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Calling all Canucks!!!!

03:28 / 29.03.02

Ok..so here's the situation ..Im watching Open Mike with Mike Bullard and he had Colm Fiore (I think thats his name) on. Now Colm as you may know is the guy who played the killer in the great comedy movie (staring Dave Foley) The Wrong Guy. If you havent seen it..get out of the house and rent it now!!!! Back to my point. Colm is going to be playing Trudeau in the upcomming tv movie of the same name. This got me to think of just what I know about P.E.T. and to be more precise about what impact he had upon myself as part of the Canadian experience.
I suddenly realise I know almost nothing about him except for what I picked up during the brief renaisance that happened after his funeral last year. Then this got me to thinking about my highschool history classes and just how incomplete they were..Most of the time was spent studying the formative years (ie: Upper/lower canada..hudsons bay co.) and a brief portion of our roles in the 2 great wars and the so called quiet revolution during the 70's. We truelly havent had any substantial overview of the evolution of Canada and its people. Im just wondering if this is the general state of things accross Canada or is this just cause im in Qweebek?

04:15 / 29.03.02

I live in Ontario, and don’t find this to be the case at all. From what you said it sounds like you only took one course, which covers the basics, as it were. At the school I attended we had about five history classes, including "Modern Canadian History" at the grade thirteen level. That course included summaries of all the recent Canadian Prime Ministers and what they did to benefit or harm our nation.
Also, I was attending a philosophy class at the time of his death and it was discussed over and over until we knew just about his whole life’s story. So, with that and our standard history classes, there seems to be an all around coverage of Canadian History.

Anyhow, what you said about a lack of "substantial overview" -- the majority of Canadian history seems to be covered by what you said was taught, if only in little detail.
E.g. The Formative Years, The Great Wars and The Seventies.
Trudeau was only one Prime Minister, and although he made a rather large impact on Canadian society he doesn’t necessarily deserve a lot of study... in high school anyways. There isn’t a whole lot of time to cover every little thing in grisly detail in high school, especially if there is only one history course offered. Just to note, I’m not condoning the education system in any way. Bah.

Besides everyone should know about Prime Minister Mackenzie and his thirteen or so Scottie dogs all named Pap.

04:17 / 29.03.02

I just thought I should add that I did only attend one high school, so take that for what it's worth.

wembley can change in 28 days

04:59 / 29.03.02

I don't know; I'm guessing you had a very enthusiastic history teacher. We read Them Damned Canadians Hanged Louis Riel! in grade nine, and later that year we wrote short plays about the FLQ crisis which basically descended into such bantering:

She: But they said there's a bomb in the mailbox! Call the police!
He: Yes, I shall call them ... on my franco-phone!

Ahem. My mom got her Canadian citizenship a couple of years back, and I would have flunked that history test! She knows way more than I do about Canadian history now. I can talk about Brock, play a g-chord for mary secord, practice judo on trudeau and then more clumsy with tecumseh - but that's only because I went to schools named after these folks.

05:13 / 29.03.02

"I don't know; I'm guessing you had a very enthusiastic history teacher." -wembley

Heh. I did have a very entusiastic history teacher, two in fact. I am very thankful for that, from what I've heard they aren't always the most enthralling people.

So.

23:46 / 29.03.02

My highschool had only one course on Canadian history, and it always ended up being cancelled due to lack of interest. I have to admit, I know shit all about Canadian history. It's embarassing, but I don't. I think there needs to be more focus on Canadian history in highschools. I know our history isn't all that interesting, but clearly I'm not alone in my lack of knowledge of it.

01:35 / 30.03.02

In the last few years I've developed a renewed interest in Canadian history. Actually, to be more precise, Niagara history. Canadian history seems so dry because there's so much to cover that, by necessity, they skim over the individuals and focus on the big events. Can't say that I blame the school system. It seems to me that the best learning is self-learning anyway. I think the best way to go about it is to start with the area you live in and go from there.

Our country (like any country) has it's fair share of eccentrics and weird footnotes in history. Just because most of them can be found on this board doesn't mean that you can't crack open a book.

01

15:12 / 30.03.02

Keg, I agree, all we're ever fed is all this fucking Anne of Green Gables CBC shit.

wembley can change in 28 days

19:08 / 30.03.02

I don't think I'm alone here, but one of my motivations for not going ape-shit all over Canadian history was my ingrained dislike for the American school system and the way they beat their history into the brains of the young.

15:36 / 31.03.02

I've always had a thing for history, and spent hours a few years ago researching the history of Dundas, Ontario.... and yes, there wasn't much there....except that it turns out that my house is a few down from the site of a scarlet fever hospital.

Canada's is a short history to be sure, but it would help if people had some inkling of where their city came from and all the rest....

....but I do wish they would axe those Heritage Moment commercials. It's sort of sad when the federal government steps in to try and up national pride. Yech.

When I was working in a salmon cannery in Alaska last summer, I met many Americans. I don't think they had history beat into their brains.

J. from Sacramento: What state is Canada in? I thought it was the one above California.
A. from Wisconsin: George Washington died in the 1950's didn't he? I thought America just started getting presidents back then.

True quotes.