A NEW LIFE FOR CANADIANA VILLAGE? $5 Quebec

HeritageVOL 3, NO. 12 NOV-DEC. 2006 News

The Bagg Shul A living history of Montreal’s early Jewish community The Street that Roared Why the fight to save Montreal milestone matters to Mile Enders Christbaum comes to Canada Decorated tree topped pudding at Sorel party Quebec CONTENT HeritageNews EDITOR President’s Message 3 CHARLES BURY School Spirit Rod MacLeod DESIGN DAN PINESE Letters 5

Opinion 6 PUBLISHER Wisdom of the rubber stamps Jim Wilson THE QUEBEC ANGLOPHONE HERITAGE NETWORK TimeLines 7 400-257 QUEEN STREET SHERBROOKE (LENNOXVILLE) One stop culture shop QUEBEC Taste of the world J1M 1K7 The unknown settlers PHONE A philanthropist’s legacy 1-877-964-0409 New owner, same purpose for Saguenay church (819) 564-9595 Canadiana Village changes hands FAX Tombstone rising 564-6872 C ORRESPONDENCE The Street that Roared 14 [email protected] Why the fight for Montreal milestone matters Carolyn Shaffer WEBSITE The Bagg Shul 17 WWW.QAHN.ORG Montreal’s early Jewish community Carolyn Shaffer Christbaum Comes to Canada 19 PRESIDENT Decorated tree topped pudding at Sorel party RODERICK MACLEOD Bridge to Suburbia 21 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Vanished English towns and the South Shore’s past Kevin Erskine-Henry DWANE WILKIN What’s in a Name? 22 HERITAGE PORTAL COORDINATOR Land of shrugs and strangers Joseph Graham MATHEW FARFAN OFFICE MANAGER Book Reviews 24 KATHY TEASDALE Adventism in Quebec The Eastern Townships Quebec Heritage Magazine is Cyclone Days produced on a bi-monthly basis by the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (QAHN) with the support of The HindSight 26 Department of Canadian Heritage and Quebec’s Ministere de la Culture et des Luck of the potted frog Joseph Graham Communications. QAHN is a non-profit and non-partisan umbrella organization whose mission is to help Event Listings 27 advance knowledge of the history and culture of English-speaking society in Quebec. Canada Post Publication Mail Agreement Number 405610004. Cover photograph: Park Avenue snow removal, 1910. National Library and Archives of Quebec PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

School Spirit by Rod MacLeod

mong the regular notices my daughter many of them as possible, by convincing them that brings home from school are announce- our school offered what our rivals did not: core ments of upcoming governing board English, for example, extra music and science, A meetings. I ignore these defiantly, the French tutoring. Dog-eat-dog, I tell you. way I remember my father sneering at snowstorms Now, away from the city there are other prob- after he’d retired. Been there, done that, can stay lems: even fewer schools, far fewer children, much home and put my feet up. For two years I presided longer distances. In many places the only choice is over our local governing board, going to meetings between English and French schools, and even every six weeks or so along with seven other par- apart from eligibility questions the decision is of- ents, the principal, and a handful of teachers. I ten weighted towards the French school, not only learned a lot. Did I achieve anything? Hmn. because of convenience, but also the physical con- Governing boards were invented eight years dition of the building and the nervous condition of ago as a way to keep parents and teachers off the the teachers. The closure of an English school streets at night. They exist to be “consulted” by leaves a serious hole. Moreover, if you want to school boards and the Education Ministry on a va- complain about this or any other issue to the school riety of issues, not all of which exactly burst with board, you would have to travel for miles to attend relevance. Much time is spent drafting Education a meeting—in some cases, take a plane. Projects, Strategic Lets’s go Plans, and other back 150 years busy paper work. when every Like any insti- township or tution that has parish in Que- been imposed from bec had a on high, however, school board, a local governing group of dedi- boards can take cated volunteers advantage of their who hired legal existence to teachers, do other things. bought the Some of these books, set the things no one else mill rate, and will do: painting paid someone to classrooms, cleaning the school yard, controlling repair the school house—or if there wasn’t enough traffic, etc. Especially in urban areas these days, money for repairs they would do the work them- the governing board’s most important function is selves. Government officials often thought school marketing. There are a lot of schools in Montreal, commissioners were ignorant and incompetent. far too many for the dwindling population. So it’s Many of them were, but this doesn’t mean they a buyer’s market—that is, within the rather small didn’t care about their children or that this sort of spectrum of choice in which most consumers of local democracy wasn’t a good idea. Arguably, English schooling operate. A school’s life or death public officials give better value for money when hinges on getting bums on seats. their neighbours are the ones paying the taxes. The competition is tough. When a school clos- Then things got complicated. First, we decided es, other schools in the area get to survive a little we wanted bigger schools so that kids could learn longer. During my watch we learned that one of the more things in better facilities. This meant consoli- four schools in our area would soon close, and af- dation: new buildings with gyms, labs, libraries, ter shedding appropriate tears we all asked, “How cafeterias, etc. as well as specialized teachers, so- can we get their students?” Two hundred sets of cial workers, guidance councilors and nurses. To parents had been left in the lurch and would now run these schools we needed bigger school boards be looking for a new school. We had to catch as with bigger budgets and more administrators.

Teacher Ella Miller in Longlac, Ont. classroom, 1925 Alex Isbester family fonds. Archives of Ontario, C 267-3-2-2-38 3 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

And although we always had a bureaucratic super- institution is far from clear. structure to determine curriculum and set stan- My kids don’t have that many years left in the dards—the Protestant and Catholic committees— public school system, so I don’t always feel the eventually we needed a government ministry and need to try and fix things. Been there, done that, this ministry came to have more and more power, can stay home and put my feet up. Still, as a socie- to the point where even the super-boards were ty we should be worried about the future of our mere cogs in a wheel. schools—and, frankly, very concerned for the qual- ity of our children’s education. Why aren’t we pay- he next thing that happened was that the ing our teachers more? Why are schools decaying? English-speaking population shrank. Why can’t we afford text books? These questions Protestants, who had the legal right to set have nothing to do with language, and yet we T up separate school boards if they wanted spend our energy debating terminology and weigh- non-Catholic schooling for their children, found ing the value of conflicting rights—important con- they had to form larger and larger administrative cerns, but surely not more so than the fundamental territories just to pull in enough students, driving challenges facing our schools. up the cost of bus transportation. Urban Protestants English-speaking communities need to ask came to rely on immigrants, especially Jews, to fill some basic questions about what it is we want from their schools. For some decades this supply was so our public school system. 1) Should our children fruitful that new schools were constantly being be educated in English? If so, why do we devote so much of the school day to French, often at the expense of other subjects such as A hundred and fifty years ago,Government science and history? 2) Is it important that school employees and administra- officials often thought school commissioners tors continue to serve us in English, were ignorant and incompetent. Many of even if teaching takes place largely in French? A parallel would be traditional them were, but this doesn’t mean they didn’t English hospitals, where we don’t mind what language employees speak as long care about their children or that this sort of as someone can explain what’s wrong local democracy wasn’t a good idea. with us, in English. 3) Do we seek the best possible education for our chil- dren, regardless of its language of in- built. English-speaking Catholics had no special struction? In other words, should having access to rights; in cities there were enough of them to war- the best teachers in the closest schools take prece- rant separate sections within the Catholic boards, dence over having access to education in English? but elsewhere the choice was French or Protestant. We might also question whether huge, highly Then came the language legislation of the bureaucratic “English” school boards are really the 1970s, completely changing the rules. The big is- best tools we have for achieving these ends. sue became who had the right to be educat- ed in English, and in the process the notion of an “English” community was born. By Why are schools decaying? Why law, the supply of newcomers that had al- can’t we afford text books? These ways kept Protestant boards and English Catholic sectors healthy was cut off. This questions have nothing to do with newly defined community proceeded to re- group in the face of built-in decline. In language, and yet we spend our ener- many rural areas English Catholics made gy debating terminology and weigh- arrangements with Protestant boards to help fill their schools. Elsewhere, notably in ing the value of conflicting rights. cities, Protestant boards expanded their French sectors in an effort to retain control over their traditional constituents, including some My own experience as a volunteer on the local of the immigrants who were no longer eligible to governing board—to say nothing of that old too-of- receive education in English. The creation of Eng- ten unsung hero of educational improvement, the lish school boards in 1998 was the final act in this Home and School Association—suggests that a big regrouping; a logical move, although it left Eng- part of the solution is just down the street. lish-speaking communities with a school system Meeting starts at 7:30. Tea and cookies pro- whose numbers continue to shrink and cannot be vided. Bring a paintbrush. replenished. Furthermore, the mandate of this new

