THIS PERIOD COVERS 1950 TO 1969
Oil becomes the Alberta engine
ALBERTA HISTORY 1970-1989
ALBERTA HISTORY Return to ALBERTA INDEX
The second half of the twentieth century brought a significant personal realization that we were not living in the free, democratic society that all my peers and teachers were proclaiming we were. Our so-called Free Market Society is highly regulated and manipulated by a significant minority. Church organization is a dictatorship, as is the organization of business. The political systems are self-serving and manipulative. The very organizational structures, the systems of our institutions are geared to resist discriminatory change and preserve a barbarous Roman Empire form of rule. We heard the words, ugly Americans, this decade in describing the free enterprise system. This is the period of the Socialism or Communism Witch Hunts that peaked in the early 1950's. These modern day witch hunts, that start in the early 1930's and extend to present times, find their base in hundreds of years of Inquisition theology. These ugly Canadians appear less barbarous than our American cousins, so we see less reason to change.
My mother was from the Germanic, Roman and European tradition of;
Global cooling is a major issue, at this
time, and one Russian plan called for the damming of the Bering Straight and the
use of nuclear energy in power plants to heat the ocean waters. They
believed in this way they could raise world temperatures 2-3 degrees and stave
off the disastrous effects of global cooling.
During the 1950's there was great interest in guessing the ethnic origin of neighbors. I remember that girls who were not obviously Anglo/Saxon white, and were obviously Metis in nature, were referred to as having 'just a little bit of French'.
The Norway rat was found in Alsask, Saskatchewan on the border of Alberta. They were first reported in the eastern border of Saskatchewan in the 1920's and in the eastern coast in 1775.
The 1950's was a awaking a discovery of differing principles, beliefs and values in our society.
I came to the conclusion that a fundamental principle of human rights was;The 1950's was the common adoption of the words boob and boodies to make reference to girls breasts or teats. However in 1347, when the bubonic plaque ravaged Europe, one of the symptoms of the plaque was called bubos or boobos which was a swelling of the lymph nodes, hence swelling of the chest can be referred to as boobs. "Boob" is a 1950's was a shortening of "booby", which in the 1930's came from "bubby". Linguists aren't sure, but "bubby" may derive from the German "Bübbi" which means 'teat'.
1950
Research suggests that the sperm count of men born after this date has plummeted 22 to 42 percent. The sperm count of men during the 1920's, 1930's and into the late 1940's was fairly consistent and normal. Men born in the 1950's and 1960's show the largest drop, for unknown reasons. Many suggest it is the chemicals in our food chain. Others suggest its atomic bomb fall out that is spanning the globe.
Anti-Semitism is mainstream in Canada. It is respectable, no one apologized for being anti-Jewish. It was heard in Parliament, read in the press and taught in the schools and churches. It has existed in Canada for the past 400 years. Anti-Indian and anti-Metis attitudes are also mainstream, as is anti-Asian.
I can recall as a youngster riding my bicycle out to the site of old Fort Edmonton. This Hudson Bay Company fort was located on the north side of the Saskatchewan river across from the the town of Fort Saskatchewan, near the mouth of the Sturgeon river. We used to go in the spring after the farmer plowed his fields, in search of Indian arrow heads. We never failed to discover 3 or 4 arrow heads. The North West Company Fort was south near Fort Saskatchewan before moving to Edmonton.
The 1950's was a decade of enchantment, called the 'Greaser Days' for the duck tail hair cuts, held in place by hair grease. It was the time of crinolines, bobby socks, penny loafers and maiden form bras. It was a time when girls put on a tight pair of jeans, sat in hot water, in a bath tub, then allowed them to shrink dry on their body. However underlying this age of innocence was the 'Cold War', the threat of the 'Atomic War' that would end all wars, and as the decade ended the book 'The Ugly American' was published as a best seller. People began building bomb shelters and stocking them with supplies for the inevitable 'Third World War'.
