A message from the Executive Director

Dear friends of the Societe Macdonald-Cartier Society,

Since the last edition of our newsletter on October 16, several great things have happened. We have had two new volunteers join our organization, I participated in the Roadmap: 2030 conference in Toronto, and we have welcomed four advisors to our team. More on each of these items below. Our plans until the end of 2011 include the publication of our strategic plan, the launch of our consultation process on the plan, an announcement about membership in the Society, and more volunteers and advisors joining our team.

In the previous edition of our newsletter, we included a copy of all our latest statements and press releases. Since we have done several of these in the last month, and for spacing reasons, we have decided to only include a summary of our last few statements, with links to our website should you choose to read further.

As we complete our preparations for the launch of our strategic plan, our volunteer staff is looking to expand. We are looking for young Canadians who are passionate about history and civics, and who want to contribute to our growth as an organization. So please, consider joining our volunteer team. You will find details about our call for volunteers at the end of this newsletter.

Best Regards,

Immanuel Giulea

Founder and Executive Director / Fondateur et Directeur Général

http://www.macdonaldcartier.org

***

New volunteers

On October 19, 2011, the organization was pleased to officially announce the addition of our two latest volunteer staff members to the organization last month: Theresa Lubowitz and Thomas Warwick. Since joining, they have become a valuable part of our team. Immanuel had the pleasure of meeting Theresa while visiting Toronto for the Roadmap: 2030 conference, and Thomas met Immanuel in Montreal during the first week of November.

Read our press release here: http://macdonaldcartier.org/2011/10/19/the-societe-macdonald-cartier-society-welcomes-staffing-additions/

Roadmap 2030

Last month, our Executive Director, Immanuel Giulea, participated in the Roadmap: 2030 conference on diversity and democratic engagement, which was held October 25-26 at the Toronto Library. Immanuel joined three other young leaders on the “2030′s Leaders” panel, where the discussion was about the factors that lead to active citizenship and involvement by young Canadians as well as what measures, once implemented, may bolster youth engagement.

Immanuel was very excited prior to his participation at the Roadmap: 2030 conference, saying the event would “be an excellent forum for supporters of democratic engagement, youth or otherwise, to come together and discuss the real issues surrounding participatory democracy in Canadian society today.” He added, “It is the goal of our organization to help deepen the level of civic engagement in Canadian youth and this conference offers an opportunity to spread the word about the work we are doing. It also provides a space to openly discuss the roadblocks youth may face in attempting to become more engaged, as well as possible roadmaps toward getting around those issues now and in the future.”

After the event, Immanuel was very pleased about his experience, saying, “I had a great time, and I had the pleasure of meeting with young leaders from Toronto, and dozens of people from different sectors that were all concerned about diversity and civic engagement in Canadian society. In discussing the mission of our Society with other attendees, I have received great feedback and I look forward to keeping in touch with all those I have met and working to build partnerships with them.”

Immanuel received some very positive feedback about his participation at Roadmap: 2030 from Jeff Good, moderator of the “2030′s Leaders” panel, and Nikisha Reyes-Grange, event co-organizer. Good had this to say: “Immanuel was energetic and insightful, providing well thought out and innovative ideas with respect to engaging and developing young leaders.” Reyes-Grange added that, “We were thrilled to have Immanuel Giulea speak at this year’s Roadmap: 2030 event. His passion and knowledge of civic engagement and youth leadership are inspiring, and his enthusiasm shone through during his presentation and the entire time he spent at the event. From participating in all sessions, to asking thoughtful questions, to connecting with attendees and speakers, Immanuel helped to make Roadmap: 2030 a success. “

Advisors to the Society

Over the course of October 31 and November 1, the Macdonald-Cartier Society was honored to announce that four new advisors will be joining the organization. Alastair Sweeny and Nick Brune have already been informally providing us with advice for over a year, and they are joined by Dave Meslin and Joseph Quesnel. Each one of our advisors strengthens the organization by virtue of their specializatized fields ( Alastair and Nick in Canadian history, Dave in civic engagement, and Joseph in aboriginal issues ). All four bring valuable insight, leadership and experience.