4 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006 Letters Clowning achievement haps shed more light on the course of Four generations of my mother’s their post-war lives. A bilingual publi- side of the family were buried in the cation based on this material and sim- Illustrations are normally sup- cemetery and we go up at least three ilar research into the lives of French posed to visually add to the under- times a year to place flowers and troops who fought in these battles is standing of a story, however, the pic- clean up around their the graves. ture of two militia officers clowning planned. However, I notice that stones dating around [“Dangers of peace,” page 6 As you can imagine, this project from the 1800s are not being taken Sept/Oct] has nothing whatsoever to requires a lot of work and the collabo- care of and may have disappeared. do with the Fraser Highlanders or the ration of many qualified people. As an Something needs to be done. I have firing of muskets. Anyone not know- archivist and historian with the Com- contacted individuals who are respon- ing the history of the regiment would mission, I would be grateful for any sible for maintaining the site, but my be led to believe that these two were information or guidance that members concerns haven’t been addressed. actually members of the Frasers, of the Quebec Anglophone Heritage What options do we have left? What which they were clearly not. Also, the Network or anyone else might con- the course of action should we take? picture shows that the clowns knew tribute to our research. Kindly contact Amanda McKelvey nothing whatsoever about fencing, but me by telephone at (418 ) 648-2589 or Way’s Mills, QC I digress. via e-mail at helene.quimper @ ccbn- The 78th Fraser Highlanders were nbc.gc.ca You are not alone. The collapse of disbanded in 1763 in Quebec. The real Hélène Quimper English-speaking rural communities name of the regiment was the 78th National Battlefields Commission throughout Quebec means there are Regiment of Foot (a British regiment, Sainte Foy, QC. fewer volunteers able to care for old also known as Fraser’s Highlanders, graveyards. Funds are often limited. named after Simon Fraser, the Master Cemeteries are important heritage Seemly omissions of Lovat who raised the regiment in sites and should be protected, but no 1757). Other regiments were raised government policy or funding specifi- after that time. I do not know whether cally addresses this looming threat. Congratulations on your elimina- the old Notman picture used in the You can help strengthen your local tion of the apostrophe in the last is- story is that of a British regiment sta- cemetery committee by volunteering to sue! What appropriate symbolism for tioned in Canada or a Canadian militia serve as a trustee or helping to raise a Quebec-dedicated English-language regiment, but in any event there are no money for improvements. A Quebec heritage publication. You have re- photographs of any Fraser’s High- Anglophone Heritage Network pro- spected the spirit of the Office Québé- landers. The 78th Highlanders is an- posal for cemetery volunteers to hire coise de la Langue Française without other regiment altogether. students to help on restoration work is any real loss of clarity and given us I loathe picky people, but since I currently under review by the Depart- one more item to add to the proof that do a magazine myself, I felt I should ment of Canadian Heritage. we Anglos in this marvellous nation let you know about this, just in case are in fact distinct. Not only can we no one else bothers. tell people that we ‘take’ decisions, Yours aye, War’s afterpath shop at dépanneurs, close the lights, Bill Campbell, do stages, eat paté chinois and live on Pointe-Claire, QC subventions, we also…don’t use apos- To help commemorate the 250th trophes. Brilliant! anniversary of the battles of the Plains Thomas D’Arcy l’Heureux Grave concern of Abraham and Sainte-Foy on Sep- L’Avenir, QC tember 13, 1759, and April 28, 1760, respectively, the National Battlefields I am concerned about the deterio- Welcome to the realities of computer- Commission has begun to identify, ration of a small historic cemetery in ized lithography. Our apostrophes ac- compile and establish bibliographical the village of Way’s Mills. I was won- tually made it to the print shop but notes on members of the infantry of dering if there is anything that I can apparently got lost somewhere be- the British regular army who fought in do to make changes. Yard work is tween the input and output stages. New France during the Seven Years’ needed and a new fence needs to be Alas they never reappeared. This War. These notes will allow us to put up; there are many gravestones could get worse. We have heard ru- identify those who survived the con- that need fixing. Many of the mours that periods and commas may flict and those who died, those who gravesites themselves have sunken be next. And if North American capi- left and those who stayed on in North and need to be filled in. Even the talism declines, uppers and lowers America after the conflict, and per grave of the village founder is in great may not be far behind… disrepair.

5 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS Opinion

Wisdom of the Rubber Stamps by Jim Wilson

ooking for ideas that might help offset the de- budgets, field trips, discipline, time allocation for sub- cline of English education in Quebec? No jects, fundraising and book selection.” Isn’t that what need to read a recent report on the future of commissioners are for? LEnglish public schools. The report of the Ad- There are 8,000 teachers and 5,000 other workers visory Council on the Future of English Public Educa- described as “support” staff working in the English tion in Quebec, recently presented to the Quebec Eng- public school system in Quebec today, not counting lish School Board Association (QESBA), is notewor- bureaucrats on the Ministry of Education payroll. Yet thy for what it carefully avoids rather than for what it teachers continue to face a lack of real support in the contains. classroom. Furthermore, as student enrolment falls, ad- Plunging enrollment in English schools both in ac- ministrative positions and the numbers of commission- tual numbers and in proportion to French schools has ers remain untouched. Is it any wonder, then, that in two principal causes. Since 1977 when Bill 101, the spite of fewer students, school taxes have actually in- French Language Charter, was adopted by Quebec’s creased significantly in recent years? National Assembly, student numbers in English school Anecdotes, not research, drive the advisory coun- have declined by 40 per cent. Restrictive entry to Eng- cil’s conclusions. Even by the low standards of reports lish schools and massive westward emigration by Eng- on English education this one is poor. Six current and lish Quebecers have produced the largest school popu- retired school-board administrators were involved in lation decline in any developed country. The report de- writing it, so it comes as no surprise that their analysis votes just one line to this issue by stating “it does not finds no fault with the boards themselves. “They exer- choose to offer its views on language legislation.” cise admirable judgment, compassion and leadership,” Helpful. the report states, particularly in dealing with special- The other challenge facing public schools is the needs students. growth of the private schools. Yet, this too is dismissed Does the advisory council make any recommenda- in one line, saying that addressing special needs, “is a tions at all? Yes, and many focus on how English task that most private schools do not share.” Are par- school administrators can help the French system. For ents avoiding the public system because of the number instance, the advisory council claims that we must of special needs students? Why does the report ignore “strengthen English education by exchanging our es- this possibility? sential asset, The most i.e. share the glaring omis- Does the advisory council make any recommenda- schools. Why? sion, however, tions at all? Yes, and many focus on how English Did they indi- in is the adviso- cate a need? ry council’s re- school administrators can help the French system. Maybe the re- fusal to examine port’s authors the administrative structures and costs of public educa- did not notice that there many English schools in Que- tion in Quebec. A comparison with the private system bec today are English in name only. We have, in fact, might have been a healthy and useful exercise. As an bilingual schools, and in many cases they teach more example, there are 186 school board commissioners for French than English. So how will “sharing” help the only 350 schools in the English sector—approximately English community? Needless to say this policy will one commissioner for every two schools. With their not increase English-language student enrollment. stipends and expenses the annual bill for commission- This advisory council and its recommendations are ers hits seven figures. Money well spent? The report’s not solutions but are part of the problem facing English authors seem to think so. schools—a reticence to face reality, a willingness to In addition to school boards, each public school in sacrifice taxpayers’ money on reports and a timidity to Quebec has a local governing board. Even the report challenge a bloated bureaucracy. notes that parents serving on these local boards regard them as rubber stamps. But the solution to this malaise, Jim Wilson is retired president of the Pearson Teachers according to the report’s authors, is for local boards “to Union. This article was first published November 15 in focus on educational projects, school safety, school the West Island Chronicle newspaper.

6 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006

TIMELINES

One-stop culture shop Ottawa museums to get lion’s share of ‘new’ heritage funding

ews that the federal government intends to spend tre. approximately $100 million on five large muse- Nathalie Bull, executive director of the Heritage Canada ums in the Ottawa region has been receiving Foundation (HCF) described the news as “an important first Nmixed reviews from Canada’s heritage sector. step,” perhaps hoping that Stephen Harper’s Conservative The Canadian Museums Association (CMA), which is lob- government may actually consider heeding the Auditor Gen- bying the federal government for a new national museums eral’s warning three years ago that heritage in federal hands policy, welcomed the investment, but stressed that it doesn’t is endangered. But she noted that there are many historic make up for recent cutbacks to the Museums Assistance Pro- places across the country facing the same funding challenges gram (MAP) as Ottawa-area museums. The majority of Canada’s national “Not all of our valuable heritage is located in the nation- historic sites are, in fact, owned by individuals and local or- al institutions in Ottawa —far more is found in important ganizations, and recent cuts to modest programs like the museums across Canada that have been neglected for years” (MAP) and the Commercial Heritage Properties Incentive the CMA commented in a statement issued following the Fund (CHPIF) have hurt. December announcement. “Canada is the only G8 nation without coherent funding Of the $245million that the federal government spends policies and programs for its built heritage,” Bull lamented in on museums each year, $230million already goes to the na- a press release. According the HCF, more than 20 per cent of tional heritage institutions in Ottawa. Canada’s heritage buildings have been demolished during Beverly Oda, minister for Canadian Heritage, and Trea- the last thirty years.” sury Board President John Baird said the $100 million will Such a lukewarm response to what should have been be spent over the next three to five years on repairs, renova- exciting news for a heritage community largely dependent on tions and upgrades to five federally owned institutions: the public funding may stem in part from the fact that the $100 Canada Science and Technology Museum, the Canadian million isn’t really a new investment at all, but rather a reallo- Museum of Nature, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, cation of monies already set aside for the refurbishment of the National Gallery of Canada, and the National Arts Cen- federal buildings. Taste of the world History project aims at stories from the ‘hood ontreal’s English-speaking communities the origins of this city’s amazing multiethnic history.” are composed of people from many differ- Carolyn Shaffer, a Concordia University-trained ent cultural backgrounds, all of whom in specialist in the history of Montreal’s Arab, Muslim and Mtheir own way have helped to shape the Jewish communities, was recently recruited to lead the story of Quebec and Canada. It is a living heritage that project. Her professional experience includes research continues to nurture the cultural life of Quebec’s largest and development of a local history exhibit in Harrington metropolis. Harbour on Quebec’s Lower North Shore. She will be The Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network primarily responsible for establishing community con- (QAHN) hopes to foster greater understanding of this tacts, identifying and developing subject material for diversity by inviting leaders of the city’s various ethnic Quebec Heritage News magazine and liaising with po- communities to share their memories of putting down tential collaborators in Montreal’s heritage sector. roots here in one of North America’s great immigrant The project, which is supported in part by a grant gateways. from the Department of Canadian Heritage, is expected Touting the initiative as a groundbreaking exercise to culminate in a day-long multicultural heritage cele- in public history, work has been underway since October bration in April 2007, featuring community panel dis- identifying heritage sites and historical events of particu- cussions and presentations, combined with cultural per- lar significance to anglophone Montrealers who do not formances, information displays and a sampling of define their cultural identity strictly in terms of British Montreal’s world-renowned international cuisine. ancestry. “One thing we hope to help encourage,” QAHN If you’d like to help with this project, or tell us about president Rod MacLeod said, “is closer ties between historic landmarks and heritage treasures in your neigh- heritage institutions and community groups interested in bourhood, please contact QAHN at [email protected] or working with us to promote a deeper understanding of call (819) 564-9595.

