Canadian Week in Review (CWR) - 08 June 2014

I have come across the following Canadian websites, social media websites, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too.

This Week in Canadian History

 1817 - Launching of first steamship Frontenac in Kingston, Ontario in 1817. It plied the Great Lakes and made its inaugural trip west to the town of York.

Frontenac was sold for ₤1550 to John Hamilton in 1824, who sold the Frontenac after for scrap at Niagara in 1827. Before she could be scrapped, she burned to the waterline due to arson.

1798 - The second session of second Parliament of Upper Canada was held on Niagara-on-the-Lake until July 5, and it set up the county system, it marked valid marriages performed by non-Anglicans.






 1613 - Samuel de Champlain (c1570-1635) loses his astrolabe near Lac des Chats on the Ottawa River. One such instrument, supposedly found on June 7, 1867, is not old enough to be Champlain's.




Social Media

(Photos) Telling the history of the Fraser Valley with LEGO
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/telling-the-history-of-the-fraser-valley-with-lego-1.3098458
Artists have spent hundreds of hours creating a display out of LEGO that illustrates the history and future of the Fraser Valley.
   Their work is being featured in a new exhibit at the Surrey Museum entitled LEGO - A Fraser Valley. 

(Drone Video (Watch this: Unbelievable drone footage of Halifax

http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archives/2015/06/03/watch-this-unbelievable-drone-footage-of-halifax
It's a different perspective on some everyday Halifax sights. The dropping costs and improved quality of HD cameras and aerial drones increasingly offer a new way to view some common landmarks.

(Blog (First World War Veterans of Guysborough County

http://guysboroughgreatwarveterans.blogspot.com/
131 Guysborough County veterans who died while serving.

Nova Scotia

Tourists and local economy to benefit from Yarmouth's Heritage in Your Hand app
http://www.thevanguard.ca/Business/2015-06-02/article-4167576/Tourists-and-local-economy-to-benefit-from-Yarmouths-Heritage-in-Your-Hand-app/1
Esther Dares, a member of the group working on the project, came up with the idea of developing an app that would give people a new way to experience Yarmouth’s Sea Captains’ Homes and Mercantile Heritage Walk.

The big hole where a house once stood
http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1290201-demont-the-big-hole-where-a-house-once-stood
I may not be the most observant reporter in the world, but I was pretty sure that the last time I drove down Armview Avenue there wasn’t a big hole on the Northwest Arm side of the street where it meets Tupper Grove, as there was late last week.
   When I finally found somebody to ask, it turned out I was right.

Prince Edward Island

Old Prince Edward Home land could become green space
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/old-prince-edward-home-land-could-become-green-space-1.3096113
Once a hospital, then a nursing home and palliative care centre, the 80-year-old building is situated on a prime piece of land next to Victoria Park.

Sea level surge changing coastal P.E.I.
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2014-07-25/article-3812542/Sea-level-surge-changing-coastal-P.E.I./1
Prince Edward Island is slowly disappearing, parts of it anyway, and the UPEI Climate Research Lab demonstrated at a recent public meeting here just how climate change and rising sea levels are affecting the Garden of the Gulf.

New Brunswick

Sackville United Church building listed among Canada’s top ‘endangered places
http://www.cumberlandnewsnow.com/News/Local/2015-06-03/article-4169172/Sackville-United-Church-building-listed-among-Canada%26rsquo%3Bs-top-%26lsquo%3Bendangered-places%26rsquo%3B/1
With the former Sackville United Church building up on the chopping block, the site has been named as one of the top ‘endangered places’ in the country by Heritage Canada’s National Trust.

Ontario

Upper Canada Lands Records help trace a Butler Ranger from the American Revolutionary War
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/5656365-lee-dickson-genealogy-upper-canada-lands-records-help-trace-a-butler-ranger-from-the-american-revol/
In the late 1980s, with skillful guidance from Archives of Ontario archivists and coupled with beginner’s luck, I managed to trace a line back to my United Empire Loyalist ancestors.

