June 10, 2011 More about Parks Canada

I wrote about the 100^th birthday of Parks Canada and their remarkable legacy last week. As a follow up I want to draw your attention to the last 3 issues of Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver) magazine from the Canadian History Society. 

Canada's History surveyed people's top ten national historic sites.

The magazine carried out a survey of people’s top 10 National Historic Sites and they appeared in the Feb/Mar 2011 issue.  The nearest one is the Rideau Canal from Ottawa to Kingston.  The April/May Issue had an article on Our Polar Past. There is reference to the isolated Outtininpaaq Natural Park I mentioned last week. 

There are 956 National Historic Sites with 167 administered by Parks Canada, 658 people of historical significance, and417 events of national significance on record. 

The June/July issue of Canada’s History has the story of the “Quiet Crusader” J. B. Harkin (1875-1955) the father of National Historic Sites and Parks.  The story shows how one man can influence a major event over time.  An interesting read. Most libraries have copies of the magazine. 

Terry Fox 30 Years Later 

The current issue of Canada’s History also has a story of the impact of Terry Fox 30 years after his death.  In July 1980 he received a standing ovation at a CFL game in Ottawa one of many such events.  In September 1980 he ended his tour early and on February 1, 1981 he realized his goal of raising the equivalent of one dollar for every Canadian ($24 million) which he did.  He died on June 28^th 1981, 30 years ago this month. 

Footnotes 

John R. Hunt has written for the Nugget for some 60 years. When he turned 86 on May 25^th the Cobalt Council threw a party for him and among other things gave him the Senior of the Year Award. He has helped put Cobalt on the map and has provided outstanding writing to the present day.  He is known for not pulling his punches on occasion in some of his writing but this, like others, including current Nugget reporter Dave Dale, do it as a part of their columnist mandate.  I enjoy the quantity , quality and longevity of his work as do many others. Thanks John. 

Dr. John Long, a professor at Nipissing University wrote the important book Treaty No. 9: Making The Agreement to Share the Land of Far Northern Ontario in 1905.  I wrote about the book in this column on January 14, 2011 (Google Heritage Perspectives and go to the date). On Saturday June 4^th in Toronto he was presented with the Ontario Historical Society’s Fred Landon Award for the best book on Regional History.  Nipissing Professor Francoise Noel received the award in 2010. (See my article on November 16, 2009 & July 2, 2010) My son & I won the award in 2000 for the Fossmill Story.  Always nice to get a pat on the back.