Tag Archives: Ontario

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On this day: human rights in Canada

Ukrainians in Castle Mountain concentration camp in 1915.

The 22nd of August, 1914 saw the passing of Canada’s War Measures Act. The act would result in government-sanctioned human rights abuses against Canadians of largely Ukrainian origin.

Ukrainians were declared “enemy aliens” and thousands were put into concentration camps to be used for slave labour across Canada. They were seen as enemies because the western regions of their homeland were under Austro-Hungarian rule at the outbreak of the First World War.

Some 80 000 Ukrainians who weren’t imprisoned were still required to register as enemy aliens and barred from leaving the country.

Plaque and statue at Castle Mountain near Banff.

The infamous Castle Mountain Internment Camp in Alberta saw prisoners used to work in the national parks, where they established the groundwork for the massive tourism to Banff and Lake Louise seen today.

Abuses at the camp were widespread, and were reported as far away as Britain.

Internment continued for two years after the war ended.

Kapuskasing_ON_3The Ukrainian cemetery at the Kapuskasing Internment Camp a concentration camp for mostly ethnic Ukrainians imprisoned to be used for slave labour during the First Wor

Ukrainian cemetery at the Kapuskasing Internment Camp in Ontario.

The internment of ethnic groups was widespread across many countries in both the First and Second World Wars, including in Australia and the United States, though the internment of Japanese Americans in the 1940s is generally the only instance most know of.

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On this day: a Centenary in Canada

Copy of a photograph of Mayor James Sharpe and his wife, Edie, taken in front of the memorial plaque in Centennial Park, Deseronto, Ontario, on the occasion of the celebration of the tow

Copy of a photograph of Mayor James Sharpe and Chief Earl Hill, taken in front of the memorial plaque in Centennial Park, Deseronto, Ontario, on the occasion of the celebration of the to

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Mayor James Sharpe, his wife Edie, and Chief Earl Hill pose in front of the plaque in Centennial Park on the hundredth anniversary of the founding of Deseronto, Ontario, Canada. 19th June 1971. The Sharpes wear 1870s clothing for the occasion.

Deseronto is named after Captain John Deseronto, a native Mohawk leader and a captain in the British Military Forces during the American Revolutionary War.

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Christmas in Canada

This photograph was taken on Christmas Day, 1901 in Ontario, Canada. People play ice hockey on the Rideau Canal in the capital city, Ottawa. The original image is slightly darker.

Source

Ice_hockey_1901 Hockey on the [Rideau] Canal [Christmas Day 1901]. 25 December 1901 Ottawa, Ontario. Canada. Winter Black and White

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On this day: the first day of the blizzard of 1977

The 1977 blizzard that hit parts of New York, USA and Ontario, Canada, began on the 28th of January, 1977.

Wind gusts from 46 to 69 mph (74 to 111 km/h) hit daily, and more than 2.5 metres of snow were recorded in a storm that lasted into February and saw dozens of deaths registered.

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On this day: the first British Empire Games

The British Empire Games – a sporting event similar to the Olympics – began for the first time on the 16th of August, 1930.

British_Empire_Games_programme_Philip_BarkerBritish Empire Games programme Philip Barker

Official programme. X

The Games took place in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Eleven countries of the British Empire competed.

New Zealand at the opening of the first British Empire Games, Ontario, 1930.

New Zealand enters the stadium. X

There had been one similar event previously, in 1911, when it was called the Inter-Empire Championships.

Today the event is known as the Commonwealth Games. At the last Games seventy-one countries competed.

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One hundred years ago today: Canada’s Parliament Burns

The Centre Block of the Canadian Parliament buildings in Ottawa caught alight on the night of the 3rd of February, 1916. Seven people were killed, and the building was destroyed.

Because the fire occurred in the middle of the First World War, at the time it was suspected German arsonists were involved.

Here, the building is seen still alight in the early hours of the 4th.

Source

Parliament_Ottawa_in_fireCentre Block fire, Parliament Buildings. Photograph taken at 1230 a.m., a few minutes before the collapse of the tower. 3-4th February 1916.

 

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A day of mourning in Canada

A poster from the 31st of January, 1901 in Toronto, Canada, announces a day of mourning for Queen Victoria. The Queen died on the 22nd, and her funeral was on the 2nd of February, the day the mourning was scheduled for.

Proclamation_-_Day_of_mourning_in_Toronto_for_Queen_Victoria_February_2,_1901Poster proclaiming a day of mourning in Toronto on the day of Victoria's funeral.1901.