Read our press releases here: http://macdonaldcartier.org/2011/10/31/sweeny-brune-join-smcs/ and http://macdonaldcartier.org/2011/11/01/meslin-quesnel-join-smcs/

Two-year anniversary

On November 2, the Societe Macdonald-Cartier Society marked its two-year anniversary. It was an opportunity to celebrate our mission of encouraging greater civic literacy amongst our youth and of promoting the education of our country’s young leaders about history, heritage and culture. To mark the occasion, our own Immanuel Giulea and Thomas Warwick traveled to Ottawa on November 3 to meet with the Society’s Deputy Executive Director, James McLean, and held a small get-together with other local youth.

Read the statement here: http://macdonaldcartier.org/2011/11/02/2-year-anniversary/

***

In the past month, the organization has issued several statements in reaction to current events:

Statement on the Canadian Council on Learning’s final report

After reviewing the Canadian Council on Learning’s final report, which was issued this October, our organization addresses some of the report’s concerns about the amount of emphasis on citizenship and civic duty in K-12 classrooms.

Read the statement here: http://macdonaldcartier.org/2011/10/19/report-on-learning/

Statement on Canada’s two new Supreme Court justices

The Macdonald-Cartier Society welcomes the appointments of Justice Michael J. Moldaver and Madam Justice Andromache Karakatsanis to the Supreme Court of Canada. Their respective nominations and appointments were announced this October.

Read our statement on their nominations here: http://macdonaldcartier.org/2011/10/20/nomination-two-new-judges-supreme-court-of-canada/

Read our statement on their appointments here: http://macdonaldcartier.org/2011/10/30/oct-30-statements/

Statement on the nomination of Canada’s next Auditor General

The Macdonald-Cartier Society welcomed the nomination of Michael Ferguson as Canada’s next Auditor General. The announcement of his nomination was made late last month by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Read the statement here: http://macdonaldcartier.org/2011/10/30/oct-30-statements/

Statement on the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine House in Montreal

We were quite pleased to hear that Kheng Ly, the new owner of the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine House in Montreal, QC, is “open to exploring ways to preserve the mansion and part of its grounds.”

Read the statement here: http://macdonaldcartier.org/2011/10/30/oct-30-statements/

***

“The Art of Democracy” National Youth Challenge

Launched during Canada’s first-ever Democracy Week (September 12-16, 2011), the Challenge is a new Elections Canada civic education initiative that encourages young Canadians, aged 14-30, to celebrate and learn about democracy.

The Challenge, which is run by Elections Canada in collaboration with Apathy is Boring, asks youth to submit an image, video, blog post or Tweet in response to the question, “What does your democracy mean to you?”

A five-member panel of notable Canadians will judge the entries, and contestants will win prizes for the best submissions in each category. Details on the National Youth Challenge and the submission form are available at www.democracy-democratie.ca. The submission deadline is November 30, 2011.

***

Call out for volunteers

Positions we’re look to fill:

• Volunteer and membership recruitment;
• Our partnership program;
• Our regular programs (history/heritage, civics/government and “The National Conversation”)
• Fund-raising/grant-writing;
• Our monthly newsletter;
• Ah hoc research and writing of policy briefs and position papers.
• Regional coordinators in cities across Canada (Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, etc.)

***

Stay in touch!

We’d love to hear your feedback about anything at all on SMCS. You can reach Immanuel, the Executive Director at immanuel@macdonaldcartier.org

Warm regards,

James, Walker, Theresa, Thomas and Immanuel at SMCS

***

Next newsletter date: Dec. 10^th.

PDF Version: SMCS Newsletter – 12 Nov 2011

A message from the Executive Director

Dear friends of the Societe Macdonald-Cartier Society,

There’s a lot going on at SMCS these days. The team and I have been working to complete the first draft of our strategic plan, and I am confident that we’ll be done in the next few weeks. On October 26th, I will be speaking on the “2030 Leaders” panel during the Roadmap 2030 conference in Toronto, stay tuned for that. We also have some very exciting news coming up this week, including new volunteers and some great advisers joining our team. Stay tuned for that as well.

For now, you will find a round-up below of the news that we have recently been following, which we decided to bundle for this newsletter instead of posting about individually. This includes our statements on the re-appointment of Dr. Chad Gaffield as President of the SSHRC, two statements about the War of 1812 (one on a study about awareness of the war and the other on Heritage Canada’s plans for commemorating the Bicentennial), and the upcoming celebration of Citizenship Week.

In closing, we are always on the look-out for young Canadians who are passionate about history and civics, and who want to make a contribution to the growth of our organization. So please, consider joining our volunteer team. You will find details about our call for volunteers at the end of this newsletter.