7 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS The unknown settlers Missisquoi Museum to show rare record of black pioneer life in Quebec

urators at the Missisquoi Museum in Stan- presented the Municipality of Saint-Armand with a bridge East are planning to display never-be- plaque to commemorate the 170th anniversary of the fore-seen historical documents in hopes of abolition of slavery in Canada. Cshedding new light on the identities of black The landmark, declared a historic site in 2002, settlers who lived in the Saint Armand region of Mis- continues to be at the centre of ongoing debate about sisquoi County at the end of the 18th century the identity of this pioneer community. A 2005 com- The Philip Ruiter Ledgers (1799-1811), kept in an parative study of the Ruiter ledgers, county census attic for more than 100 years, constitute a scant, but records, courthouse documents and notarial archives, nonetheless important surviving documentary record of commissioned by the Centre historique de Saint Ar- black pioneer life in rural Quebec. Ruiter was a general mand, a local heritage group, cast doubt on the slave merchant and innkeeper at Philipsburg on Missisquoi hypothesis. Bay, a haven for Loyalist refugees during the American “The true history of Nigger Rock can only be Revolution and the first real village to take shape in the based on rigorous research,” wrote the study’s author old Saint Armand Seigneury. His private account books Francis Back,” and any definitive conclusion will only contain numerous references to English-speaking black be found by archeological work carried out in collabo- customers whose presence was otherwise largely ig- ration with the owners of the site.” nored in official records from the period. Thanks to a loan from Robert Galbraith and Phyl- Apart from offering a glimpse of pioneer shopping lis Montgomery, the Ruiter ledgers will finally have trends, the exhibit, which begins in February 2007, will their first public viewing during Black History Month, afford visitors a rare opportunity to study the ledgers to in honour of these Missisquoi pioneers who were for- determine if they can help clarify the nature and status gotten by conventional local history. The opening and of the historic Saint Armand blacks. A strong oral tra- vernissage for the exhibit is planned for Thursday, Feb- dition among Saint Armand’s older residents holds that ruary 1, 2007, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Missisquoi blacks were among the first New Englanders to settle Museum. The special guest speaker will be Robert in this borderland region east of Lake Champlain. But Galbraith. All are welcome. were these people really slaves? Montreal anthropologist Roland Viau, who re- The ledgers will be on display from Thursday to Sun- viewed this oral history for his 2003 book, Ceux de day afternoon throughout the month of February, 1 Nigger Rock, contends that slaves belonging to Loyal- p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Several lectures will be presented to ist settler Philip Luke and his family were buried in a accompany this exhibit throughout the month of Febru- local cemetery near this prominent rock outcropping ary. For more information, visit www.missisquoimuse- between 1794 and 1833, the year slavery was abol- um.ca or call the Missisquoi Museum at 450-248-3153. ished in Canada. The Government of Quebec even

morrinULTURAL ENTRE C C HERITAGE SITE Your portal to the heritage of English-speakers in Quebec City

Join us for the fun of it Book talks, author readings, discussion groups and special events all year long for the whole family

Come by and visit the charming Victorian You’ll be amazed with our impressive heritage Literary and Historical Society library, site that has housed two prisons and a home of Canada’s oldest learned society. Scottish college.

MORRIN CENTRE 44, CHAUSSÉE DES ÉCOSSAIS, QUÉBEC, (QUÉBEC) G1R 4H3, TEL: (418) 694-9147, EMAIL [email protected]

8 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006 A philanthropist’s legacy Former students seek official historic status for West Island high school

t still stands in all its late-Victorian splendour, Anne-de-Bellevue were but two of his many educa- an aging symbol of a bygone age, when Canadi- tional contributions. He was particularly devoted to ans still leaned on men of great means to lead farming communities and the advancement of agri- Ithe way into their future. In his case, the future cultural sciences. Throughout his long philanthropic sought by tobacco tycoon William Christopher Mac- career, Macdonald established rural schools in New donald was one of learning and scientific progress. Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island While fine temples to industrial prowess rose as and he helped fund facilities at McGill, Guelph Uni- private mansions on the slopes of Mount Royal, versity and the University of British Columbia. His here, in an historic farming community on the west- philanthropy earned him a knighthood, which Queen ern tip of the Island of Mon- treal, a revolution in English- language education in Quebec was starting. Flush with prof- its from his flourishing tobac- co trade, Macdonald began to buy up land in the Bout-de- l’Ile district around 1903, eventually founding the agri- cultural college that bears his name in 1905. And it was here in 1907, under Sir William’s supervision and that of a cer- tain headmistress named Miss Peebles, that Macdonald High School first opened its doors to pupils. Generations of Macdonald High grads planning to mark the school’s centennial next year with a special reunion in the town of Sainte-Anne-de- Bellevue now hope to com- memorate the occasion by inviting local officials to Victoria herself bestowed upon him in 1898. recognize the school’s significant historic value. Leenhouts says the 2007 reunion is an out- Pieter Leenhouts, chair of the committee in charge of growth of a similar event, held in 2000, when 1,700 organizing the reunion, says alumni believe that the Macdonald High alumni from as far away as Aus- Macdonald high school building warrants the special tralia, Japan, Africa and South America gathered in designation because of its historical value and be- Sainte-Anne. cause of the magnitude of its founder’s contribution The centennial celebration next year is shaping to the local community. up to be even bigger. “Not only did he found the college and the high Official registration of heritage buildings in school,” Leenhouts notes, “he funded its entire con- Quebec comes under the jurisdiction of a provincial struction as well as scholarships and professorships.” body known as the Commission des Biens Culturels Classrooms at Macdonald High were originally con- du Québec. But it’s up to municipalities to identify ceived as a training ground for future educators en- and designate historic properties for inclusion in this rolled in the college’s School of Teachers, which will registry. Leenhouts says Macdonald High alumni are also celebrate its centernnial in 2007. Today the considering spearheading a campaign to have the school operates under the Lester B. Pearson School building designated as a historic monument in time board. for their reunion, planned for Victoria Day weekend, Born in Prince Edward Island on 10 February May 18 to May 20, 2007. 1831, William Christopher Macdonald first gained his business acumen in the United States and then For more information on the upcoming celebration built a fortune selling tobacco under various brands or to get involved with the campaign to designate owned by his Montreal-based Macdonald Tobacco Macdonald High as a historic site, please visit Company. The college and high school in Saint- www.machigh.org. 9 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS New owner, same purpose for Saguenay church Former schoolhouse changes hands

lthough it has a new owner, the Sague- self a home—a Catholic school that had closed nay Valley’s last Protestant church is some years earlier. The Grinder House School not closing down as its users and com- was located about a mile outside Kenogami. It A munity had feared. It has a new owner took three months to haul it up the hill to its new instead. home in what is now Arvida. It has been 116 years since Morrin College Arvida United Church was born. Its respon- Presbyterian divinity student J.U. Tanner arrived sibility included Kenogami, Riverbend, Port Al- in the district, becoming the first Protestant to fred and Maligne as well as Arvida. hold church services in Saguenay Lake St. John. All was well until the 1950s, when the re- In the summer of 1890, using only his feet for gion’s English-speaking/Protestant population transportation, Tanner found 17 Protestant fami- began to decline. Smaller and smaller as the lies living in Chicoutimi, Ha Ha Bay, and L’Anse years went by, the Arvida United congregation au Foin. The next summer he was back, using a was faced with closing in 1994. It then joined horse and buggy supplied by Price Brothers agent with the local Anglican church to form the David Blair. Shared Ministry of the Saguenay Lake St. John. Tanner’s mission was so successful that the The church was renamed St. Andrew’s and faithful few immediately petitioned Church offi- St. John’s Church and Presbyterian and Anglican cials to appoint a full-time, ordained minister to services alternated from week to week. However tend to their needs. Church authorities agreed the Saguenay region’s Protestant population con- and in 1892 Rev. J.D Ferguson was hired for a tinued to decline, and on June 25, 2006, Anglican princely $600 a year. Bishop of Quebec Bruce Stavert and lay reader In 1925 most of Canada’s Presbyterian and David Bell conducted a final service. “We had to Methodist churches merged to form the United do something,” said Robert Dole, one of the few Church of Canada. The time was ripe and within remaining active members of the congregation. a year the new congregation spent $250 to buy it- “We had about 30 people out for the final service Church of St. Andrew and St. John, Saguenay. From Inventaire des 10 lieux de culte du Québec, www.lieuxdeculte.qc.ca/index.htm. NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006 but on a typical Sunday we had only six, or sev- pected offer. The Christian Missionary Alliance en, or ten.” of Saguenay has a growing congregation without The church was closed. Its liturgical fur- a permanent home. “We were on our third store- nishings, raiments and vestments, cross, banners, front in four years,” said Pastor Douglas plaques and other memorable items were donated Schroeder-Tabah. A symbolic dollar changed to the nearby William Price museum, doubly hands and all that’s left is the paperwork. suitable because it is the former St. James Angli- “We will be keeping the building’s appear- can Church. “It is a very beautiful display,” said ance,” he said. “We’ll add a ramp for the handi- Dole. capped and make a few improvements. The con- But St. Andrew’s and St. John’s had an unex- gregation is very enthusiastic about this.” Canadiana Village changes hands ‘And we’re going to take care of it’

ts new owners say Rawdon’s Canadiana Vil- Wheelright’s Shop and Carriage Maker’s, Barber lage will carry on its current vocation as one of Shoppe and Hat Shop, Shoemaker’s Shop, Westgate Quebec’s largest outdoor movie sets, an old- Homestead, Milkhouse, Henri’s House, Music I time country-flavoured meeting place and the House, Inn, Print Shop, Saloon, Bake Oven, Grand- perfect location for a good old-fashioned dress-up ma’s House, Veterinary’s, Notary’s, Church, Prison, wedding. Jones/School Master’s House, Tinsmith’s, Doctor’s Starting with one building in 1946, founders House and Dressmaker’s House. Earl and Nora Moore made their dream a reality, The Village welcomed up to 30,000 visitors an- gradually building Canadiana Village into a huge nually during its peak years but attendance began to tourist site covering 140 acres. They moved dozens decline in the 1960s and 1970s as other tourist des- of buildings there (estimates range from 38 to 52) tinations multiplied in the popular Lanaudière dis- from all over the area, filled them with original an- trict northeast of Montreal. Costs kept rising tiques and invited the public to come over for a vis- though, and because it was privately owned the Vil- it. lage could not benefit from much government help. The buildings on display included: a Black- It didn’t help that the displays were mainly based on smith’s shop, Rowan’s Mill, Covered Bridge, Vault, English-Quebec heritage, while the tourists spoke Cemetery, Presbytery, Farm House, Buggy Display, mostly French. Logan Schoolhouse, Rourke House, General Store, About a decade ago after Earl Moore died, the

