When the Fathers of Confederation met to hammer out the wording that became the British North America Act, an act for the Union of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, enacted 29 March 1867 by the British Parliament, much thought went into the division of legislative power between federal and provincial jurisdictions. It was decided that education would be the responsibility of individual provinces [as with health, hospitals and agriculture to name a few that currently are in the news]. Part of the education curricula is history and Canadian history is paramount. Yet, four provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland had no requirement that Canadian history be studied. In four others, only one required Canadian history course is deemed necessary. That might change, however, after a poll of Canadians showed that almost ninety per cent of Canadians "want history to be a required course in high school." [National Post, 29 October 2002, p.A2]
The poll, conducted by Pollara for the Historica Foundation, determined that 87 per cent of those surveyed agreed with the suggestion that "Canadian history be a required course for students who plan to graduate from high school." The poll was conducted between 3 and 8 September and surveyed 1679 adult Canadians. Accuracy is considered to be within 2.4 percentage points, 19 out of 20 times.
My guess is that most seniors in Canada who received a Canadian education took history throughout the middle elementary years and into high school. Unfortunately, much of that history, I recall, had more to do with the Battle of Hastings, or the War of the Roses, or the French Revolution or the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 than it did with The Battle of Queenstown Heights, or the 'voyageurs' or 'coureurs de bois, the treks of Thompson and Fraser, the life of Louis Reil [a Canadian hero], or the various Native People who populated Canada from the Atlantic to the Arctic to the Pacific. Today, these items are important and ought to be known by every Canadian student; however, for the past two decades or so, educators have strived mightily to deny pan-Canadian history in favour of local history, if any history at all.
I favour an increase in the amount of Canadian history taught in elementary and high schools in Canada. As a person who has travelled much of Canada and as a person who has attended school in four provinces - all in one elementary school year - I feel strongly that history ought to be near the top of any list of mandatory subjects. That it is not is a shame to be borne by provincial educators; however, they do have the wherewithal to make amends.
Some have said that history is dull, boring and about as interesting as watching paint dry. If that is the case, then a responsibility to make history interesting lies with the teachers. Rather than merely cite historical text references and have students memorise dates, places and names, teachers [some do, I understand] should bring to life the characters students read about in those cited texts. Why not have students imagine the travails Laura Secord withstood in her quest to alert the British about an American plan to attack a British outpost. She walked about 20 miles through bush and over harsh ground all the while avoiding American sentries, to warn British officer James FitzGibbon about the Americans' plan. Then, when she did arrive near the British outpost, she had to convince Indians that she had an urgent message for FitzGibbon. Her journey was successful as the Americans were routed. Teachers, in my opinion, should try to bring history alive. How about taking students into Champlain's Habitation - metaphorically speaking - to see and listen as the great French explorer established the first social club in North America, Ordre de bon Temps [Order of Good Cheer] founded at Port Royal [Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia] in 1606. Learn, more than just read words on a page, why Samuel de Champlain began the Ordre. Understand why its name is 'Order of Good Cheer.' Be there, live the life and learn. Canadian history is anything but dull.
My favourite among the many favourites is Canadian military history. Today, some educators consider it almost a sin to bring to the fore this country's military history. Far too often, school texts gloss over the accomplishments of this country's heroes [in my mind, any person who offers him/herself to fight to defend his country or democracy, is a hero] and tend to play down their accomplishments. How many Canadian school children know anything about Vimy Ridge, Ypres, Passchendaele, the Somme, Dunkirk, Dieppe, Operation Overlord and Juno Beach, Battle of the Rhineland, Chail-li, Kapyong, Chorwon, Chodo, Sok-to or Imjin. Moreover, how many Canadian educators know anything about the thousands of Canadians who manned the ships that ferried troops and materiel and needed supplies across the U-boat infested North Atlantic to the British Isles? Those merchant seamen were heroes, too. [Sixty-eight Canadian merchant ships were sunk and 1,148 Canadian seamen died.] Or, how about the valour of the Canadian nurses who put their lives on the line to attend to the wounded sailors, soldiers, airmen and merchant sailors who did not escape the fury of the Nazi terror of World War Two? They, too, are heroes [heroines]. [Historical note: Four Canadian nurses served in the Boer War; nurses were incorporated in the militia in 1906.]
History, it is part of Canada. To deny its existence is to deny Canadians their heritage. Thankfully, some notice has been taken and Canadian history might be placed at the top of the list rather than be left off completely. Sadly, the push cannot be left to educators for they have shown an inability to do the correct thing. The push must come from Canadians most affected; that is, ALL Canadians.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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