was built on a bed of the bodies of Chinese men. The railway was an extremely expensive project costing upwards of over 52 million dollars, knowing that they couldn't afford white men's wage demands, the government and company in charge brought over roughly 15,000 to 20,000 Chinese immigrants to work and lay the track. In this time of 5 years of the railway being built, 600 of those men died, working their lives to a government that barely paid them enough to live. On average a Chinese man's wages on the railway were 1.00 dollars a day and had to pay for their own gear and provisions whilst white men made 1.50-2.50 a day and did not have to pay for provisions. During their stay in the camps where they were forced to work under cruel and unsanitary measures, the Chinese men did the most unsafe tasks such as blowing up mountains which did end many lives and those who didn't die from that died from illness, malnutrition and the great Canadian winter cold. For all their hard work, these men did not receive a scrap of the recognition they deserve, even the very last spike seen being put in by a white man, assuming all the credit for all the backbreaking work the immigrants had faced. After the completion of the railway, the men were left unemployed, some moved back to China, some settled throughout the country taking jobs at the factory or other railway companies. But the aftermath was extreme discrimination, and no homage paid to those who worked.
Propaganda in WWI
The exhibit focuses on Canada’s deliberate use of propaganda during the First World War to unite the nation and gather support for the war efforts. Through examining several propaganda posters, the Canadian Patriotic Fund (CPF), speeches, newspapers and enrollment results, it is apparent how the Canadian Government used propaganda to influence the nation’s identity. The meaning and use of propaganda have greatly changed over time. In the 17th century, propaganda was initially used to spread the Christian religious faith. In the 19th century, propaganda shifted toward a political meaning to spread ideas that a political stance was better than others. The meaning of propaganda changed dramatically during WWI in the 20th century. Propaganda was now the spreading of information in a deceitful and manipulative manner framed by the government to increase support during wartime. Through impactful images and messaging, the Canadian government framed the war to emphasize courageous soldiers, community support, and families to attempt to foster a sense of unity and support for the war. Posters were a common medium used by the government as they were simple and could be mass-produced. These posters were usually themed around an attempt to increase enlistment, to encourage financial donations to causes like the CPF, and to inform the public that the government was taking responsible action. Propaganda posters were specifically tailored to specific groups to maximize national interest in the war efforts. An example would be the “Dollard des Ormeaux's” poster used to reach French Canadians in Quebec.
Another way in which the Canadian government spread propaganda messages regarding the war effort was through newspapers and speeches delivered by Prime Minister Robert Borden. Borden’s speeches touched on the patriotic responsibility of citizens, stating, “Those who are capable of service to the state must realize their responsibility and their duty.” Speeches from Borden provide direct examples of how propaganda has helped shape our nation to where it is today. While exploring this exhibit, consider how propaganda shaped our national identity and helped foster national unity during WWI.
Bibliography
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/propaganda-in-Canada
https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/purscan/pur12eng.html