ALBERTA HISTORY 1945-1949

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ROBERT (ALF) GARNEAU JOINS THE CITY OF EDMONTON FIRE-FIGHTERS

1938  

(IV)-Jack Salzl, born 1908 Edmonton married 1938 Edmonton a Velma Brumonit, born 1911 Nebraska.  They moved to the (III)-Mathias Salzl homestead at Sandhills District, across the river from Devon, and farmed there until 1957 when they moved to Devon, Alberta.

North America's first Islamic Mosque, Al Raschid, is built in Edmonton, Alberta this year.  

(II)-James Brady (1908-1967) a Metis was viewed by his comrades as the political strategist during the Government Commission hearings.  As a result, the Metis Betterment Act was passed by the Alberta Government this year which provided Alberta Metis with land tracts and social welfare programs.  Two people had a profound impact on his life Lawrence Garneau (1840-1921) Metis instilled in him a profound appreciation of the Metis culture and (I)-James Brady (1875-1948) who instilled in him a sense for social justice.  He believed the Metis should enjoy the same rights of all other Canadians.  There was little doubt that the British Colonial System that was adopted by Canada excluded many Canadians from equal rights or opportunities.

The Metis Population Betterment Act later called the Metis Betterment Act passed in Alberta where lands were set aside for Metis Settlement Associations and social welfare programs.  Metis settlements numbering 12 settlements include Paddle Prairie, Peavine, Gift Lake , East Prairie, Buffalo Lake, Kinino, Elisizabeth and Fishing Lake and are the only Metis settlements constitutionally protected.  Touchwood, Marlboro, Cold Lake and Wolf Lake were originally included but were later rescinded by order of the Alberta Government.  The cultures of these communities attempt to retain the mixed cultures of French Ojibwa and British Cree and retain many of the Indian spiritual principles, beliefs and values.  Hunting and trapping rights were included.  Settlement Association were established with rights, responsibilities and powers.  The Government would later take away some of the rights and lands.  

The Metis Settlements Act was passed by the Alberta Legislature, forming 12 Metis settlements in Alberta, Canada.  These included:

Buffalo Lake
East Prairie
Elizabeth
Fishing Lake
Gift Lake
Kikino
Paddle Prairie
Peavine

These four were dissolved in the 1940's:

Marlboro
Touchwood
Cold Lake
Wolf Lake

 

May 22:   Robert Garneau (1909-1997) joined the City of Edmonton Fire Fighters.  Unemployment increased by thirty percent this year over 1937. However, rains finally fell in May and June on the prairies, ending the eight years of drought. Marion T. Garneau is born December 23, 1938 at Edmonton, Alberta, daughter Robert Garneau Metis (1907-1997) and (IV)-Marion E. Salzl (1910-2009).

1939 

By the end of the war, 73,320 Alberta men and women had served in it.  Robert Garneau (1907-1997) and his seven member family, including (IV)-Danny Salzl, moved to a very small two bedroom house at 11721 - 80 street in Edmonton, Alberta, an improvement over the rented suite on 109A avenue between 95-96 street.  (IV)-Danny Salzl was driving cab before signing up for the Air Force.  This home was located in St. Alphonsus Parish which would remain their parish most of their lives.  Robert was working for the Edmonton Firefighters which was considered a strategic job so was not required to join the services.

September 10:  Canada declares war on Germany on September 10, 1939, seven days after Britain and France. By the end of the war 130,000 airmen will be trained at bases across Canada.  (II)-Jim Brady (1908-1967) is refused entrance into the Canadian Army because of his communist affiliations but he was finally accepted in 1943.  That the communists were our allies against the Germans in this war is noteworthy.  It is noteworthy that 67% of United States citizens didn't want to get involved in what they considered a European problem.

1940  

Edmonton has a population of 93,817, whereas Calgary has a population of 88,904.  The jobless rate, by the fall, is at four percent.

The Garneau Theatre is built this year at 8708-8728 - 109 St. N.W. Edmonton, Alberta south of the High Level Bridge.  This is in the Garneau District named after Lawrence Garneau (1840-1921) the Metis who homesteaded the area.  On May 14, 2009, notice on intent was filed, the theatre was designated as a Historic Resource.  On July 8, 2009 the City of Edmonton approved the Historic Resource designation.  On October 28, 2009 a city by-law was signed to support restoration of the Garneau Theatre which is a historic resource.