Main Street, Canadiana Village. From www.canadianavillage.com 11 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS family decided to shut the Village down. They tried lage for his (Dylan’s) childhood.” to sell the whole installation, and there was discus- Film and TV facilities include 550 amp electri- sion of selling off the million-dollar collection one cal service without any visible service installation piece at a time. But family members found a new equipment (aerial cables, posts, transformers etc.), purpose for the site—renting it. Customers included modification of existing buildings possible (without film and television producers looking for an accu- any limitation), reserved access to a pristine 140 rate, instant 19th-century small town to use as a set, acres site for rolling without disruptions or noise in- businesses in need of a site for meetings and confer- terference; short and long term rental of old-fash- ences, and brides looking for the perfect place to ioned artifacts. Private security service is provided. hold their wedding. The family was still trying to When no one is making a movie, the site is sell, and finally this year they found a buyer. available for corporate meetings, training and fes- Daniel Ferron is manager of the Village on be- tive events, with the Village supplying equipment, half of the group of investors who bought it. “We catering, live and recorded music, a hosted mystery plan to continue the existing activities, Ferron said dinner, special requests and a tent for 750. For pri- in a recent interview. “This is only our first year but vate affairs and weddings “by a pastor of your things are beginning to happen.” choice” the Old Mill can hold 150 to 200, the Past films shot at the Village include such var- Church a few more. Added services can include pro- ied fare as two separate versions of the Legend of fessional photographer and florist, and the heritage Sleepy Hollow (one starring Johnny Depp as Icha- ride of your choice (horse-drawn wagons or antique bod Crane, the other starring Brent Carver), and the cars). TV Ontario miniseries Morning in the North West. It would take a group of several hundred to be Most recently, says Ferron is—wait for it—I’m Not able to pay for it so the building won’t be open to There, the upcoming biography of Bob Dylan star- the public, Ferron says. But it is surviving intact, ring Richard Gere. “and we’re going to take good care of it.” For the Dylan flick Canadiana Village seeming- ly changed countries and eras to portray the rock Thanks to Beverly Prudhomme for much of the star’s home state of Minnesota. “One of the things background information. To contact the new owners we can do is change the appearance of the Village,” of Earl and Nora Moore’s Canadiana Village, visit Ferron says. “In this case we reconstituted the vil- their web site at www.canadianavillage.com.

Infographie Direct à la plaque Design Direct to plate

Presse Finition Printing Finishing

Impression Numérique Digital Printing

12 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006 Tombstones rising Pioneer gravemarkers have new role as monument

he cement forms are poured Sunil Mahtani and Donald Patriquin. and ready to receive their Many Stacey descendants con- plaques of inscribed gran- tinue to live in the region, across TThhee T ite. The old grave markers Canada and the United States, per- have been embedded, and donations haps explaining the good response are trickling in to cover their out-of- the Loomises’ appeal for financial pocket expenses. support has so far received. With GGaatteewwaayy Townships heritage activists help from the Megantic-Compton Milt and Bev Loomis, driving forces Cemetery Association, Patrimoine behind the charitable group Patri- Heritage-Ascott-Heritage has writ- to Your moine-Ascott-Heritage, are at it ten to dozens of potential donors, to Your again—this time managing to re- raising several hundred dollars in erect two historic gravemarkers in just a few week’s time. the Ascot Corner Cemetery, near In the 1930s, the tombstones— HHiissttoorryy Sherbrooke. along with the Staceys themselves— The tombstones, dating to 1850 were dug up and moved to Ascot and 1862 respectively, once marked Corner from an older burial site. the last resting places of George and For many years the stones lay Eliza Stacey, pioneers who immi- propped against a fence. At one grated to the Eastern Townships time, the tombstones were even fea- from England in the 1830s. In recent tured in a display of pioneer tomb- decades, the Staceys have received a stone styles mounted by the Sher- great deal of attention, first through brooke Historical Society. the publication of Jane Vansittart’s Fearing they might be vandal- 1976 book Lifelines, a collection of ized or stolen, Milt Loomis, a great- family correspondence spanning the great grandson of the Staceys, took 1836-1858 period, and more recently possession of the gravemarkers for as the central characters in the musi- safe keeping before coming up with cal stage production, Louisa, by the idea to reset them in cement. When completed, the new monument will feature a granite plaque listing Online Access to Dying to visit the names of all of the pioneers Heritage Magazines known to have been buried with the Staceys at the original cemetery, ac- From the Globe and Mail companied by two granite etch- Quebec Tourism ings—one depicting the village’s de- he big talk in the industry consecrated Holy Comforter Angli- Information these days is “creative can Church (1876-1948), the other tourism,” coming up with based on a fanciful drawing of the something entirely novel Guided Trail Maps T Stacey family’s pioneer grist and to sell to the rest of the world. saw mill, as imagined by the India has just announced it is Stacey’s daughter Louisa while she moving in to “cemetery tourism,” Heritage Organization was waiting in England to join her convinced there is a huge market parents in Lower Canada. Information out there for foreigners, particular- ly from Britain, to come see where www.quebecheritageweb.com their forefathers lie. With this Donations, for this project can be coming year the 150th anniversary sent to Patrimoine-Ascott-Heritage of the Indian Mutiny, India is al- at P.O. Box 67, Station, Sherbrooke Quebec ready expecting a rush of grave (Lennoxville) QC, J1M IZ3. Receipts Anglophone tourists. The Indian government will be issued for income tax pur- Heritage estimates some two million Euro- poses, and gifts of $100 or more will peans are buried on the Indian sub- Network entitle donors to receive a CD copy continent. of the Louisa musical soundtrack.

13 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

THE STREET THAT ROARED Why the fight to save Montreal milestone matters to Mile Enders by Carolyn Shaffer

hat’s in a name? To Park Avenue here,” echoed Pierros Karidogiannis, owner of residents, quite a stink—at least drycleaner’s shop, Nettoyeurs à la Grecque, on since last October, when Montreal the corner of Park and St. Viateur. W city council’s executive committee “Many of us have lived and died on this led by Mayor Gerald Tremblay voted unanimous- street; worked like crazy on this street and made ly in favour of changing the name of Park Av- it beautiful.” enue. to Robert Bourassa Ave. in honour of the Protests were staged outside the mayor’s of- late Quebec premier. fice, a petition was circulated garnering more Bourassa, who died in 1996, would have ad- than 40,000 signatures and “Save Park Ave.” mired the spirit of the political fallout, if not the signs have been appearing in the windows of tactics. No public consultation or announcement businesses all over Mile End, the neighbourhood was made prior to the vote. When news of the surrounding Park Ave. Why all the opposition to plan got out, the street went wild. Councillors re- the name change? One word: tradition. turning the City Hall to vote on the motion last For many residents, the idea of suddenly November were met with a wall of protest. changing the street name is an insult to the “It’s always been Park Avenue, and they neighbourhood’s multicultural heritage. Some, should leave it that way,” Frank Lucifero, owner like Karidogiannis, fear it’s a deliberate attempt of neighbourhood café and hangout called the to undermine and denigrate the neighbourhood’s Social Club.said. multiethnic identity. It didn’t help when the may- “They should respect the many nationalities or’s communications director, Richard Theriault

Photo by Carolyn Shaffer. 14 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006 dismissed local opponents to the name change as Waves of immigrant settlement followed in “neo-Montrealers” in a written letter. the first decade of the 20th century. Jews migrat- “I was quite insulted by the tone,” Park Ave. ed north from the area that is now Chinatown, resident Marion Bialek told the Gazette. “It tries and more arrived from the Old World along with to minimalize the significance of the communi- other eastern European immigrants. By the ties that have lived for generations on Park.” 1940s, Jews comprised 70 per cent of Mile End’s Ditto for Mile End resident Sheila Resels, population. Italians also moved into the area, whose parents immigrated to the neighbourhood coming both from their original Montreal neigh- in 1946. “Tremblay has doubly insulted me. First bourhood around Berri and St. Catherine—the he’s trying to erase my history and then he makes area now known as the Gay Village—and directly me feel as though I really don’t belong anyway from Italy. because, after all, I’m only a ‘neo-Montrealer’ According to Susan Bronson, an architect she fumed in an online blog. specializing in history and conservation, Mile Dinu Bumbaru, program director of Heritage End’s first Italian immigrants were mostly young Montreal, thinks the ethnic debate conceals men who worked on the railway lines and in gen- what’s really at stake: the preservation of a mile- eral construction. Some brought their wives and stone in Montreal’s civic history. “Many people families when they could afford to. Greek and don’t realize that the name Park Avenue dates Portuguese immigrants arrived in the 1950s and from the 1880s, and came with the creation of 60s. Mount Royal Park,” Bumbaru says. “This was Since the end of World War II, Mile End has the result of a very long and steady effort by cit- also been home to a growing community of Ha- izens of Montreal who petitioned the city for sidic Jews, many of whom moved into neigh- twelve years to create the park, out of concern bourhoods vacated by the earlier Jewish commu- for the clearcutting that was taking place on the nity. Men with black hats and sidelocks and wig- mountain.” bedecked women pushing carriages flocked by The park was inaugurated on May 24, 1876, groups of small children are a ubiquitous sight in and the street name soon followed. As such, the neighbourhood. In the fall, balconies are Bumbaru says the name Park Ave. marks a civic studded with succas, homemade shelters in which achievement that continues to benefit all Mon- the Jewish holiday of Succot is celebrated. Chil- trealers “It’s unknown today because we live in dren call out to one another in Yiddish in the al- our own time. But this is a legacy that is carried leyways and the kosher grocery store on Park collectively from one generation to the next.” and St-Viateur, where commerce takes place in City council voted in favour of changing the Hebrew, Yiddish and English, is always bustling. name November 27, in spite of the public uproar, The Church of St. Michael the Archangel, but the controversy is far from over. Quebec’s constructed in 1914 for the local Irish Catholic provincial toponomy commission still has to community, embodies the cultural diversity and weigh in on the proposal and the message that it coexistence of Mile End. At the time, it was the will send to Montreal’s diverse ethnic communi- biggest English-speaking Catholic parish in Que- ties who’ve been putting down roots here for bec. The shamrock design over the entrance tells generations. of the church’s original congregants. The interior paintings are by an Italian artist, and the church eside its place in Montreal’s civic his- houses a statue of San Marziale, the Calabrian tory, the name Park Ave. is part of the patron saint. The church became home to the social fabric of Mile End, a neighbor- Polish congregation of St. Anthony in 1964, and B hood once known as Canada’s “cradle bears a statue of the Black Madonna of Czeses- of immigration.” towa. It also contains statues of St-Jean Baptiste, Mile End once covered a much larger area the patron saint of Quebec, and St. Patrick. Mid- than it does today and was originally settled by night Mass is offered in multiple languages. francophone labourers who worked in local quar- Each July, St.Viateur Street outside St. ries that were active in the early 19th century. Michael’s church turns into a carnival for the They were later joined by Irish Catholic families Italian festival of San Marziale. Rosella Tursi, a who migrated from Griffintown. The population filmmaker whose family came to the neighbour- of the neighbourhood quickly grew towards the hood from Italy in the early 1950s, has particu- end of the 1800s. A railway line came in 1876, larly fond memories of this Park Ave. tradition. bringing more industry and residents to the area. “The whole area closes down. A stage is put up In 1909, a tramway began operating on Park Ave. in the corner of the intersection and bands play. The following year, the town of St-Louis, as There’s granita [lemon ice], balloons and food Mile End was called at the time, was annexed to When I was a kid they used to put up a wrestling Montreal. ring.”

