Picking sides in 18th century fights
By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - 10 Comments
In case you were wondering, Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney kind of wishes the French had won the battle of the Plains of Abraham.
At an event Tuesday honouring those who fought and died in Canada’s name, Blaney told a group of school children he was “a little bit” on the side of French General the Marquis Louis-Joseph de Montcalm. ”I was not there, yet,” Blaney told the kids with a chuckle, “but I was a little bit leaning for the French, at that time. And still, today.”
-
‘Facts.’ Such a quaint notion now.
By Mark Steyn - Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 9:40 AM - 69 Comments
On the Plains of Abraham this last month, Canada lost control of its own past
When the metaphorical dust has settled on the Plains of Abraham—metaphorical dust being the only kind you’re allowed to kick up on the sacred sod a quarter-millennium on—the larger question remains:What’s the future of the past?
That’s to say, the lesson of the last few weeks is that the latter depends on the former. In 1759, General Wolfe won a decisive victory that led to the end of French rule on this continent: that is what we used quaintly to call a “fact.” To take another unfashionable word, the “reality” of North American life today derives explicitly from that fact.
-
The Post to Quebec: Love Canada or else
By Philippe Gohier - Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 5:28 PM - 37 Comments
If you haven’t read the National Post‘s editorial about the canceled re-enactment of Battle on the Plains, it’s worth checking out, if only because it stands out as a perfect example of the breathtaking lunacy Quebec’s identity debates sometimes generate in the Rest Of Canada. To wit:Enough of the decades of appeasement; it’s time for Ottawa to adopt a tough-love attitude toward Quebec. And who better to do that then Mr. Harper and his Tories? They’ve got nothing to lose…
They can start by reinstating the Plains of Abraham re-enactment and, if need be, providing federal security for the event. They also can end the unofficial federal policy that as near to half as possible of all federal defence spending must go to manufacturers in Quebec.
While they’re at it, they should tell the truth about equalization… There is no “fiscal imbalance,” at least not between Ottawa and Quebec…
Let’s also take away the Quebec chair at the Francophonie. Defend vigorously in court any challenges filed that seek to uphold the minority-language rights of English-speaking residents in Quebec. Such an approach won’t make any friends in Quebec. But at least everyone in the rest of the country won’t keep feeling like suckers.
-
Montcalm v. Wolfe: I thought everyone knew how it ended
By Philippe Gohier - Friday, January 16, 2009 at 4:17 PM - 9 Comments
I’ve always found re-enacting historical battles to be among the goofiest hobbies a person can have. Granted, most hobbies are inherently pointless—I have no idea why I spend as much time as I do trying to get a puck into a net—but there’s something particularly odd about spending a leisurely Sunday afternoon dressed up in a period costume and pretending your best buddy just stuck a bayonette into your guts. That’s probably why I just can’t wrap my head around people who worry these things might actually matter on some existential/identity level: Continue…