Manitoba

History, architecture well preserved in Winnipeg Exchange district
http://o.canada.com/travel/history-architecture-well-preserved-in-winnipeg-exchange-district
It’s not hard to picture Winnipeg's wild-west past as you walk through its historic Exchange District. The jails, saloons and brothels may be gone, but more than 100 buildings in the compact 20-block area have been preserved, along with rail tracks, ornate interior decor and old-fashioned advertisements painted on brick walls.

Saskatchewan

Saskatoon's Montgomery Place neighbourhood inches closer to heritage status
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/travel/Saskatoon+Montgomery+Place+neighbourhood+inches+closer+heritage+status/11100235/story.html#ixzz3c01lqBTN
A city committee has unanimously given its support for the Montgomery Place Community Association to seek national heritage designation for the neighbourhood.

WDM exhibit looks at history of funeral homes
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/exhibit+looks+history+funeral+homes/11098414/story.html
Death is a tricky topic for a family attraction. On Saturday, the Western Development Museum launched a new exhibit tackling just that.

Alberta

History: The Houcher Story
http://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/2015/06/01/history-the-houcher-story/
The man who grew the first carload of wheat in the Wetaskiwin district!! There’s a pioneering story there. Yet this is a mere sidelight of the thrilling saga of a courageous young couple who built up a prosperous ranch in a country that was a nemesis to some of the most powerful cattle syndicates in North America.

British Columbia

Shaughnessy to become Heritage Conservation District
http://www.vancouversun.com/Shaughnessy+become+Heritage+Conservation+District/11110014/story.html
A report going to council June 9 calls for First Shaughnessy to be named the city’s first Heritage Conservation District, which could dramatically change development in the historic neighbourhood.

Stories in the News

Residents of an Indian School, Regina, Saskatchewan, 1908. Original photograph by John Woodruff 

News that is trending in Canada this past week has revolved around the Aboriginal Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report on Residential Schools.

What does this mean to genealogists?

For years, we have been asked to prove that an ancestor is Aboriginal, and sometimes this has been a complicated thing to prove because many times the people just did not say self identify as Aboriginal or Métis in their census and vital records.

And now, just this past weekend, I have heard that the site in front of the Supreme Court of Canada is to be dedicated to the Residential School so that a monument can be built there. This will be interesting as time goes on because the planned Memorial to Victims of Communism will have to be moved across the street to the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, where it was planned to be in the first place.

From Manitoba comes the news that the people there want to transform one of its residential schools into museum. The Long Plain First Nation -- in Central Manitoba -- is seeking to reclaim the nearly 100-year-old Portage la Prairie Indian Residential School

To read more about it, go to http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/manitoba-reserve-hopes-to-transform-residential-school-into-museum-1.2403709

So keep your eyes on the news in the coming weeks, because I am sure this this is the first salvo fired in the round of discussions that will take place

If you are looking for Aboriginal records in Canada, here are some places they are kept -

Aboriginal Heritage - https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/Pages/introduction.aspx There is a section on Residential Schools within the sources in the Library and Archives Canada.

MemoryBC - http://guides.library.ubc.ca/content.php?pid=478071&sid=3920235 They have the name of the archives of the attendance records at Residentail Schools

Vancouver Public Library - http://guides.vpl.ca/genealogy/aboriginal They have excellent genealogical information on the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people.

And that was the Canadian genealogy, history, and heritage news in Canada this past week!

Need help finding your "ELUSIVE" Canadian ancestors???

As a nod of the hat to the Ontario Genealogical Conference being held in Barrie, Ontario from May 29 to May 31, we are offering a 15% discount on our research and consultation services (ends 11 June at midnight).

Go to the Elizabeth Lapointe Research Services website www.ELRS.biz, or send an email with the subject "special" to genealogyresearch@aol.com to see how I can help you find that elusive Canadian ancestor!

Research Tip! To research Ontario's early census records, you can go to Ontario's GenWeb site at http://ontariocensus.rootsweb.ancestry.com

Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/06/canadian-week-in-review-cwr-01-june-2015.html 

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

The next issue will be 15 June 2015.