Best Regards,

Immanuel Giulea

Founder and Executive Director / Fondateur et Directeur Général

http://www.macdonaldcartier.org

***

Re-appointment of Dr. Chad Gaffield’s as President of SSHRC

The Société Macdonald-Cartier Society is pleased to hear that Dr. Chad Gaffield has been re-appointed as the President of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). His re-appointment was announced on October 5 by Minister Christian Paradis [1].

The Social Science and Humanities Research Council is an independent federal body which provides funding for post-secondary research and graduate training through national peer-review competitions. It also works with public, private, and non-profit organizations to research and develop cultural, economic, and social policies and practices in Canada.

Dr. Gaffield was initially appointed as the President of SSHRC in 2006, and he is a former president of both the Canadian Historical Association and the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. His work to both preserve and promote Canadian history and culture is admirable, and we sincerely hope that he works toward those goals for many years to come.

***

Awareness and commemoration of the War of 1812

- Study on awareness about War of 1812

As reported by the Globe and Mail [2], a study prepared for the Department of Canadian Heritage this summer found that “[n]early seven out of 10 respondents said they had heard of the War of 1812, but that rate dropped to six in 10 for those between 25 and 34 years of age.”

The study goes on to note that, “Awareness, interest in, and knowledge of the war is largely regional and age-dependent. It is highest in Ontario and dissipates as one ventures further away, both west and east.” The report adds that, “Interest … is much lower in Quebec, among francophones and younger Canadians.”

While we are worried about the lack of awareness about the War of 1812 among young Canadians, the Société Macdonald-Cariter Society sees potential in that more than half of Canadian youth have heard of the war. A key element of our “History and Heritage” program, due later this year, will be the history of the War of 1812, and our objective will be to increase awareness of this milestone event in Canadian history.

- Commemoration of the War of 1812

On October 11, the Government of Canada announced the commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812 [3]. This War helped establish our path toward becoming an independent and free country, united under the Crown with a respect for linguistic and ethnic diversity. In the words of Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, “The heroic efforts of those who fought for our country in the War of 1812 tell the story of the Canada we know today: an independent and free country with a constitutional monarchy and its own distinct parliamentary system”. Minister Moore added, “The 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 is an opportunity for all of us to take pride in our history, and we look forward to taking part in the events and activities that will mark this important anniversary for Canada.”

The government has announced that, as a part of this commemoration, it will support:

• a pan-Canadian educational campaign focused on the importance of the War of 1812 to Canada’s history;

• up to 100 historical re-enactments, commemorations, and local events;

• a permanent 1812 memorial located in the National Capital Region;

The Société Macdonald-Cartier Society welcomes this news, particularly the educational focus on the War of 1812′s importance in our national history.

Please make sure to visit the website dedicated to the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 (http://www.1812.gc.ca)

as well as the government’s educational resource on the War of 1812 (http://www.eighteentwelve.ca).

***

Citizenship Week

During the week of October 17 – 23, 2011, all Canadians from coast to coast will celebrate Citizenship Week. This initiative of Citizenship and Immigration Canada has the full support of the Société Macdonald-Cartier Society. It will be an occasion to reflect on the value of citizenship, what it means to be Canadian, and the rights, privileges and responsibilities of citizenship. “Citizenship Week is an opportunity for Canadians across the country to celebrate their citizenship and to learn more about Canada’s history and the pioneers who helped build this great country,” in the words of Minister Jason Kenney [4].

Our “Civics and Government” program, due later this year, will revolve around these same themes: sharing the meaning of being active and responsible citizens, and explaining the workings of our federal institutions.

Citizenship Week’s celebrations will be kicked off with a special ceremony ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, at which citizenship judges will be awarded heraldic badges in honour of their contribution. Later that morning, a game show-style event with high school civics students will be held at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

Recipients of Canada’s Citizenship Award will be announced during Citizenship Week. This award recognizes Canadians who have dedicated themselves tirelessly to active citizenship in their communities.