It was a time of awaking, a rite of passage, an entry into a new area. The first feelings of love for a girl developed in 1947. This year began what I called phase two, a much deeper connection. My parents took in an orphaned girl for Easter week. She must have been about age 7 or 8. She instantly made a binding connection with me, by following me around the house wherever I went, and holding on to my hand or clothing, as though for dear life. We listened every night to the radio and she would snuggle up beside me, hanging on to my arm or hand. We listened to such programs as the Shadow, the Green Hornet, Cloak and Dagger and the Inner Sanctum. When ever we went, to church or shopping she wouldn't let go of my hand. It felt wonderful being wanted. I remember begging and pleading with my mother to keep her. I had always wanted a little sister. I offered to give her half my food, to get a job to pay for her clothing, to help her with school work, she wouldn't be any trouble. It ended up that she wasn't an orphan but was placed in an orphanage because her parents were broke, unemployed and would return for her when their fortunes improved. As a result she couldn't be adopted out. I was divested and rode my bike past the orphanage 5-6 times trying just to get a glimpse of her, without luck. Later I realized she must have suffer much greater than I and again felt abandoned. I learned that life is not fair.
Yet in many ways Life was simple in
the 1950's;
It was man's responsibility to make a living.
It was woman's responsibility to make life worth living.
Marriage rules were simple;
If they are good enough to bed, they are good enough to wed.
We needed this rule because many marriages were what they called 'shotgun
weddings'.
Most accepted the 'shotgun rule' because that was the honorable thing to do.
Few resented these obligations.
The interesting reality was the first born of our parents were premature births
some only 6 months gestation.
When it came to the engagement ring it was whatever you could afford, as it was
what it represents, not its value.
An engagement ring was a symbol of a loving commitment by a man and woman to
marry within a reasonable period of time.
In fact the engagement ring represented a union of a man and woman before God to
be followed by a formal marriage for the benefit of relatives and friends.
Most wedding receptions were in homes and limited to close friends and family.
Skip to 2012 and anything goes;
Over
time God was removed from the union.
Then the commitment to formally marry within a reasonable time was removed.
Marriage was replaced by the income tax act to record co-habitation or common
law arrangements.
Then marriage and unions were no longer between a man and a woman.
Then we eliminate love as that was too restricting, open marriage was the
preferred arrangements.
Then the commitment was removed because that represented monogamy for life.
What do we have left, an economic relationship, in law, like a business
relationship?
The next step is to evolve from an agreement to a contract.
Oh I forgot we already have that with the prenuptial contract and Mexico is
considering a 5 year marriage contract and if not renewed, the marriage is
null-in-void..
God is dead, Marriage is dead, R.I.P.!
Roles are gone,
Responsibility is gone,
Obligation is gone,
Honor is gone.
I understand why so called modern men and women are sour on marriage and
commitment.
Yes the engagement ring and what it once represented is dead. R.I.P.
Alexazina Gauthier Garneau (1888-1980) and daughter
Alexazina Gauthier Garneau (1888-1980) and daughter Bertha Garneau Metis born July 12, 1917, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. died March 2011 Picture was taken in Surrey, British Columbia where they are living.
The term redeye appears to be created in Alberta this decade for a drink of beer mixed with tomato juice. It more recently has been applied to redeye in photos.
As the war faded into history, the cultural urgings of promenading flooded into consciousness. Refer to 1940 and the loss of public promenading. This decade promenading took on a different form and it was called 'curb cruising' by the young male population. The young males had acquired the automobile and no longer had to promenade, however the young girls still promenaded like their ancestors but usually in groups of 3 or four for safety. The males quickly learned to curb cruise in numbers of 3-4. The girls usually decided who they wanted to pare with by sitting beside or on the boy of their choice. The group usually went to A&W for a root beer. Plans were usually made for a real group date for later in the day or the next day. This type of promenading faded into history by the 1960's when girls also acquired cars.
May 5-19: A flood of the Red River in Manitoba killed one person and forced 100,000 people from their homes.
December: Nearly 3,000 residents are forced to abandon their homes in -30C temperatures when ice jams the Bow River in Calgary.
December: Inter-Provincial Pipeline completed a one thousand, one hundred and twenty nine mile pipeline to Lake Superior. Hard on its heels was a seven hundred and eighteen mile pipeline to the West Coast, the Trans-Mountain Pipeline. Oil would dominate the latter half of this century, as the car becomes a necessity.
1951
Robert Garneau Metis (1909-1997) became a Lieutenant for the Edmonton Fire-fighters on January 1, 1951.
Robert Garneau (1909-1997) my father sat me down for the traditional father to son talk. No not the sex talk. Rather the economy talk but he called it the Great Depression talk. Actually he repeated it over the next few years time and again.
Never invest in things you don't understand.
