Summer 2018 Table of Contents Welcome, former parliamentarians! Below is a list of what you’ll find in the latest issue of The InFormer. Meet the team: Introducing our interns/ 2 In conversation with Haley Shanoff/ 3 In conversation with His Honour Henry Jackman/ 5 In conversation with Zanana Akande/ 7 Two special days/ 10 Educational efforts/ 11 Russian cannons/ 12 In conversation with Floyd Laughren/ 13 Discover: Ontario beer/16 Ale trails/ 17 Discover: Ontario wine/ 18 Ontario’s treasures/ 19 The artists of Queen’s Park/ 20 In loving memory of Walter Pitman/ 21 1 InFormer Team Meet the Interns Summer 2018 Victoria Shariati is a journalist and Zena Salem is a multilingual journalism academic researcher currently student at Ryerson University, minoring completing a journalism degree at in French, and Entrepreneurship and Ryerson University. She is minoring in Innovation. Post-graduation, she aims to both history and politics. pursue a master’s degree in international law and policy. With a keen interest in politics and foreign affairs, Victoria hopes to earn In addition to being passionate about a mastor’s degree in a field that would international journalism, her work help her explore the intricacies of focuses on social issues, law, politics, Canadian public and foreign policy and religion and culture and human rights. international law. Zena aspires to be a news anchor and Victoria began working with the Ontario journalist, covering events and issues Association of Former Parliamentarians that target marginalized groups, law and in May of 2018. politics -both locally and internationally. 2 Inspiring People In conversation with Haley Shanoff Curator of The Gathering Place, Queen’s Park What is your background, as related to the world of art? I have an undergraduate degree in history and a master’s in museum studies, so my focus was always more on history than on art. The museum studies program [I did] focuses on how to interpret things in general as opposed to a specific subject matter, and how to best curate a show. I don’t have a degree in fine arts or art history or anything like that, it’s just become part of my job, which is really interesting. Why is The Gathering Place important? The institution of Parliament is very steeped in tradition but it’s mostly a British tradition. There are a lot of voices that aren’t traditionally heard at the Legislature. Parliament is supposed to be for the people of Ontario, and to represent the people of Ontario, so bringing in more voices is really something important, especially with the Indigenous voice, as we are on their traditional land. I think it’s important to open up that line of communication and make sure Indigenous communities and individuals feel welcome in a place in which they don’t always feel welcome. Just promoting arts and culture is important as well, and it’s also important to be able to give an opportunity to artists all across the province to showcase their talents. Did you have any specific themes in mind when you were selecting the art? No. We reached out to all of the Chiefs in the province as well as the Métis Nation and the Inuit community, and we told them that we wanted to launch this project and asked, ‘What do you think? Do you have any input or artists who might be interested?’ In some situations we worked directly with the Chief and in other situations we worked with individual artists, or sometimes with a cultural centre or museum or gallery. We explained to them that these are multiuse spaces and we really want these spaces to be building bridges of communication and understanding. We asked what they would like to see in there. We left it really open in that way. Why is there no permanent collection? We thought it was important to have it be a living, breathing entity and to show that communities are always changing and growing and also just to give different voices the opportunity to be featured in the rooms. It’s not a static space. If we were to get a piece from each of the First Nations registered bands in Ontario, we couldn’t physically fit everything in the room. It’s nice to have that opportunity to switch things,. 3 Inspiring People How long would one piece typically stay in The Gathering Place? We ask for it for a loan of a year, if possible. In a few instances it’s been less and in some it’s been longer. There are a few pieces that are on more of a long-term loan basis. If you saw the Grass Dance regalia outfit in the room that’s farthest west, that piece is more of a long-term loan. Generally, it’s about a year. The other thing I should mention is that the artist or the communities or an individual has loaned us the piece, so we’re conscious of that. It doesn’t belong to us and we don’t want to keep it longer than they may want. “When you’re looking at someone else’s culture or art, you’re an outsider.” Haley Shanoff. Photo: Legislative Assembly of Ontario Did you experience any challenges when you were putting everything together? Sometimes it was difficult trying to reach people. I remember there was one Chief who had gone to a very remote hunting camp for most of the summer and I was trying to get in touch with him, so that was a challenge. It was really important to understand that we’re really trying to not put our lens on someone else’s culture. I’m not Indigenous, so I was really conscious of that. That was another major challenge, you don’t want to be imposing your culture on someone else. We did work with some few people on an advisory board type of set-up and bounced everything off of them, all of the text and everything to make sure there wasn’t anything we were missing because we were ignorant of something. When you’re looking at someone else’s culture or art, you’re an outsider. We made sure that the voices you hopefully see and hear are the voices of the artists and the communities as opposed to just us. - Victoria Shariati 4 Inspiring People In conversation with The Hon. Henry N. Jackman The former Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario sat down with The InFormer to discuss his time in politics. His Honour Henry Jackman. Photo: Getty Images What were a few of the highlights of your term as Lieutenant-Governor? I can’t say that any special thing was a highlight, but the totality of my experience was a highlight. I met everybody, and when I say everybody, I mean everybody, from the highest to the lowest. I went to almost every city and town in Ontario. I would never have done that if I hadn’t had a job like that. You got to see the province. It’s a province my family has lived in for six generations. I met all kinds of people. Every group of people – new Canadians, old Canadians, every kind of Canadian. Do you think the position of Lieutenant-Governor is still important today? Definitely. You can’t have our system of government without the Crown, or the representative of the Crown. Political power consists of the Crown and the Parliament. The armed forces and the police do not salute the Premier. Their allegiance is to the Crown. The Crown is a rather nebulous concept that says no matter how high you are, you can be the head of the biggest corporation or the Premier of Ontario, but you are all subject to the Crown. The Lieutenant Governor is not the person at the top. He is the symbol of the top. 5 Inspiring People What are some qualities you think the Prime Minister should keep in mind when looking for a new Lieutenant-Governor? Well, if I look at the appointments after I served and even before I served, they were all different. They should be different because Canada, and Ontario, is very different. There are all kinds of people. I succeeded Lincoln Alexander, who was Black. Hilary Weston, who succeeded me, was a woman. Her successor was Aboriginal. His successor was a paraplegic, who was succeeded by another woman. Everyone is different. The next Lieutenant Governor will be different. That is the secret of the job. It has to be a cross section. Did your experience at Queen’s Park alter or confirm any opinion you had of politicians? I think it may have reinforced the views I already had and still have. I have a huge respect for people who run for Parliament or run for the Legislature. They contribute and give far more than they ever receive out of it. That doesn’t mean I don’t have views about some things I like and some things I don’t like on specific policies, but the idea that someone, a man or a woman, presents themselves to their friends and neighbours and says, “I want to represent you,” that’s a very positive thing. That’s what makes a democracy. That’s a great thing we have over some other countries in the world that don’t have that kind of electoral system. You used to act while in college. Did you have a favourite play? I like Shakespeare, but that’s perhaps because I was brought up on it and had that influence at school, in both high school and university.