Tuesday, March 25, 2014

LAC’s new code of conduct/ Nouveau code de conduite de BAC

Some good news this morning -

Political pressure sometimes works. In a victory for staff, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has withdrawn its controversial Code of Conduct put into effect in early 2013. The code contained severe restrictions on staff behavior, both in their public and personal lives.

The restrictions on LAC employees garnered media and public scrutiny and, in the wake of intense public pressure, LAC administrators placed the code under review. In December 2013, a revised Code was introduced.

This new code represents a significant improvement. Employees are still encouraged to report on their colleagues for any failure to comply with the code, a shameful policy that contributes to an unhealthy workplace. However, restrictions on employees’ professional development activities have been substantially reduced and references to discipline for personal opinions expressed in limited access forums have been removed.

At a time when Canadian culture institutions are being decimated, it is easy to become overwhelmed and forget to celebrate our victories, however small. The changes to the LAC code of conduct were only made because we spoke out collectively, an example of how we can make a difference. Our current government may be attempting to rewrite the past, but together we are in control of the future. 
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Les pressions politiques portent parfois leurs fruits. Bibliothèque et Archives Canada (BAC) a retiré son controversé Code de conduite entré en vigueur au début de 2013, une victoire pour le personnel de l’institution. Le code imposait de sévères restrictions aux activités tant publiques que personnelles des employés. 

Les restrictions imposées aux employés de BAC avaient suscité l’intérêt des médias et du public, et donné lieu à des protestations publiques qui forçaient les administrateurs de BAC à le réexaminer. En décembre 2013, BAC adoptait une version révisée du Code.

Le nouveau code constitue une nette amélioration par rapport à la version antérieure. Les employés sont toujours invités à signaler à l’employeur les activités de leurs collègues contraires au code, une mesure honteuse qui contribue à la détérioration des relations de travail. Cependant, BAC a considérablement assoupli les règles régissant les activités de perfectionnement professionnel des employés et a éliminé toute mention de mesures disciplinaires pour l’expression d’opinions personnelles dans des forums à accès public. 

En cette période où les institutions culturelles canadiennes sont décimées, on oublie facilement, dans notre accablement, de célébrer nos victoires, aussi petites soient-elles. Si BAC a modifié son code de conduite, c’est parce que nous avons protesté collectivement. Voilà un exemple de notre capacité à faire bouger les choses. Le gouvernement actuel peut bien essayer de réécrire le passé, mais ensemble, nous forgeons l’avenir. 

Rosa E. Barker 

Professional Officer / Agente professionnelle 

Canadian Association of University Teachers / Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d'université 

2705 promenade Queensview Drive 

Ottawa ON, K2B 8K2 

Tel / tél 613-726-5166

Fax/ télé 613-820-7244

Monday, March 24, 2014

Canadian Week in Review 24 March 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.

Websites

No new website this week.

Social Media

Reading the Gazette’s slavery ads
http://genealogyalacarte.wordpress.com/2014/03/22/slavery-in-18th-century-quebec
Read about this article on slavery in Quebec that Gail Dever points to in her blog.

Laying down the law: Court of Appeal celebrating its 100th year (with video)
ttp://www.edmontonjournal.com/Laying+down+Court+Appeal+celebrating+100th+year+with+video/9632063/story.html
Read the history of the Court of Appeals in Alberta.

Kent County Ontario Canada Genealogy Blog
http://kentcountyogsblog.blogspot.ca
They have just started this blog. Stay tuned for further developments.

New Stories

Nazi memorabilia sale draws fire
http://www.leaderpost.com/life/Nazi+memorabilia+sale+draws+fire/9624736/story.html
The Saskatoon Gun Club Collector's Show had a show recently where a collector showed German medals and weapons from the First and Second World Wars.

National stamp collection has a new home at Canadian Museum of History
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/cmlink/gmg-glacier-media-group/canadian-press/life/travel/national-stamp-collection-has-a-new-home-at-canadian-museum-of-history-1.902322
Some good news! The Canadian Stamp Collection will reappears as a permanent exhibition comprises all 3,000 or so postage stamps issued in Canada from 1851 to the present on March 28 at the Canadian Museum of History.