15 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

Tursi says the different ethnic groups always ghetto connotation. Many of the original immi- mixed in this neighbourhood. “Even today, when grants moved out in the 60s and 70s. Mile End’s I go into a Greek shop on Park Ave. and they population fell throughout the 70s and 80s, and hear that I’m Italian, they say, ‘una facca, una the neighborhood started to revive and gentrify raca’—one face, one race.” in the early 1990s. New immigrants are drawn to Mile End’s religious institutions testify to more affordable neighbourhoods. Mile End is the passage of various immigrant groups through now an eclectic mix of old and new: first, second the neighbourhood over time. The synagogue and third generation immigrants, students, Tifereth Israel, built in 1911 on St. Urbain St. artists, bohemians and young, middle class fran- became a Haitian Baptist church in 1960, and cophone and anglophone families. was taken over by the Greek congregation of St. Residents are proud of Mile End’s diverse Markela, in 1980. Synagogue Beth Jacob on and friendly atmosphere. Karidogiannis still Fairmount St. is now part of the College deals with older customers in his cleaning shop Française. who speak neither English nor French. “We just The old immigrant flavour of the neighbour- make signs,” he says, moving his hands, “and we hood is revealed in photos of Park Ave. from the never have a problem to communicate.” 1950s and 60s and in scenes from the 1968 NFB Rivky Farkas, a young mother who owns the film The 80 Goes to Sparta, named for the bus Toys 4 U store with her husband, says the name that serves Park Ave. Park Ave. is important to her and others in the Today, much of the immigrant past remains. Hasidic community. Her family arrived from There are still signs in Greek on Park Ave., albeit eastern Europe in 1945 and can now boast of five in obligatorily smaller script than French. Mile generations of Mile End residents. “Park Ave. is End boasts two famed 24-hour bagel bakeries, part of our life, we really lived here a long time. both of which opened in the 1950s, not to men- It’s like a heritage,” she says. tion Wilensky’s Light Lunch, a neighbourhood Losing this heritage may mean nothing to the landmark that first opened for business in 1932. city’s political elite, but it spells defeat for pro- Nearby St. Viateur Street features a smattering of ponents of local history. “Personally, I have Jewish, Greek, Italian, Polish, Guyanese and nothing against honouring Robert Bourassa,” African restaurants and shops. Tursi says, “but I am against erasing one part of These days, the neighbourhood has shed its history to make room for another.”

Tell Ottawa that History Matters...

Over the past 30 years, Canada has lost twenty percent of its historic buildings to demolition.

And the destruction continues.

It’s time to act.

Help urge the Government of Canada to protect historic places by stimulating more private-sector investment in heritage rehabilitation.

Insist on tax incentives in the 2007 budget to build suppport for our heritage.

Sign our online petition at:

www.heritagecanada.org

16 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006

THE BAGG SHUL A living history of Montreal’s early Jewish community By Carolyn Shaffer

cornerstone of Montreal’s plex, the building dates from the 1800s, $230,000 from the Quebec government, immigrant heritage stands at and was converted to a synagogue in which was spent on crucial exterior and the corner of Bagg and Clark 1921. Today, in a neighbourhood whose interior renovations. The roof and win- Astreets in Montreal’s now- narrow, picturesque streets were once dows were replaced along with the trendy Plateau district. peppered with synagogues, the Bagg building’s crumbling brick exterior, and Congregation Temple Solomon, or Shul stands alone. the dank basement was turned into a the Bagg Shul as it is more commonly “It is special,” says Brick “because bright, serviceable space now used for known, is Quebec’s oldest original syna- it is a replica of the old eastern European Sabbath and holiday receptions. gogue, “the only one left of its kind,” synagogues from Poland, Ukraine and The grant came from the Quebec notes Joe Brick, an officer of the syna- other places which were all destroyed in Religious Heritage Foundation, a fund- gogue for nearly forty years who is lead- the Second World War.” ing program established by the Ministry ing efforts to preserve the building as Thanks in large part to Brick and of Culture and Communciations in 1995. living historic landmark—against all fellow congregants, the Bagg Shul has The Bagg Shul was the first synagogue odds. largely withstood the forces of time and to benefit from the program. At the time More than six decades since his the pressures of gentrification and of its heritage designation, Quebec’s cul- own bar mitzvah was held here, Brick, change that have swept through the ture minister Louise Beaudoin described who has lived his whole life just a few Plateau district over the last 30 years. In the shul as “a reminder of a longstanding doors down the street, remains deter- 1998, he helped lead a campaign to have tradition and a past with which not many mined to keep the shul open, although the synagogue declared a religious her- Quebecers are familiar.” there are fewer and fewer Jews living in itage site. The designation enabled the In conversation with Brick, the in- the old neighbourhood. Originally a du- synagogue to secure a grant for tertwined histories of the synagogue and

Temple Soloman. Photo by Carolyn Shaffer. 17 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS the city’s Jewish community come for- ceiling is sagging and the electric speech with sweeping gestures through ward in full colour. In the shul’s early wiring, which dates to the 1920s, has be- the now-empty space. days the Plateau district was home to a come an artifact in itself. This year the synagogue attracted vibrant working-class Jewish immigrant While the Quebec government has more than 150 people for the high holi- neighbourhood at the heart of the city’s promised to pay for structural repairs, days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kip- shmatta, or clothing and textiles, indus- Brick estimates that an additional pur, the best turnout in years. Maybe this try. $60,000 will be needed to restore the signals a trend. David Inhaber, a mem- “The textile workers would come plaster and paintings in the sanctuary, ber for the past ten years thinks the Bagg from the Cooper Building and the and to replace old lighting and tattered Shul offers a personal experience that’s Berman Building, to pray at this syna- floor coverings. But it’s proving difficult hard to find in a bigger congregation. gogue,” says Brick, pointing towards St. to raise financial support from Jewish “There’s a real sense of friendship It Lawrence Boulevard and to buildings communities located elsewhere in the gives you a good feeling to come here,” now occupied by film production com- city. “They all have their own syna- he says. And Brick’s noticed a trickle of panies, chic cafés, bars and shops. gogues to support,” says Brick. “They younger Jews moving back into the old The Bagg synagogue has long been have no interest in giving to one that’s neighbourhood, some of whom have a vital centre of Jewish community life. all the way across town.” dropped in to visit the shul. Most aren’t Brick remembers a poor scrap peddler The exodus from the Plateau culmi- religiously observant, though, and don’t and his wife, who use to show up regu- nated in the 1970s. Today, Montreal’s seem interested in becoming regulars. larly with a large platter of Brick’s own family was homemade gefilte fish. An not particularly religious and old safe in the synagogue’s while he was growing up they basement contains original attended the synagogue only ledger books from the Bagg’s occasionally. His involvement earliest days. Records show with the Bagg Shul began that a yearly membership cost with the death of his father in $1.50, which included the 1967, at which time he began services of a doctor who attending services every day made house calls for 50 cents in order to perform the ritual a visit. A funeral, according to prayers of mourning, required old receipts, cost $35. by Jewish law for a period of Nowadays, the Bagg’s 11 months. unique interior, featuring Over the past few years, robin’s-egg blue walls and Brick has tried to draw ceiling, with paintings depict- younger Jews, including ing the twelve zodiac signs denizens of the nearby surrounding the sanctuary, its highly or- Jewish community is centred in the McGill University student ghetto, to namental lights and fixtures and a U- city’s west end, where over a dozen syn- venture the few blocks up to the shul, shaped balcony—the women’s gallery— agogues are scattered across several but with little success, since they have draws tourists, history buffs and photog- neighbourhoods. It’s much more com- their own student-run house of prayer. raphers. mon today to hear Portuguese on the Still, he hopes to attract a younger pres- Brick takes out a large hardcover street around the Bagg Shul than Yid- ence to the synagogue, who will ensure book from under the cloth-covered dish, the language spoken by Jewish im- its future survival if he cannot. bima, the stand on which the Torah is migrants from eastern Europe who had What motivates an elderly man like placed for reading during services, enti- settled in the area in large numbers Brick to continue to fight for the preser- tled Synagogues of the World, and turns around the turn of the last century. vation of this institution, when all the to a full-page photo of the shul’s interior, The Bagg Shul continues to serve a others in the area closed their doors taken in 1995. The Bagg Shul sits along- small base of aging locals and the occa- decades ago? A sense of its heritage val- side photos of synagogues in Istanbul, sional visitor or two. Its membership has ue, of its place in the community, and its Shanghai, Rome and others. dwindled to the point where it is open link with the past whose traces, without Despite its historical value, the syn- only on Saturday mornings and holi- our efforts, may easily disappear. agogue is struggling for survival. While days, and it’s a weekly struggle to scrape it is beloved by its handful of aging together the ten men necessary, by tradi- Joe Brick is appealing for donations members, Brick has been unable to draw tional interpretation of Jewish law, to from the public for the next phase of ren- in the younger generations and the cru- constitute a minyan—the minimum re- ovation and restoration efforts, which cial financial support that their annual quired to perform communal prayers. are scheduled to take place this fall. membership fees provide. Eight years “This shul holds 350 people, and I Cheques can be sent in the name of the after the initial round of renovations, remember in the old days sometimes it synagogue: Congregation Temple Brick is now trying to raise funds for was so full, people were overflowing out Solomon, 3919 Clark Street, Montreal, further repairs. The main sanctuary’s the door,” Brick says, punctuating his QC, H2W 1W5.

