Filed under

Politics and Scandals

Illustration of Red River carts crossing the frozen river in front of Fort Garry in winter, 1869

The Red River Resistance: Louis Riel, the Métis, and the Fight That Made Manitoba a Province

Canada bought the northwest in 1869 without asking the people who lived there. The Métis of Red River, led by Louis Riel, stopped the transfer, formed a government, wrote a List of Rights, and negotiated Manitoba into existence, at a cost that followed Riel to the gallows.

Read the story · 12 min

1959Ontario

Postwar Canada · 1959

The Day the Arrow Died: The Avro Arrow Cancellation, February 20, 1959

The Avro Arrow was a genuinely advanced interceptor built at Malton, Ontario. On February 20, 1959, Ottawa cancelled it, 14,000 people lost their jobs, and the aircraft were cut up. This is what the record supports.

Read the story · 8 min

1999Nunavut

Living Memory · 1999

April 1, 1999: The Day Canada's Map Changed and Nunavut Was Born

On April 1, 1999 Canada redrew its map for the first time in half a century, dividing the Northwest Territories to create Nunavut, a homeland governed by Inuit, in Inuit languages, by design.

Read the story · 9 min