Canada Post celebrates Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry 100th Anniversary with commemorative envelope
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1794715
The PPCLI was officially authorized as a regiment on the August 10, 1914. Recruiting was completed in eight days!

Explore heritage trails with go!PEI passport
http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2014-03-17/article-3652915/Explore-heritage-trails-with-go!PEI-passport/1
Forty trails have been identified across PEI, and you can read about each one at http://www.gopei.ca

Search for kin subject of film: Reunion caps story of wartime couple 
hthttp://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/search-for-kin-subject-of-film-250732741.html
Sgt. Peter Partridge from Manitoba served in the Second World War, fell in love with an English girl, an had a son named Peter Ian. Discover how his daughter found her relatives in Manitoba, and a film has been made of her discovery. (Special thanks go to Jackie Corrigan for sending this story to CWR).

Opinion: How does a province say sorry? http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Opinion+does+province+sorry/9642743/story.html
Read the opinion of Dr. Henry Yu is a historian and associate professor of history and principal of St. John’s College at UBC on his views of the treatment of Asians by the BC government and of their inpending apology.

Preserving history in Clarington http://www.durhamregion.com/opinion-story/4419813-preserving-history-in-clarington
More than 100 German prisoners were held at Camp 30 in the 1940s, sent to Canada to keep them an ocean away from the conflict amid fears that Great Britain might fall to the Germans.

British home kids — indentured servants?

http://www.orilliapacket.com/2014/03/21/british-home-kids--indentured-servants
Sandra Joyce, the author of The Street Arab — The Story of a British Home Child, and Lori Oschefski recently spoke on the British home Children at the Orillia Museum of Art and History.

French Canadian Genealogical Society Gains in Membership
http://www.thenorthfieldnews.com/news/2014-03-20/News/French_Canadian_Genealogical_Society_Gains_in_Memb.html
A tip of the hat to our cousins to the south as The Vermont French- Canadian Genealogical Society has announced that they have reached their 1,000th member since its formation in 1996.

Mireille Silcoff: Irish by choice, or, If a Latvian Jew can claim the Emerald Isle, anyone can
http://life.nationalpost.com/2014/03/15/mireille-silcoff-irish-by-choice-or-if-a-latvian-jew-can-claim-the-emerald-isle-anyone-can
Read how a Jew born in Dublin, Ireland dealt with his "Irishness." (Special thanks goes to Gail Dever, Special Correspondent to the CWR).

New Brunswick, Maine, promoting themselves as tourist destinations
http://www.sackvilletribunepost.com/Business/2014-03-22/article-3658946/New-Brunswick,-Maine,-promoting-themselves-as-tourist-destinations/1
New Brunswick is collaborating with the State of Maine to promote themselves as unique Two-Nation Vacation tourist destinations. One thing to note is the holding of the 2014 the Congrès Mondial Acadien, which will take place Aug. 8 - 24.

Story of the Week

May 9th will be a National Day of Honour

Friday May the 9th will be a National Day of Honour when the men and women who served in Afghanistan will be honoured with a parade in Ottawa, and various other events across Canada.

The last of the soldiers who served in Afghanistan - 94 Canadians returned home to their loved ones this past Tuesday March the 18th.

Since the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan began 12 years ago, 158 soldiers have lost their lives - one diplomat, one journalist and two civilian contractors were also killed. More than 40,000 Canadian armed forces members have been deployed to Afghanistan since October 2001.

May the 9th will be quite a day in Ottawa.

There will be the parade that will start at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa and travel to Parliament Hill, forces members injured during the mission will pass the last Canadian flag flown in Afghanistan from Canadian Forces Base Trenton to the parade in Ottawa, and the flag will journey through six cities in six days. there will be a moment of silence to reflect upon Canada's sacrifices.

As well, the Afghanistan Memorial Vigil, which was constructed by troops in Kandahar and repatriated to Canada, will be on display on Parliament Hill during the parade.

