To The Right Of Me
Victims To The Left Of Me
Victims All Around Me.
And our Esteemed Prime Minister could not be more pleased.
According to HIM he sees Canada as a pathetic country, guilty of genocide, plagued with systemic racism and not even worthy of having our Flag Fly at Full Staff.
Well I have news for HIM - Canada is a Great Country and Our Flag should be returned to its rightful place ...at the Very Top Of The Flag Pole.
I am not going to get into Today's One-Sided Victimization Debate since it is always a no-winner other than to say, waiting for someone else to cure a perceived ill or shortcoming only serves to ensure that nothing ever gets accomplished.
But I am going to look at some real cases of hardship dating back to the founding of this great country and then end with a look at one close to home.
One of Canada's first explorers was Jacques Cartier who on April 20, 1534 set sail from St. Malo in Brittany with 2 ships and 61 men. On May 10th he arrived in Newfoundland and discovered a barren, uninviting land. Twenty five members of his crew died of Scurvy. This dreaded ailment continued to wreck havoc in 1608 when Champlain lost 16 of his 25 member crew including their surgeon. To get an idea of how hard life was for our early explorers / settlors I suggest that you read the writings of sisters Catharine Parr Traill and Susanna Moodie*. They emigrated to Upper Canada from England in the early 1800s where they describe their homesteading in the colonial wilderness as consisting of back-breaking labour, poverty and never ending hardship. Moodie, in later life, made her home in Belleville where, as you know, my father and Aunt Joyce lived post Foxboro. In fact, the 'Moodie Home' was within walking distance of them. *See The Backwoods (1836) by Catharine Parr Traill / Roughing it in the Bush (1852) by Susanna Moodie.
For an example of real genocide nothing can compare with the Irish Famine beginning in 1845. It revolved around the failure of Ireland's staple crop...the potato with its worst year - death wise, occurring in 1847 known as the Black 47. Over its course, some 1 Million Irish perished, mostly for want of food; a number that represented some 25% of the Country's then Population. England needlessly stood by while in its wake, ship load after ship load fled to Canada to their ultimate despair and with too many cases ending in death. These trips across the Atlantic took between 8 to 12 weeks depending upon the weather with each vessel containing on average 400 passengers. It was not uncommon for 25% of them to die in the bowels' of the ship before reaching shore.
The ships were full of typhus and crowded beyond belief. Wails of children pierced the air along with the ravings of the delirious. It is estimated that some 17,500 died in Quebec in 1847 alone. Gross Isle, a major quarantine spot for the arrivals, was located in the St. Lawrence and records indicate that over 5 thousand are buried within this relatively small outcropping. Reports from the time indicate that the victims, after leaving ship, crawled in the mud and sands like "fish out of water" since there was absolutely nothing there to give them succour. History records that Prejudice against the Irish deepened greatly throughout the world and most especially in Canada and the United States due to their stressed and inhumane circumstances.
And speaking of Ships...not to be forgotten is the Franklin Expedition which set sail in 2 ships from England in 1845 in search of the North West Passage. Both Ships along with 129 men disappeared in the Canadian Arctic. Those that did not freeze to death, starved to death and often met their end dying of both. I could go on and on with other stories such as those brave settlors who settled the west in the most inhumane circumstances imaginable. Suffice to say, we owe them all greatly.
And that brings me to the story closer to home.
Your mother's** Mother grew up during the Depression in Nova Scotia. Her Father had fought in the trenches of World War One for King and Country and for the privilege the poor man had his lungs destroyed by the odious Mustard Gas. There were no disability programs then, no unemployment, no Canada Pension or even Old Age Security...none of the numerous social benefit programs we enjoy today. He and his family were on their own. Kay told of often going without food for days on end and could recall being awakened at night when their Father finally got home from his latest transitory job with some bread and molasses. Just imagine. But he did whine and complain? No, he went about his life doing the best he could for his family albeit there was not much he could do due to the general lack of work and to his very poor health. Kay also recalls going to school at the height of the Depression with cardboard in her shoes since the soles had worn out and as always there was no money for new ones. **Of Note, Your Mother's Family, on her Paternal Side, hail from the Irish Counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary.
So Yeah, people have had it hard but this is nothing new for us Canadians and indeed for all those throughout the history of the world who have experienced similar and even much worse.
But in the end it is how you deal with the hand dealt to you that counts.
As I See It...
'K.D. Bell'