October 18 will also mark the release of former Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson’s new book, “Room for All of Us: Surprising Stories of Loss and Transformation.” According to Clarkson, the meaning of being Canadian is “to share a set of citizenship values — values that mean we believe in democracy and we don’t throw that around lightly.” She continued, saying, “We are basically happy with our system of democracy, law and justice, our social ideals, which are egalitarian. To me they are embodied in our public education system and health system.” [5]

***

For more information:

[1] http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ic1.nsf/eng/06807.html

[2] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/study-shows-canadians-unfamiliar-with-war-of-1812-details/article2192560/

[3] http://pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/infoCntr/cdm-mc/index-eng.cfm?action=doc&DocIDCd=CM110166

[4] http://www.marketwatch.com/story/celebrating-our-citizenship-through-canadas-citizenship-week-2011-2011-10-14

[5] http://www.thestar.com/living/article/1069103–adrienne-clarkson-on-how-immigrants-have-transformed-canada

***

Call out for volunteers

We’re on the look-out for volunteers to help us with:

• Volunteer and membership recruitment;

• Our partnership program;

• Our regular programs (history/heritage, civics/government and “The National Conversation”)

• Fund-raising/grant-writing;

• Our biweekly newsletter;

• Ah hoc research and writing of policy briefs and position papers.

• Regional coordinators in cities across Canada (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, etc.)

***

Stay in touch!

We’d love to hear your feedback about anything at all at SMCS. You can reach Immanuel, the Executive Director at immanuel@macdonaldcartier.org

Warm regards,

James, Walker, Immanuel and Jermyn at SMCS

=========================================================

SMCS Newsletter – 16 Oct 2011

The celebration of history is often the greatest way to bind generations together. For the most Canadians, caring for our own history is a passion but compared to our Southern neighbours, we lack the same level of enthusiasm in celebrating our national heroes.

Today, we celebrate the true birth-date of Sir John A. Macdonald. Truthfully and contrary to popular myth, Sir John A. was not born on January 11th, but on January 10th 1815, as confirmed by his parish birth certificate. He was born during the evening and so his birth was registered the next day which led to the confusion.

On this day when Canada’s first post-Confederation prime minister would celebrate his 196th birthday, we are reminded that there are only four years left before his bicentennial. However the challenge lies not in suggesting the creation of a Macdonald Bicentennial Commission as it has been suggested about dozen times in the last two years. This idea has many merits but it is not ambitious enough to celebrate our greatest prime minister. A much more challenging suggestion would be to celebrate Macdonald and his greatest ally, Sir George-Étienne Cartier, together in a four-month long celebration that would also coincide with the 150th anniversary of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference. Indeed, Cartier was born on September 6th 1814 just eighteen weeks before Macdonald. Almost a century ago, in 1914, Cartier and Macdonald’s bicentennials were celebrated together with stamps being designed. Similar to the Bicentennial Commission that celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday in 2009, the mandate of the Macdonald-Cartier Bicentennial Commission (MCBC) would be to remind Canadians of the legacy of these two influential Fathers of Confederation and their contributions to our national institutions. The Americans gave themselves a decade to prepare their bicentennial – we are running out of time. It should be amongst the priorities of the Government of Canada to support the creation of the bicentennial commission in partnership with the private and not-for-profit sectors. The celebration that would last over a hundred days would include highlights such as cross-country exhibition and would allow students and Canadians alike to familiarize themselves with Canada’s most important historical political duo.

The momentum for Sir John A.’s bicentennial is certainly building. Consider that now the City of Kingston has put up signs on the Macdonald-Cartier Highway (Highway 401) to show the exit towards the Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, and there’s also a tour of Kingston dedicated to Macdonald’s memory. There is now even a Macdonald Project committee in Picton, Ontario that is aiming to erect a street-level bronze sculpture of Macdonald.

Now imagine the efforts of the city of Kingston that commemorate Macdonald compounded with the incredible endeavor taken in the 1910s to celebrate Cartier’s centennial. The City of Montreal had its own committee that was successful in erecting the most beautiful monument of Cartier at the base of Mount-Royal Park, and the location has become a well-known gathering place for locals. The centenary committee was composed of local leaders and had as its patron of the only surviving Father of Confederation, Hon. Charles Tupper. Nonetheless, Montreal also has its own statue of Macdonald in the downtown core (it is the only city other than Ottawa with statues of both statesmen).

For their lifetime dedication to Canada, their innumerable contributions, Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier must be commemorated and their common legacy remembered together. During their shared political career they acted as one, and defended the interest of their respective communities. In a national celebration, these two prominent statesmen cannot and should not be celebrated without each other. They were like Siamese twins, and must be remembered as such.