Joe Brick. Photo by Carolyn Shaffer. 18 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006

CHRISTBAUM COMES TO CANADA Decorated tree topped pudding at Sorel party

hough intimately associated with his family, he erected a tree in the main room Christianity for more than three cen- and wired its branches with lighted candles. turies, the Christmas tree actually From Germany the custom of the decorated T stems from much older roots in Euro- tree spread to other parts of Western Europe pean pagan customs. In many Nordic cultures, and eventually to North America. it seems, people cut down evergreen trees in The Christmas tree made its first recorded late December and moved them into their appearance in North America on Christmas homes or temples to mark the winter solstice. Eve 1781, in Sorel, where the baroness von The evergreen trees were believed to have Riedesel was hosting a dinner party of British magical powers that enabled them to withstand and German officers. Her husband, Baron the life-threatening powers of darkness and Frederick-Adolphus Riedesel was commander cold. of a group of German soldiers sent by the Surviving legends about the first Christian Duke of Brunswick to help defend British use of the tree include that of a woodcutter North America during the American War of In- who’s rewarded for helping a small hungry dependence. Taken prisoners during the disas- boy. In one version of this tale the boy appears trous British offensive in northern New York to the woodcutter and his wife as the in 1777, Riedesel and his family were not Christchild on the morning after the good freed until 1780. deed. The child snaps a branch from a nearby Dinner’s highlight was an English pud- fir tree and predicts that it will bear fruit at ding, but the evening’s real sensation turned Christmas. Sure enough, the tree is magically out be a fir tree standing in the corner, its laden with apples of gold and nuts of silver. branches decorated with fruits and lit with By the 1700s the Christbaum, or “Christ tree,” candles. The story goes that, after all the fami- was a firmly established tradition in Germany. ly had suffered over the past two years, the It is widely believed that Martin Luther, baroness was determined to mark their return the sixteenth-century Protestant reformer, first to Sorel, where most of the German soldiers added lighted candles to a tree. Walking home were garrisoned, with an Old Country tradi- one winter evening, composing a sermon, he tion. Little is known about the party in Sorel, was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling but people liked the idea and it gradually amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for caught on.

Two paintings from the Canadian Museum of Civilization. 19 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

The Christmas tree was popularized in England only in the 19th century, by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s German consort. Son of the duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a duchy in central Germany, Albert had grown up decorat- ing Christmas trees, and when he married Vic- toria in 1840 he requested that she adopt the German yuletide custom. The first time a Christmas tree was lit by electricity was in 1882 in New York. Edward Johnson, a colleague of Thomas Edison, lit a Christmas tree with a string of 80 small elec- tric light bulbs, which he had made himself. These strings of light began to be produced around 1890. One of the first electrically lit Christmas trees was erected in Westmount, in 1896. In 1900, some large stores put up illumi- nated trees to attract customers. Today the Christmas tree is a firmly estab- Above: Baron Riedesel. Text adapted from lished tradition throughout Canada. Beyond its Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, Your pagan and Christian origins, the Christmas Branches Green Delight Us, by James H. tree is a universal symbol of rebirth, of light Marsh, editor in chief of The Canadian Ency- in the darkest time. clopedia at www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com Germans soldiers also left their mark on Quebec ost of the German troops sent to fantrymen, light infantrymen and artillerymen. Canada during the American War of In addition, the 600- to 700-strong Anhalt- Independence were stationed at Zerbst Regiment arrived in May 1778 to be as- M Sorel. The inclusion of many Ger- signed the task of guarding Quebec and its sur- mans in the garrison of regular troops at the time roundings. Instead of the usual blue German sol- may be considered to have been providential. The dier’s uniform, the guards stationed on the ram- German soldiers got along well with the French- parts at Quebec wore an attractive white uniform Canadian population and most of their officers un- with scarlet lapels, cuffs and collar. The German derstood French better than English. Their admin- regiments totalled 3,200 men at the time, half the istrative correspondence was usually written in regular troops stationed in the St. Lawrence Val- French or German. One of them wrote that the ley. In the years that followed, the British in- Canadians were “very good people, serious, at- creased this German presence. In May 1780 the tractive and very upright. Once won over, their number of German soldiers went from 3,600 to friendship was boundless.... No nation could sup- 4,300 with the arrival of troops from Hesse-Cas- port so much effort, work and fatigue with such sel, and at the end of 1782 their number reached patience.” approximately 5,000. The reinforcements from The Canadians, for their part, appreciated the Brunswick made it possible to re-establish the order and discipline of the German troops. At dragoons and grenadiers, and to increase the num- Kamouraska, for example, the excellent deport- ber of infantry regiments to five. ment of a detachment of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regi- When peace was restored, the troops returned ment won the full approval of the militia captains. home, but many German soldiers chose to settle in The Germans consisted primarily of Brunswick Canada. The German names that many Quebecers regiments and battalions under the command of bear today go back to these ancestors. The Wil- General Riedesel, part of which remained in garri- helmys, for example, are descendants of a soldier son during the 1777 campaign. The following in the Hesse-Hanau Chasseurs. In addition, many year, the German soldiers captured by the Ameri- hard-to-pronounce German names were gallicized: cans were exchanged and returned to Canada. Maher became Maheu, Beyer became Payeur, and With the exception of the Prinz Friedrich Reg- Schumpff became Jomphre. iment, all German infantrymen, dragoons and light infantrymen were incorporated into the From Canadian Military Heritage, Vol. 2 (1755- Ehrenbrook Battalion and the von Barner Regi- 1871), Chapter 2, Revolt of Pontiac and the Amer- ican Invasion. See www.cmhg.gc.ca. ment in the fall of 1778, for a total of 2,000 men, excluding the approximately 800 Hesse-Hanau in-

Baron Riedesel, from Canadian Military Heritage. 20 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006

BRIDGE TO SUBURBIA Heritage Vanished English towns are part of South Shore’s past by Kevin Erskine-Henry Minute ften when one talks of Montre- ern Country Tramway electric commuter al’s English-speaking communi- cars. Video ty, eyes turn toward the island’s Soldiers returning from overseas Owestern end. However, just be- through veteran housing programs brought yond the bridges leading to the south shore great growth to the South Shore English- Contest of the St. Lawrence River, in the shade of speaking Community in the 1950s. By 1956 the city skyline you will find a dozen towns the end of the tramway line led to tiny Students, Tell us and cities that comprise the second-largest makeshift villages named Croyden, East your story! English-language community in Quebec. Greenfield, and Brookline, home to hun- The South Shore English-speaking dreds of anglophone families whose bread- community makes its home mainly within winners worked in the Point St. Charles rail 20 kilometres of the Island of Montreal. And yards. The Quebec despite battling rush hour traffic gridlock, During this time East Greenfield be- Anglophone Heritage residents here live closer to the city’s came part of Saint Hubert while the City of “downtown” than people in the West-Island Jacques Cartier was merged into Longueuil. Network is offering or Laval. The opening of the Champlain Bridge Secondary Level students Along with the core cities of Brossard, and new massive housing programs saw the cash prizes for true stories Greenfield Park, Saint-Lambert, Saint-Hu- birth of Brossard and Candiac in the 1960s. bert, Longueuil and Candiac, you also find Expansion was everywhere. The opening of about remarkable people English Community pockets in the Riche- the Longueuil Metro line allowed for quick from Quebecs past. lieu Valley towns of Otterburn Park, Saint- access to downtown Montreal. Canada’s Bruno and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. first two shopping centres were opened on Today we may look at the ever-expand- the South Shore during these boom times. ing South Shore region as an extension of Political change, including legislation For complete contest suburban Montreal. However, only 60 restricting English and the exodus of anglo- details, visit our years ago, dozens of small towns dotted a phones from Quebec that followed after the website, landscape that was largely rural. Moving election of the first Parti-Québecois govern- from Montreal to the South Shore was ment in 1976 contributed to the decline in www.qahn.org thought of as getting away from the city. the number of local English schools, and click on the News Montrealers escaped by taking a day trip out churches and community groups. Greenfield to the countryside, or owning a weekend Park and Otterburn Park are currently the cottage here. only South Shore cities granted official The expanded roots of the English- bilingual status under Quebec’s French Lan- First prize is $250. community on the South Shore began with guage Charter. Second prize is $150 the completion of the Victoria Bridge in The English-speaking South Shore 1860 by the Grand Trunk Railway. With the community today proudly belongs to one of opening of the bridge’s passenger lanes, the most bilingual multicultural communi- Send your entries to: people who wanted to get away from the ties in Quebec. Old divisions that once sepa- noise and grime of the city soon began to rated communities have fallen by the way- Quebec Anglophone settle along the rail line. side as churches, schools and community Heritage Network The better-off folk settled in the towns groups share resources. And wherever you 400-257 Queen of Saint-Lambert and Montreal South, a travel you will meet people who will tell mainly English-speaking town located near you of the great times they had growing up Street, the base of the Jacques Cartier Bridge that here. Lennoxville, Quebec today forms part of the City of Longueuil. They built fine brick homes similar to those The author is a member of the South Shore J1M 1K7 found in NDG. Further down the rail line, Community Partners Network, which pro- Greenfield Park and Mackayville became motes and helps develop English language Deadline for home to the trades people. Between 1920 community services on the South Shore. submissions is and 1956 South Shore residents could travel Email for more information: community- to work in the city each day aboard South- [email protected] April 30, 2007

21 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

WHAT’SINANAME?

