Archives: News

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

‘Possession’, ‘Ownership’, and Tr’ochëk National Historic Site

By Peter Coffman You know the old saying, ‘possession is nine tenths of the law’. Obviously, that’s never been literally true. And even if it had been, it starts to fall apart when we discover that ‘possession’ doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. The story of Tr'ochëk (pictured above) illustrates this. The flat,... More

Monday, July 15, 2024

Dredging for Dollars

By Peter Coffman Imagine a stream cascading down a mountain, winding through a lush forest of evergreen and deciduous trees, full of moose, elk, caribou, porcupines, squirrels, and the odd bear feeding on abundant salmon. This is what that place looks like after it has been chewed up and spat out – literally –... More

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Bridging the Gulf of Incomprehension

By Peter Coffman During his one and only Klondike winter, writer Jack London (of Call of the Wild fame) contracted scurvy. He could have avoided it, had he consulted those who had lived in that place for millennia – the Tr’ondek Hwech’in people. They would have told him that adding spruce tea to his... More

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Dawson City’s Enclave of Power

By Peter Coffman If I say “Dawson City”, you may think “Gold Rush! Canada’s wild west! The land of Sam McGee and Dan McGrew!” That’s the beloved mythology of Dawson City, but in fact the wild west, gold rush period of the town’s history was very brief – barely three years long. This blog... More

Monday, June 10, 2024

St. Anne’s Church: a Eulogy

By Peter Coffman I don’t enjoy writing eulogies, and I don’t think I’ve ever written one for a building (although I did once write what I called a ‘requiem’ for one). But for St. Anne’s Church in Toronto, which was destroyed in a fire yesterday, I have to make an exception. St. Anne’s was... More

Thursday, May 16, 2024

Morrisseau Storylines Website Launch

The Morrisseau Project, led by Carleton University Professor Carmen Robertson and partnering with The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG) of Regina, SK, has just launched the Morrisseau Storylines Website: www.morrisseaustorylines.com. This newly created website highlights storytelling connections in the life and art of Anishinaabe artist Norval... More

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Elgin’s Red Brick Schoolhouse

By Peter Coffman We live in a time when education seems under siege, politically and financially. But there have been times in the past when education was seen as one of the most important – even one of the noblest – indicators of civilization. This has resulted in waves of educational reform that have... More

Thursday, March 14, 2024

24 Sussex: A Parting Thought

(This blog resumes a discussion of 24 Sussex Drive begun here and continued here.) What if, in spite of all the compelling counter-arguments, the demolitionists won the day? What would happen if we tore down 24 Sussex and replaced it with a shiny new modern residence? Here’s what my crystal ball says: People will... More

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

24 Sussex Drive: Why It Matters Part 2

Last week, I examined the strange (and untenable) claim that 24 Sussex Drive was not a historically important building. Another argument put forward in favour of its demolition runs roughly as follows: 24 Sussex is a relic from the nation’s past. We should demolish it and replace it with something new, something symbolic of... More

Friday, February 23, 2024

Professor Michael Windover Contributes to New Online Exhibition Exploring Early Canadian Radio

Radio in Canada has a very special place on the world stage. On May 20th 1920, the radio station XWA broadcasted the first public radio program from Montreal to Ottawa. What started with Marconi’s experimental radio station soon spread from coast to coast. It did not take long for radio programs to connect to... More

Thursday, February 22, 2024

24 Sussex Drive: Why It Matters Part 1

24 Sussex Drive, the currently unused (and semi-derelict) official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada, has been in the news again lately. On February 21st, Heritage Ottawa hosted a panel discussion on the building’s future at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre. Much good sense was spoken by panelists Mark Brandt, Sheila Copps, Marc... More

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church

In Ontario’s Simcoe County, at the intersection of Old Barrie Road and Line 3, is a modest log building that is also a symbol. It’s a symbol of freedom, or at least of the aspiration to be free. And it’s a symbol of a promise partly kept. The original settlers here were known as... More

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