During the early 1940's Marion Garneau (1910-2009) became pregnant with her 5th child.  A miscarriage gave her a near-death experience.  Dr. Charlesworth the attending physician said, at the time, he had never witnessed someone coming back from being that far gone.  This would have a profound impact on her life, as she believed she had a glimpse of heaven.

Of the six thousand Hutterites in the world,  more than half are in Alberta.  They own all property in common, receive no wages and share equally in the management of the colony.

The Metis Association of Alberta remained inactive until the 1960's as both James Brady Metis (1908-1967) and Malcom Norris Metis (1900-1967) along with many other Metis joined the armed services.  Taking advantage of the opportunity this 1940  the Government limited the the rights of the Metis and established bureaucracy and controls over the Metis.  The new Metis Betterment Act is passed, setting aside unsettled and marginally arable land for their exclusive use.  The original 12 settlements were reduced to seven.  Seven colonies came into being, some near Frog and Cold Lakes, others near Lac La Biche and in the general High Level area and one at Paddle Prairie near Keg River.  The Crown however held title as they have done in the past in order to retain control over the people. 

Promenading has been a cultural tradition in Canada from before its inspection.  Promenading takes many form but the most practiced among the masses is a leisurely walk, out doors, especially in a pubic place, to display one's finery to the opposite sex.   The war would bring this tradition to a grinding halt, a great loss to our culture..    

June 4:   Italy entered the war as Hitler's ally.  Air raid and black out practice commenced and became a weekly routine in Edmonton.  It was much later before people learned that no Second World War plane had the range to reach Edmonton.  Sunday mornings, however, are a somber occasion, as the war dead are announced in church.  William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950) a Liberal and raciest interned hundreds of Italian Canadians as "enemy aliens".   They were rounded up and interned at camp Petawawa in northern Ontario.  Others were victims of widespread prejudice, lost their jobs or had their shops vandalized.  It is noteworthy that Germans were not considered as enemy aliens.

1941  

John Garneau Metis (1885-1949) moved to Edson, Alberta to work in the hospital as their stationary steam engineer for the next two years.  

June: Lethbridge's Alberta hottest June day on record 38.3°C (100.9°F).

June 11:   The population of the west is:   Saskatchewan 895,000, B.C. 817,000, Alberta 796,000, Manitoba 729,000 and the Yukon and N.W.T. 16,000.

July  Fort Macleod matched the hottest record in Alberta at 43.3° C, and the hottest the author experienced was 42° C at Lac La None, Alberta.  We were fortunate to be at a lake and we spent most of the day in the water..

1942 

Fanny and Yuke Iriye are our Japanese neighbors who, very often, baby-sat the Garneau's.  Someone in the Edmonton neighborhood had taken up a petition to have this family interned with the other Japanese from British Columbia.  I recall my father getting very upset and starting a counter petition, as these are fine folks and very close to our family.  I believe one of their sons is in the Canadian Armed Services.  Years later, when we discovered what had happened to the Canadian Japanese, my father's actions made me feel proud of our heritage.  One family had been spared the embarrassment of bigotry and racism by their government.  This action taught me to never again support a Liberal party in the future.

The Alcan Road, better Known as the Alaska (Alaskian) Highway to Alaska is built in six months (March 8, 1942-September 24, 1942) through fifteen hundred and twenty three miles (1523 miles) of remote wilderness.  It is built at the rate of eight miles per day.  It is built from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Alaska.  The Highway was really not usable by general vehicles until the upgrades of 1943.  The workers had a recreational site at Lac La Nonne, Alberta.  As children we played with the abandoned life jackets making huge rafts.  The workers also used depth charges to create pickerel fishing holes.  It had been proposed in the 1920's but until the attack on Pearl Harbor, fears were expressed that Japan would invade Alaska.

One interesting highlight of the fur trading business, not commonly known, is that this year nearly six million rabbit skins, mostly snared and shot by schoolboys, are shipped from Alberta.  This is a peak rabbit year which normally occurred every 9.6 years.

1943  

(II)-James Brady, (1908-1967), Metis, joined the armed forces.

Earnest Charles Manning, Social Credit, is elected Premier of Alberta 1943-1968 

'Bible Bill' (William Aberhart) Premier of Alberta from 1935 to 1943 was a socialist wannabe dictator.  Most of his inner circle folks considered him a tyrant.  Most of his economic legislation was struck down by the courts.  He even tried to muzzle the freedom of the press through legislation but this was also struck down.  

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ALBERTA HISTORY 1945-1949