Never invest in the Stock Market that which you can't afford to lose.
Diversity didn't work during the Great Depression. This included allocation but he didn't use these terms.
Never try to keep up with the Jones or you will always be unhappy.
Never make big decisions without discussing with your wife, when you marry. He had no doubt I would marry.
Don't buy non essentials on credit, this included a car, TV, etc. In his 'Depression World', food, clothing and shelter were the only necessities.
Remember a house is the most important investment you will ever make.
Do buy a small house below your means and near a University or Trade School. He reasoned you could take in borders, that is what they did during the last Great Depression.
Do payoff your mortgage as soon as possible, you can upgrade later.
Do payoff credit cards within 30 days, don't forget mailing time.
They used to say "Credit is a Devil that dances in empty pockets".
During the Great Depression folks dug up their lawns and planted potatoes.
Do save as much as you can for a rainy day.
You have to remember the Depression folks all believed another Depression will happen, it was just a matter of when. This belief happened in 2007
My father walked the talk. I learned by watching him in action. He loved working, loved life and always lived below his means.
Our sex talk was very simple "If they are good enough to bed, they are good enough to wed".
The British American Oil Company completed its refinery at Clover Bar, east of Edmonton, and a few months later McColl-Frontenac came on- stream across the road from the Imperial Oil refinery.
The F.B.I. started a file on Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000) being convinced he was a Communist, he was more like a socialist. It is noteworthy that during World War II Trudeau was seen wearing a Nazi uniform in Quebec.
The United States of America with Cuban exiles invades Cuba at the Bay of Pigs and are defeated.
March: Six bombs dropped by military aircraft fail to blow away an ice jam on the South Saskatchewan River, which flooded homes.
June 1: The census of the west is: B.C. 1,165,210, Alberta 939,501, Saskatchewan 831,728, Manitoba 776,541, N.W.T. 16,004 and Yukon 9,096.
July 10: Canada formally ended its war with Germany.
1952
The Robert Garneau (1909-1997) family moved to a larger home at 12113 - 83 street Edmonton, Alberta. I recall my first exposure to police brutality this summer at 86 street and 118 avenue, Edmonton, where the police are putting the boots to a young man laying on the ground. Many people observed the incident and told me to mind my own business, as you can't fight city hall. This incident would have a profound impact on my understanding of authority and responsibility. I lost all respect for the police force and the legal system as this was not an isolated experience. The law is truly blind and surely is not applied equally even to present times. Later this century, camcorders record similar incidents in the United States and prove the legal system is not only blind but stupid and perverted. The RCMP laser cases of the 21 century fortified this opinion. I learned we have a legal system but not a justice system.
The Roman Catholic school system practiced a form of masochism that was encouraged by the priests and nuns of that institution. The rational used to justify the brutality is that a third world war is inevitable and this will prepare us and make us strong and true. We are required to run the gauntlet where ten to twenty kids line up, half to a side. The person selected is required to run between the rows, trying to avoid being hit with open hand or fist. Each person has the opportunity to dispense one hit per run. If a boy refused to run the gauntlet, he was labeled a coward and tied to a pole for up to two hours to humiliate him. Respect for authority is taught with a smack to the face by a rugged ball with sufficient enough force to knock the boy to the ground. A smack on the back of the head, a twist of a lock of hair or of the ear is routinely applied. The strap is in continuous use from grade one to nine. Complaining of brutality to ones' parents usually resulted in a whipping at home. This year I told the teacher if he ever again laid a hand upon my person again, I would kill him. Fortunately, he never tested my firm resolve for, after eight years of being brutalized, I surely would have killed him. Others choose to break-in and vandalize the school. The religious abuse in schools was not confined to residential schools and it was supported by the parents. Even into the twenty-first century you still hear the cry, “spare the rod and spoil the child,” by some religious and parents. This barbaric practice, I would discover, was imported from Europe, as it did not exist in Canada before their arrival. I made a firm resolve never to lift a rod against any of my future children. The brutalization of innocent children had been systemic for generations being promoted by both Church and State.
1952 Mathew & Jerush Salzl
Mathew Salzl (1885-1962) a carpenter, shoemaker who had his
feet frozen off age 16.
wife Jerusha McDougall (1889-1969) who could go out into the woods and gather a
meal of eatable plants.