A video timeline has been put together by the CBC at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadian-soldiers-in-afghanistan-a-video-timeline-1.2568551

Reminder: Check the Canadian Week in Review next Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country! The next post will be on 31 Match 2014.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Lost Landscapes: Up the Gatineau! with Google Earth

Join the Gatineau Valley Historical Society as they mark Earth Day with an historical virtual tour up the Gatineau River. Society President, Marc Cockburn, will take you on multi-media voyage from Hull up to Low and beyond, using Google Earth and archival photos and maps to reconstruct how the river’s landscape looked before much of its natural and built environment was flooded in 1927.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 22, 2014 at 7:30 pm, at The Wakefield Centre, 38, ch. Valley, Wakefield, QC

The website of the society is at http://www.gvhs.ca

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Wellington County OGS Region III Meeting - Ask the Experts

On Saturday, April 19, 2014, there will be a full-day meeting from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Harriston Community Centre, 111 George Street South, Harriston, ON, and the title of it is Ask the Experts

The morning portion will feature three different genealogical professionals who will give presentations on their area of expertise. In the afternoon, the experts will sit on a panel and answer your research questions. 

To get your questions answered, please submit them ahead of time through the branch website, or in person. 

The Experts will be  

  • Cindy Preece 

o Archives Administrator, Wilfrid Laurier University Archives & Special Collections

  •  Karen Wagner

o Archivist at the Wellington County Museum and Archives

  • Expert Panel

o A special presentation on “Preserving Your Family Heirlooms”

The cost will be $20.00 per person for pre-registration or $25 per person at the door, and there will be a $10.00 charge for lunch. 

The territory covered by Wellington Branch encompasses Guelph and Wellington County and its historical townships - Minto, Arthur, West Luther, Maryborough, Peel, Pilkington, Nichol, West Garafraxa, Eramosa, Erin, Guelph and Puslinch.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Soldiers of Song

The Stirling Festival Theatre in Stirling, Ontario will present the play Soldiers of Song on Sunday April the 12th at 2 pm. 

The play will honour the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War with a special show that pays homage to one of the most distinctive musical acts in Canadian history – The Dumbells.

The Dumbells were a group of Canadians who were soldiers during the day and entertainers at night during the First World War. 

As the Library and Archives Canada site says “They were a makeshift stage of packing boxes in First World War France to become the toast of the nation for over a decade. They became arguably the most famous of the Canadian Army "concert parties," those entertainment units that were devoted to building the morale of the troops on the front lines”.


For background information on the Dumbells, go to the Library and Archives Canada site at https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/028011-1007.1-e.html

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Canada’s worst mine disaster

There will be an exhibit at the Provincial Archives of Alberta from now until May 31, 2014 and the exhibit is about Canada’s worst mine disaster at Hillcrest Collieries in Hillcrest, Alberta.

On June 19, 1914, 189 miners lost their lives at Hillcrest Collieries in what is still Canada's worst mine disaster. One hundred years later, the Provincial Archives of Alberta reconstructs the events at Hillcrest and their impact on this coal mining community by highlighting important archival documents preserved within its holdings.

Visit the Provincial Archives of Alberta during regular facility hours to view this commemorative centennial exhibit, and the admission is free.

The Provincial Archives of Alberta is located at 8555 Roper Road, Edmonton, Alberta. 

They have a new website and it is at http://provincialarchives.alberta.ca 

Here is a report on the disaster in the Cranbook Herald at http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/hillcrest.html

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

History Matters: Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples Past and Present

Heritage Toronto is pleased to present an exploration of the latest archaeological insights into the lives of Indigenous people in Southern Ontario prior to contact with Europeans.

A panel discussion called Before Ontario: Archaeology and the Province’s First Peoples will take place on Wed Apr 02, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Toronto Reference Library Atrium, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON Phone: 416-395-5577.

Join the editors and some of the contributors to Before Ontario: The Archaeology of a Province (2013) for a panel discussion. Panelists include:

· Dr. Marit Munson

· Dr. Susan Jamieson

· Dr. Anne Keenleyside (Trent)

· Dr. Ron Williamson of Archaeological Services Inc.

· Chief Kris Nahrgang of the Kawartha Nishnawbe First Nation

· Dr. Neal Ferris (Western Ontario)

· Dr. Andrew Stewart of Strata Consulting

The panel will be moderated by Shawn Micallef, a noted journalist and Toronto Public Library’s Writer-in-Residence in Fall 2013.

This panel discussion is presented in collaboration with http://activehistory.ca and Heritage Toronto at http://heritagetoronto.org