LAND OF SHRUGS AND STRANGERS Guesswork, trade and conflict obscure Canada’s etymology by Joseph Graham

t the time of Confederation in 1867, Canada was on- nally with the Algonquin and Montagnais, but in the 1530s, al- ly one of many names proposed for the new country. most a century earlier, Jacques Cartier had met what appeared The word existed but referred to only the two old to be a different people on the shores of the St. Lawrence. They Acolonies of Upper and Lower Canada, or Canada- were Iroquoian and were subsequently displaced, perhaps as a West and Canada-East, as they were then called, not to the four result of diseases brought on by their interaction with Cartier. colonies that initially formed our country. Names proposed in- He took their term for a village, canada, or kanata, and applied cluded Acadia, the name associated with the French settlements it to the countryside along the shore of the St. Lawrence River in the Maritimes; Tupona, an acronym for The United below the native settlement of Stadaconé, site of present-day Provinces of North America; Efisga, for English, French, Irish, Quebec City. The argument as to whether Canada comes from Scots, German and Aboriginal lands; Borealia to evoke the there or from the Montagnais has been going on since the North; Hochelaga, the name of the original Iroquois village on colony was first created, and depending upon who is right, the Montreal Island; and Laurentia, from the then recently named word Canada could mean quite different things. mountains. According to Father Albert Lacombe, writing in 1874, if During the debate in the Legislative Assembly on February the Montagnais were the people who gave us the name Canada, 9th, 1865, Thomas D’Arcy McGee, one of the Fathers of Con- it came from their word for foreigner—someone coming from federation, said, “I read in one newspaper not less than a dozen afar: Kannatats. It is possible that the early settlers accepted the attempts to derive a new name. One individual chooses Tuponia name they were called as a way of having an identity to the and another, Hochelaga as a suitable name for the new national- Montagnais, who were the majority at the time. Over time, the ity. Now I ask any honourable member of this house how he argument goes, they became Canadiens, or more probably would feel if he woke up some fine morning and found himself Canayans. Certainly the Montagnais and Algonquin were the instead of a Canadian, a Tuponian or a Hochelagander.” There ones they interacted with the most. If this is in fact the origin of were surely lobbyists for each different name, and had they had the name Canada, it seems appropriate. After all, we have been television in the 1860s, it would likely have become the most told many times that we are a nation of immigrants. Wouldn’t it important single issue that the politicians had to deal with. We be fitting if the name of our country actually means “foreign- might have ended up with a much simpler name such as Britan- er”? nica or Albertoria (for the Prince Regent), which were also pro- posed. ut do we want to celebrate a name that excludes those The origin of the name Canada had been a subject of de- first residents who coined it? Most of the arguments bate for years before Confederation. One story credits the Por- and records of names were presented by clergy, and tuguese. It suggests that they were among the earliest Euro- Bin 1857 Monsignor Laflèche wrote that the name peans to see our coast, and they dismissed it with the words Aca came from the phrase, P’Konata, used both by the Cree and the Nada, or “here is nothing.” In P.G. Roy’s 1906 publication, Les Montagnais. The expression means “without a plan” and seems Noms Geographiques de la Prov. de Québec, he lists arguments to have been the verbal equivalent of a shrug, perhaps reflecting that credit the Portuguese and the Spanish, who used the word Laflèche’s opinion of the government of the time. He said if “canada” for road. The French and Danish, he reports, could you were to ask a Cree what he wants, and he had no ready re- have a claim because of a military encampment that once be- sponse, he might say “P’Konata.” Today, if you ask a Canadian longed to Caesar in the lower Seine valley called Bas-de-Cana- what he wants, his equivalent answer would be,”I dunno!” or da. The name had been shortened from Castra Danorum (camp “Je l’sais-tu?” Mgr. Laflèche’s interpretation contributed to the of the Danes). risk that Thomas D’Arcy McGee might wake up one morning The Germans also had a claim because of a French transla- as a Hochelagander. tion of a German study of reed-filled flatlands in the Amazon Thankfully for our self-image, P.G. Roy in 1906 argued they called Canadas. This argument involved Spanish as well, persuasively that the name Canada had come from the Iroquois. because the Spanish word for reed is canna and if ada is added He presented pages of arguments from Father J.A. Cuoq who, to it, the new word means clearing. It is hard to see how this ap- back at the time of Confederation, was the authority on the Iro- plies to our country, but then Roy was only reporting all the dif- quois language. Cuoq sets out his proof that, based upon the ferent explanations. Narrowing it down, he concluded that de- words that Cartier recorded at Stadaconé and Hochelaga, he spite the similarities to words in other European languages, the met the Iroquois, not the Montagnais. This turns out to have most likely sources were either the Cree and Montagnais (In- been fortunate, because in Iroquois, Canada means village, or nu), or the Iroquois of the St. Lawrence. That is where the con- agglomeration of tents—a more attractive meaning than a shrug troversy really started. or a foreigner, even if one of the other contenders has a more The French under Champlain had allied themselves origi- convincing argument. Cartier, according to Cuoq, took the word

22 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006 to be the name of the place itself, and so the territory accessed through the St. it became. Lawrence. Quebec, the name for the Stadaconé, beyond the western ex- place, soon replaced Stadaconé, the treme of Cartier’s Canada, was peopled name of the village. with Montagnais when Champlain ar- In Champlain’s map of 1613, the rived some seven decades after Cartier. south shore of the St. Lawrence is called Stadeconé in Algonquian means “wing” Nouvelle France and the north shore is and a similar word in Montagnais means called Nouvelle Biscaye. Neither region “place where one crosses on pieces of is called either Quebec or Canada. wood as on a bridge.” While Stadaconé Champlain dealt with the Algonquin and was located on the north shore of the St. Montagnais. What happened to the Iro- Lawrence, a map credited to Champlain quoian peoples that Cartier met seven from 1613 shows the word “Québec” at decades earlier is a matter of specula- the edge of the river on the south shore. tion, but Champlain would have had lit- This is not surprising because the word tle reason to call a specific part of the meant narrowing, obstructed or blocked, colony Canada. The Montagnais use of indicating the place where the river nar- the word Kannatats to describe foreign- rows, as is the case at the location of ers may have given rise to the first Quebec City on the St. Lawrence River. French colonists calling themselves It had the same meaning in Algonquin, Canayens, a word considered a colloqui- Cree and Mi’kmaq, and while Cham- al form of Canadiens. Perhaps the word plain also spelled it Québecq, other early Canayens commemorates a different French explorers spelled it Kébek, naming from that of the territory Cartier Kébec, Képak, Kebbek, and other varia- identified as Canada (or Kanata). In such tions. It can be thought of as ono- a case, the word Canayens descends matopoeic, or a word that evokes a from the Montagnais, while the word sound, if one thinks of the echo that Canadian comes from the Iroquoian. would rebound in a narrow passage, and The French designated New France it is likely that the word existed to de- as the Diocese of Quebec in 1674. It scribe such narrow places before it was comprised all French holdings in Canada applied to ‘the quebec’ on the river. As from Acadia to Louisiana, and was ad- with the word Canada, historians invoke ministered from Quebec City. In 1763, many arguments over its origins. Some when the French colony became a suggest that it could have been influ- British one, the British proclaimed the enced by the Norman rule of adding the Government of the Province of Quebec, suffix ‘bec’ to indicate a promontory at not of Canada. Canada replaced Quebec the junction of two rivers, even though only in 1791, 28 years after that procla- the Algonquin word Kebh means mation, when the colony was divided in- ‘blocked’ and the suffix ‘ek’ means to Upper and Lower Canada. Until then, ‘here.’ Canada was a colloquial name for our part of the New World rather than the he names Canada and Quebec, name of a political entity or a colony. existing since before the first The people who lived there may have Europeans arrived in the Amer- called themselves Canadiens, or as like- Ticas, come from two different ly, Canayens—something like “foreign- peoples—the Iroquoian and Algo- ers” in the Montagnais language. Later, nquian—who fought as much as they in 1840, the two colonies were reunited traded, and pushed each other back and as the colony of Canada until they be- forth along their frontiers. Even after came the Canadian provinces of Quebec contact with the Europeans, one group and Ontario at Confederation, and its cit- allied itself with the English, while the izens became Canadians, or other went with the French. Today that Canadien(ne)s. It was not until the Quiet duality is commemorated in our two lev- Revolution in the 1960s that the Canadi- els of government who often seem to ens, or Canayens, began to call them- fight as much as they trade. Thanks to selves Québécois. Cartier, the territory entered via the St. Lawrence became known as Canada, but Adapted from the book Naming the Lau- New France was not Canada. It was sim- rentians, by Joseph Graham Contact him ply located in a frontier named Canada, at [email protected]. a word that was synonymous with all of

23 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS BOOK REVIEWS

Adventism in Quebec: The Dynamics of Rural Church Growth, 1830-1910 By Denis Fortin Andrews University Press. 202 pages, $19.99. ortin, a professor of theology at the eventual schism that rocked the Ad- it should have devoted more space to the this small Christian university vent movement, resulting in the evolu- Advent Christians, who still maintain a in Michigan, traces the rise and tion of two distinct branches of Adven- couple of churches and a youth camp in Fdecline of the Adventist reli- tists—the Seventh-Day Adventist and the Township. Readers would have also gious sect in its various forms as it ap- the Advent Christians. Central to benefited from a clearer explanation of peared across southern Quebec in the Miller’s apocalyptic belief was his pre- the differences between these two dis- 19th century. Stemming from the Mil- diction, based on selective readings of tinct movements that sprang from com- lerite, or Second Advent, movement in biblical passages, that the Second Com- mon roots and which are often confused the 1840s New England, the Sabbatarian ing of Christ would occur on or before in people’s minds. form of Adventism that later developed 1843. These early chapters are particu- A criticism of a purely technical into the Seventh-Day Adventist Church larly interesting. Later chapters focus type is that the printing program used by flourished for several decades in the upon the various congregations and con- the publishers was obviously not Eastern Townships. ferences operating in the region. The equipped to handle French accents. The Adventism in Quebec is the account book is well-written, informative and result is that in many of the French of a religious movement that reached its easy to read. It contains several appen- names that appear in the book there are zenith well over a century ago, and dices and numerous archival photo- bizarre gaps (i.e., blank spaces) where a which declined dramatically in a rela- graphs that complement the narrative letter with an accent should be. Other tively short time. The book is organized nicely. than that, the book is an excellent addi- by chapter, with several chapters devot- Though Adventism in Quebec fo- tion to anyone’s collection of Eastern ed to the rise of American preacher cuses essentially on the Seventh-Day Townships historical material. William Miller and his teachings, and to Adventists, given its more general title, Reviewed by Matthew Farfan