During a visit to Moscow, USSR Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000) told a senior United States diplomat that he was a communist confirming their suspicions about his political beliefs in 1951. The United States classified Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000) as an idealist naive, with an infantile desire to shock, that could be damaging. At this time Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000) heaped praise on Russia and scorn on the USA. It is worth noting that the Liberal Prime Minister, Jean Chretien of the twenty first century, has said that he idealized this man.
The USSR-Cuban Missile Crisis leads the USA to the brink of WW III.
The promotion of sweet corn as we know it today began as early as 1952 in Taber, Alberta. Sweet corn was developed during the 1940's and is high on the glycemic index of foods and is known to contribute to type #2 diabetes.
Alberta introduced a successful program to prevent rats from entering Alberta. I have only seen one dead rat in a boxcar in Alberta in my entire life. Unfortunately many muskrats are killed each year because people mistake them for Norway rats.
1953
Lawrence Garneau Metis (1840-1921) a Cairn in
the Garneau District of Edmonton, Alberta formally called Strathcona North West
Territories.
The City of Edmonton decided some recognition needs to be given to Lawrence Garneau, founder of the Garneau District of Edmonton. They voted, however, not to mention Garneau as being Metis, nor the significance of his 60 years in the North West or that he fought the claim jumpers in Edmonton, or that he was jailed in 1885 as a treasonous supporter of the so called Louis Riel resistance movement. They did agree to erect a stone cairn with a plaque where Saskatchewan Drive meets 90th Avenue. In the spring of 2001, the plaque was removed and has since disappeared and was eventually restored. Several attempts have been made by the University of Alberta to change the name of the Garneau District to East Campus. Our educational systems have been highly criticized for dispensing a bland sanitized history despite a growing strong demand for more relevant historical information. The University of Alberta suffers from McLuhanism; "Canadians are all a very humble bunch. They take it for granted that everything they do must be second rate."
(II)-James Brady Metis (1908-1967) the son of (I)-James Brady (1875-1948) and Archange Garneau Metis (1876-1918) visited our home on 12113 - 83 street in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1952 or 1953. (II)-James Brady had taken the Metis and Native cultural path with his life. His cousin Robert Garneau Metis (1909-1997) son of John Garneau Metis (1885-1949) and Mary Gauthier (1888-1980) had followed the European cultural path. (II)-Jim Brady appeared as a lost soul, a defeated man, questioning the value of his life. The Anglo-Saxon storm, the dark depression of World War II had taken a terrible toll on James. (II)-James Brady is a disillusioned Socialist and Marxist who recalled how he sat on the curb in London, England during the air raids, howling at the moon, thinking of the children being blown to bits by the bombs. He had been in the Canadian Army fighting for Canada. His visit and co-authored book, however, sparked my curiosity about my roots. Although my relatives denied a native heritage, here is living proof, the last spark of a dying Metis ember. (II)-James Brady with his friend Malcolm Norris Metis (1900-1967) were Metis political leaders who helped create the Metis Associations of Alberta and Saskatchewan.. Norris had joined the RCMP, HBC and was an airman in WWII. The (II)-James Brady Papers are being held at the Glenbow Archives in Calgary, Alberta. From this time forward, when asked by the good Sisters of Charity at school what my nationality was, I would reply Metis. They would inevitably reply," No, what is the nationality of your parents?" And I would reply, "Metis". They would say, "No, what is the nationality of their parents?" And I would say, "Metis". Finally, in exasperation, they would then ask," What is the origin of your parents? I would reply," Indian". This would infuriate them even more, and they would say, "No, your name is French therefore your origin is French". The records would therefore be falsified and read "French". The truth is that the family name, Garneau, is Canadian, having originated about 1703 and does not exist in France. But the system did not allow for the recording of the truth. I learned another great truth, statistics don't lie but misguided people compile statistics. It followed that all those who used these statistics for decision-making are dealing with untruth and therefore arrived at erroneous conclusions. This would therefore compound their mistakes and perceptions. I would find the same procedure practiced in Church, Government, Medicine and Business. The important thing, that I learned early on, was that truth and reality are what you or others want to make it. I had concluded that the Anglo-Saxon and European culture had distorted history to serve their own ignoble purposes. Is it only perversion? Could they be trapped in a system that didn't allow them a vision of reality? I further resolved that all presented facts are assumed false until rationalized as possibly true. My grand parents had told me that we see the world as we want to see it, not as it really is. They said, "You must remove your cultural blinders." I would discover that this was a nearly impossible task . This encounter with James Brady marks the beginning of my search for my roots and this web site. This is likely the basis of my being a skeptic all my life.
