I learned about Tecumseh in elementary school, then promptly forgot about him for half a century.
Stephen Harper wants me to brush up on my War of 1812 facts, to celebrate anew the likes of the native American leader of the Shawnee who took our side in the dispute with the Yanks.
In a curious spending decision, the Harper government announced a while back it was allocating $28 million in funds for 1812 commemoration - to be spent by next March on everything from coins and stamps to museum exhibits.
It even established a 1812 Federal Secretariat to oversee distribution of funds. To date, only $13.9 million of the $28 million has been allocated, by Heritage, Parks Canada and the Canadian War Museum, with much of the spending reliant on funding requests from across Canada.
The war played out primarily in Ontario's Niagara region. It was a non-event in B.C. But B.C. has got into the act, with Canada Place hosting a free 1812 exhibit until next March - thanks to $950,000 in federal funds. And, the Vancouver boutique of the Royal Canadian Mint is selling 25-cent Tecumseh coins.
The Conservative thinking was that the war's bicentenary would mark the start of a five-year countdown to Canada's 150th birthday, in 2017.
The anniversary of the War of 1812 - Americans angry at Britain, but lacking naval resources, attacked the British colony basically because it was geographically handy - is credited with uniting French and English against a common enemy and boosting loyalty to Britain.
But was this three-year donnybrook, 55 years before Canada became Canada, the only, or most important of Canada's historical markers, warranting mega-cash for commemoration?
Consider the pivotal 1759 Plains of Abraham kerfuffle. A planned mock re-enactment of that event, in 2009, was quickly cancelled after separatists threatened violence.
It thus appears that only certain historical events are appropriate for memorializing. In the same vein, the Liberals' grand achievement in creating a Charter of Rights was mostly ignored by governing Conservatives last April when it came to marking its 30th anniversary.
Disproportionate spending on the War of 1812, at a time when the deficit is projected at $25 billion, might not seem as discordant were it not for the draconian cuts announced earlier this year on culture spending.
Over the same three years the 1812 fund is being disbursed, the Heritage Department is experiencing $46.2 million in cuts. The CBC's budget is being chopped by $115 million. The National Arts Centre loses nearly $1 million; Library and Archives Canada, $9.6 million; the National Film Board, $6.7 million and Telefilm Canada, $10.6 million. The National Capital Commission's budget is being chopped nearly $2 million and the 67-year old Canadian Conference of the Arts has just announced it's shuttering operations for lack of federal funding.
Sadly, even with the sudden focus on the likes of 1812 heroine Laura Secord - who, by the way, never made chocolate - Canadians remain largely unaware of the event.
A February/March telephone poll, carried out by Phoenix Strategic Perspectives for National Defence, found little knowledge of the war among respondents. Which suggests big spending and scattershot funding may not be effective in enhancing Canadians' appreciation of their history.
Certainly, there's room for boosting such awareness, in the interests of fostering unity and patriotism. (An Angus Reid survey last June found just 41 per cent of respondents could identify photos of Canada's first PM, John A. Macdonald.)
But, with apologies to Tecumseh and Secord, it's entirely reasonable for Canadians to challenge this sudden, exclusive big-bucks emphasis on the War of 1812.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Barbara Yaffe
Stephen Harper wants me to brush up on my War of 1812 facts, to celebrate anew the likes of the native American leader of the Shawnee who took our side in the dispute with the Yanks.
In a curious spending decision, the Harper government announced a while back it was allocating $28 million in funds for 1812 commemoration - to be spent by next March on everything from coins and stamps to museum exhibits.
It even established a 1812 Federal Secretariat to oversee distribution of funds. To date, only $13.9 million of the $28 million has been allocated, by Heritage, Parks Canada and the Canadian War Museum, with much of the spending reliant on funding requests from across Canada.
The war played out primarily in Ontario's Niagara region. It was a non-event in B.C. But B.C. has got into the act, with Canada Place hosting a free 1812 exhibit until next March - thanks to $950,000 in federal funds. And, the Vancouver boutique of the Royal Canadian Mint is selling 25-cent Tecumseh coins.
The Conservative thinking was that the war's bicentenary would mark the start of a five-year countdown to Canada's 150th birthday, in 2017.
The anniversary of the War of 1812 - Americans angry at Britain, but lacking naval resources, attacked the British colony basically because it was geographically handy - is credited with uniting French and English against a common enemy and boosting loyalty to Britain.
But was this three-year donnybrook, 55 years before Canada became Canada, the only, or most important of Canada's historical markers, warranting mega-cash for commemoration?
Consider the pivotal 1759 Plains of Abraham kerfuffle. A planned mock re-enactment of that event, in 2009, was quickly cancelled after separatists threatened violence.
It thus appears that only certain historical events are appropriate for memorializing. In the same vein, the Liberals' grand achievement in creating a Charter of Rights was mostly ignored by governing Conservatives last April when it came to marking its 30th anniversary.
Disproportionate spending on the War of 1812, at a time when the deficit is projected at $25 billion, might not seem as discordant were it not for the draconian cuts announced earlier this year on culture spending.
Over the same three years the 1812 fund is being disbursed, the Heritage Department is experiencing $46.2 million in cuts. The CBC's budget is being chopped by $115 million. The National Arts Centre loses nearly $1 million; Library and Archives Canada, $9.6 million; the National Film Board, $6.7 million and Telefilm Canada, $10.6 million. The National Capital Commission's budget is being chopped nearly $2 million and the 67-year old Canadian Conference of the Arts has just announced it's shuttering operations for lack of federal funding.
Sadly, even with the sudden focus on the likes of 1812 heroine Laura Secord - who, by the way, never made chocolate - Canadians remain largely unaware of the event.
A February/March telephone poll, carried out by Phoenix Strategic Perspectives for National Defence, found little knowledge of the war among respondents. Which suggests big spending and scattershot funding may not be effective in enhancing Canadians' appreciation of their history.
Certainly, there's room for boosting such awareness, in the interests of fostering unity and patriotism. (An Angus Reid survey last June found just 41 per cent of respondents could identify photos of Canada's first PM, John A. Macdonald.)
But, with apologies to Tecumseh and Secord, it's entirely reasonable for Canadians to challenge this sudden, exclusive big-bucks emphasis on the War of 1812.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Barbara Yaffe
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