The Eastern Townships: In Town and Village / Les Cantons-de-l’Est: villes et village By Matthew Farfan Les Éditions GID, Quebec City, 207 pages. $34.95.

his is a book of photographs ganized by subject: Towns and Villages; available at bookstore across Quebec, or with enough scope and variety Doing Business; Making a Living; Hav- directly from the author for $37.05, tax to satisfy both the casual reader ing Fun; Getting Around; Schooldays; included. If ordering by mail, please add Tand the history enthusiast look- Going to Church; Special Occasions; $8.50 for shipping within Quebec, On- ing for more details on his or her Disasters; Life on the Line; and In Uni- tario and the U.S.; or $12 for shipping to favourite Townships topic. It includes a form. Each photo is briefly explained Western and Atlantic Canada). Payment couple of the oldest existing photo- although Farfan seems somewhat frus- should be addressed to: Matthew Farfan, graphs of the region, dating from the trated by the tight spaces given for cap- 531 Dufferin, Stanstead, Quebec, J0B 1860s, when photography was still in its tions in the format of the GID series. 3E0. Tel.: (819) 876-5047; email infancy. This book is a pleasure to consume [email protected]. About 200 early photographs are and would make a fine gift to anyone in- presented. Author-collector Farfan has terested in the Eastern Townships or Reviewed by Charles Bury done his homework. The pictures are or- anyone who likes old pictures. It is

24 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006

Cyclone Days: Plowing, Planting and Parties Edited by Margaret Polk, Richard Mason and Daniel Parkinson Self-published. 370 pages, including illustrations, map and appendices. CD-ROM copy. $12

ntario descendants of an East- tween 1899 and 1925, from the expansion ern Townships family who of railways and the impact of the first farmed near Lennoxville at the telephones, to the coming of movie-hous- Oturn of the 20th Century have es and streetcars. The annotated collec- transcribed and assembled a remarkable tion constitutes a valuable primary docu- collection of journal entries and letters mentary source for genealogists and re- kept by their ancestor, Alice Mason Cop- searchers interested in the social history ping (1873-1960), a great grand-daughter of rural Quebec. of Rawdon pioneer and journal-keeper in A limited number of printed copies his own right, George Copping. of the Copping journal collection are The journal collection, titled Cyclone available for consultation at select Days: Plowing, Planting and Parties, cov- archives, including the Quebec Anglo- ers a period of more than 25 years and of- phone Heritage Network library and the fers a straightforward account of daily Eastern Townships Research Centre in farm life in Quebec from the rare per- Sherbrooke (Lennoxville), the Compton spective of the woman her editors knew County Historical and Museum Society simply as ‘Aunt Alice.’ in Eaton Corner, the Quebec Family His- In their foreword to the collection tory Society in Dorval, and the Montreal Daniel Parkinson from Toronto and his branch of the Quebec National Archives. co-editors Margaret Mason Polk of Persons interested in perusing the collec- Kingston, and Richard Mason of Missis- tion at home may purchase a full text ver- sauga note that a reading of the journals sion in electronic format provides a first-hand account of the many To order, send email to changes taking place in countryside be- [email protected].

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25 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

HINDSIGHT

Luck of the potted frog by Joseph Graham

e are a Nordic people, Arriving at Dorval Airport have nothing to lose. It is not and when all is said some days later, it is winter and healthy to live in a society where and done, our cold, there has been a storm. Snow is people have nothing to lose. In our W severe winters force banked, piled up on every available society, we complain endlessly us to get along and to solve our so- space, a nuisance to the important about corruption and the declining cial problems, to look after each cars and trucks that ply their way quality of services that we have. other. between rejected mountains of wa- We resent paying taxes, scold our While travelling through rural ter. How quickly they would melt politicians and spend our resources Kenya last year, for one brief in- and turn her world into a garden. on comforts without regard for who stant I looked into the pained and What accident of birth made is supplying them at what cost to anxious eyes of a woman through her, her and me, me? How few peo- our world. As we wait longer in the window of our air-conditioned ple, born without awareness or con- line for services in hospitals, as we van. She was trying to convince the sent, share Canadians’ good for- hit more bumps driving down dete- road crew to fill her container with tune? What makes us so lucky? We riorating roads and consume irre- water as it spilled from placeable resources that con- their truck onto the dusty taminate the very air we surface of the broken as- It is not healthy to live in a society breathe, we calculate that if phalt. She was not alone but where people have nothing to lose. we just had a bit more mon- with other women, compet- ey, we could buy our way ing for the same opportuni- out of all this deterioration. ty, children clinging or playing congratulate ourselves shamelessly Like the proverbial frog in the pot around them. for the quality of our political sys- of heating water, we don’t feel our We were driving in the ditch, as tem and for the maturity of our so- environment changing. we had been for miles. The road ciety, but it wasn’t really us. Any Once, salmon swam up the St. exists on the map, to satisfy foreign one of us could have been the child Lawrence and the Ottawa rivers to organizations that donated to have of this woman standing in the dust spawn in their tributaries.Where it modernized, but it hasn’t really of a broken-down road in Africa, are they now? Once, rainwater was changed. It’s still the pot-holed begging for water. We congratulate considered the defining element of moonscape that it was before, more ourselves, but we did not really purity, landing on the extended of a guide than a road. We cling to build it, we just inherited it, and it tongues of children during a down- the flattest part of the surface, of- is working, at least for now. Most pour. Have you tasted it lately? Our ten straying into the dry fields to of us take our luck for granted, lakes once teemed with fish, huge, avoid obstructions. In the distance, having no idea how fragile our migrating flocks of birds crowded over the parched ground, a dust whole infrastructure really is. our soundscapes and the evening devil, ten or fifteen storeys high, air was filled with the voices of drifted lazily in the hot air. The he money for that road in crickets and frogs. Each season was African sun bakes all that is ex- Africa came through dona- perfumed distinctly, flowers and posed. tions from societies like the smell of a fresh rain after the I know that she sees me as T ours, and giving it bought sun comes back. Most of us have to plainly as I, her. Were she my sis- us a modicum of satisfaction. Half- pay hard-earned money to experi- ter, I think… How lucky I am to be heartedly, we sent off foreign aid, ence these things now. Will one of visiting only, to have all that I have soothing our sense of guilt, feeling our grandchildren have to stand on back home. that we were making a difference, a dusty road begging for water? Not far down the road lies the but most of it ended up in the pri- We are a Nordic people though, carcass of a cow, the famous cattle vate accounts of a thousand mid- and when all is said and done, our of the Maasai people, abandoned to dlemen who claimed to understand cold, severe winters force us to get the vultures for lack of water. our intentions. The road was illus- along and to solve our social prob- There is a sense that the whole trated brilliantly on the map. lems, to look after each other. We countryside is turning into a desert, Societies break down and a have a lot to be thankful for—and but this is only a drought. good number of the people soon we have a lot to share.

26 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006

EVENT LISTINGS Does your Outaouais, January & February Stanbridge East, February 1to 28 Jan. 15, 7:30 p.m. Missisquoi Museum proudly presents group have a Chelsea Community Centre its exhibit, The Mystery of the Ruiter Writer and historian Victor Suthren re- Ledgers 1799-1811: Were Thomas, counts the early Canadian years of ex- Morris and Joel Slaves? heritage or plorer Captain James Cook. Gatineau Valley Historical Society Feb. 1, 7 p.m. cultural event Exhibit vernissagewith guest speaker (GVHS). Information: (819) 827-4432 Robert Galbraith. The Ruiter ledgers will be on display you’d like to Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m. at Missisquoi Museum each Thursday Chelsea Community Centre to Sunday afternoon throughout the advertise on Annual general meeting of the Gatineau month of February, from 1 to 4:30 Valley Historical Society (GVHS). p.m. this page? Information:(450)248-3153 or visit Jan. 20, 10:30 a.m. online at:wwwmissisquoimuseum.ca Upper Ottawa Valley Genealogical Group Inc. (UOVGG), 222 Dickson, Gatineau, to Sept. 3, 2007 Pembroke ON Canadian Museum of Civilization Show and Tell and Problem Solving- Masters of the Plains: Ancient No- No problem to solve or an item to mads of Russia and Canada Email us at show needed. This exhibit compares the ancient his- tories of two northern grassland re- Montreal to January 27 gions—the Russian Steppes and the [email protected] McCord Museum Northern Great Plains of North Amer- Growing Up in Montreal, an exhibition ica. Info online: www.civilization.ca with all the exploring the daily lives of young urban- dwellers. A remarkable collection of Quebec City, Winter 2007 details. clothing, toys and photographs. La Maison Henry Stuart Open Tues. to Fri., 10a.m. to 6 p.m. 82, Grand Allé, corner of Cartier Ave. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Come visit this splendid 19th century Information (514) 398-7100 bourgeois home on Quebec’s prestigious Grand Allé Boulevard. Authentic decor Montreal, until January 2007 surrounded by an old-fashioned English Stewart Museum garden. Learn about the Stuart family Free for 50 years of arms collecting. Visit this that lived here between 1918 and 1988. unique collection of more than 1,400 in- By reservation only for groups of six and QAHN dividual pieces, tracing weaponry devel- more. opment from the 16th to the 20th cen- Information: (418) 647-4347 turies. members Open Wednesday through Monday, 10 Westmount, December 21, 7 p.m. a.m. to 5 p.m. Westmount Public Library, 4574 Sher- Information: (514) 861-6701. brooke West. Conference: Démystifier la rénovation : Comment rénover d’anci- Stanstead, January 3, 7 p.m ennes résidences à un moindre coût. Stanstead College and The Vermont Edouard El Kaim, homeowner and an- Quebec Humanities Council offer this lecture: tiques dealer, will talk about his experi- The Enduring Appeal of Arthur ence restoring the Yellow Brick House, Where: John C. Colby Library at Col- Heritage one of two houes built byCajetan Dufort by House, Stanstead College in 1905. Restoring historic homes need- News Information: Please visit our website n’t cost a fortune. Free for members; $5 at:www.vermonthumanities.org for non-members.Info: (514) 925-1404.

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