IT IS A WRAP! Hard to imagine it has already been a year for the Canada 150 Project. We've had some good times over the last year, shared some incredible stories about Canada's history, had a few laughs and made some new friends! Join us as we take a short episode to reflect on the last year and disucss the future of what we think was a successful first foray into the podcasting world!
After kicking off with a strong drink of Caldera Hurricane 5, Brandon shares his thoughts on Trump's ability to get a meeting with Korea, which is extremely timely on this day of the episodes release…..Following that, Rod closes off the Red Scare two parter, by discussing the Illegals Program, a Russian lead initiative to infiltrate the USA by way of Canada. This leads in to a spiralling discussion of lies, deception and treason involving another Cold War Spy, Codename Gideon, a real life spy who came in from the cold. Toast: Caldera Hurricane 5
Igor Gouzenko was a cipher clerk for the Soviet Embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. He defected on September 5, 1945 – just three days after the end of World War II – with 109 documents on Soviet espionage activities in the West. This forced Prime Minister Mackenzie King to call a Royal Commission to investigate espionage in Canada. Toast: Bohemian Spirts - Limited Gin
It's hard to believe that we've hit Episode 30 already! For this milestone we bring back a favourite topic of ours and our listeners - Big Things! In Part III, we continue our cross-country back and forth as we explore those big roadside attractions and the incredible stories behind them. Toast: Monashee - Ethos Gin
In the final instalment of Let’s Start a Riot, Rod takes us through one of Canada’s most violent and deadly public uprisings in our history - the Quebec Easter Riots of 1918. An event that would require the first of only three times in Canadian history that the newly passed War Measures Act (1914) would be enacted, the Easter Riots were the culmination of the deep history between French and English Canada, political maneuvering and grandstanding from a government on its heels and an embarrassing moment in Canadian history at a time when hundreds of thousands of Canadian men and women were facing traumatic hardship defending our freedom in Europe. Toast: Dillions Three Oaks Rye Whisky
In our latest episode we continue to dig deeper into some of the more famous riots that have sprung up in Canada. Rod takes us through the tension, the impacts and the damage done in two separate riots in Toronto: The Jubilee Riots 1875 and the Anti-Greek Riots 1918.
We're back!!!! It's 2018 and we are starting this year off with ........ a RIOT! Well in true Canada 150 fashion, first a bunch of ramblings and then A RIOT! On 26 July 1784, a mob of Loyalist settlers stormed the home of a Black preacher in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, armed with hooks and chains seized from ships in the harbour. What ensued would come to be known as North America's first race riot. Wrapped in the context of the American Revolution, slavery, the abolitionist movement and many other influencing factors, the first race riot in North America would have lasting implications throughout the British Empire. In the first of our upcoming riot themed podcasts, Brandon takes us through the storied history of the Shelburne and Birchtown Race Riots. Toast: Yukon Brewing Company - Up The Creek Birch Sap Ale Further Reading: http://blackloyalist.com/?page_id=631 http://blackloyalist.com/cdc/story/our_story.htm https://passport2017.ca/articles/episode-3-secret-life-birchtown http://w...
This week on the Canada 150 Project, we take a break from the research and look back on 2017 and all that has been accomplished. We look back on our favourite episodes, our favourite moments, our struggles, our accomplishments and, of course, our favourite beverages. From launch, to our first download it has been an exciting year and we are gearing up for an even better 2018!
This week, Rod takes us into a sad and dark period in Canadian history. Starting in the 1950s and continuing as recently as the 1990s, the Canadian government sponsored an internal campaign to eliminate all suspected gay men from the civil service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the military. In a systematic, destructive and hateful manner, the Canadian government collected files on over 9,000 “suspected” gay individuals. Thousands of lives were destroyed as suspected individuals were harrassed, stalked, questioned and abused at the hands of their own government. Embarrassingly, this period also saw public funds put towards the development of ridiculous methods to identifying or out suspected gay individuals, including government sponsored development of the “Fruit Machine” - allegedly able to measure the diameter of the pupils of the eyes (pupillary response test), perspiration, and pulse for a supposed erotic response to various pictures. Toast: Raw - Peppercorn...
Tewaarathon or baggataway is one of the oldest organized games in North America. Considered the precursor to what we commonly recognize as Lacrosse, these early ball games involved large teams of Indigenous warriors and community members playing over a field that could be kilometers in length. With roots back to as early as the 11th Century, initially the game was played for many different reasons including to strengthen diplomatic alliances, support social conformity and economic equality, and as entertain for the creator. In one incredible legend, it would also be used quite effectively in achieving war time objectives. After being identified by non-Indigenous explorers in the early 17th century and it would quickly became one of the most popular sports in what would become Canada, long considered our nation’s National Sport.