Parents tended to deny a Metis Heritage because; Bicultural
children were often caught between two worlds, unable to see themselves as Métis
but not fully accepted by whites
William Andrew Cecil Bennett (1900-1979)
ordered the R.C.M.P. to
snatch 170 children, aged 6-15, from the Sons of Freedom, a sect of Doukhabor, in an
attempt to compel them to attend Public School. Many of these children's parents had also been interned in
the 1930's. Some spent nearly 5
years in these prison schools. It
is worth while to note how easily we can take the kidnapping and internment of the Indian
children and apply it to European children.
Child welfare continues to use the same strategy, even to this day, but now it’s the poor
British, French and other ethnic people. Next
it will be ‘you or your children’ so don’t be surprised.
It is noteworthy that according to the United Nations Genocide Convention
of 1948 the forcible transferring of children from one group to another is Genocide.
W.A.C. Bennet (1900-1979) is just following the Christian Churches public policy that
has been employed for the past 300 years against the Native Peoples of Canada.
Doctor Ewen Cameron, of Montreal , a psychiatrist at McGill University, is considered by many to be a 'Mad Scientist' who conceived an evil plan to conduct mind altering drug experiments on prison inmates and the general public. Mad Cameron was originally financed by the CIA and, later, the Canadian Government. Mad Cameron also requested the support of Doctor Louis Gendreau, the infamous Deputy Commissioner of Penitentiary Services. Dr Peter Roper was also a colleague involved in this evil research. The CIA was sued by 9 former inmates and these inmates were awarded $750,000.00. The Canadian Government blocked the victims fight for justice and would only pay $100,000.00 to dozens of former inmates. The told numbers are not known but are believed to number in the hundreds. Cameron and Roper destroyed the minds on innocent Canadians including the wife of a member of parliament. Cameron termed his sadistic research as beneficial brainwashing.
Oil production, of one hundred and ninety eight million dollars, exceeded gold production, of one hundred and forty million dollars, for the first time. This was a significant milestone.
The Catholic Church reverses its long-standing, early marriage policy by calling on all parents to discourage the pernicious custom of boys and girls, in their teens, forming permanent and exclusive steady associations, that are so often an occasion for sin. Most church members largely ignore these ridiculous pronouncements. Some historians recalled a time, in New France, when it was a most grievous sin not to be married by 16 for girls and 18 for men. The Church imposed a fine on fathers of such wayward offspring. It was common for girls to get married at age 9 or 10 in early Canada.
The Government began enforcing their assimilation policy against the Sons of Freedom. About 170 children are hunted down like wild animals and forced into a Residential School in New Denver. These children are imprisoned in a type of concentration camp until 1959. Making the children wards of the state justified this Nazi type of internment in the Governments mind. Law suites would eventually be filed in 2001.
A Native woman named Bella Twin, age 63, near Lesser Slave Lake shot one of the biggest grizzly bears on record. She killed the animal with a bullet to the right eye. Some say it was from a range of three feet. Other stories suggest she used a single shot, twenty-two caliber, short rabbit gun and used twelve shots to bring down the attacking bear. What ever the truth it makes for great story telling. My family followed the centuries old story telling time of the Metis and Indian cultures.
June: The Oldman River at Lethbridge was swollen to levels six meters above normal washing away houses
1954
The Salk vaccine for Polio was introduced in 1955. Each year from 1951 to 1954 there was an average of 16,316 paralytic polio cases and 1,879 deaths from polio in the United States only. It is believed the outbreak of Polio began about 1907.
May 15: Robert Garneau Metis (1909-1997) became Acting District Chief of the Edmonton Fire-fighters, in Edmonton.
1955
Gerald Garneau son Robert Garneau (1909-1997) and Marion Salzl (1910-2009), joined Imperial Oil Limited after trying banking and sales, which were not to his liking. Marion Garneau daughter Robert Garneau (1909-1997) and Marion Salzl (1910-2009), joined the Sisters of Charity of Immaculate Conception, of St. John New Brunswick, on September 5, 1955. She spent nine years teaching at St. Vincent High School in St. John, New Brunswick. She spent the next five years as a missionary in Peru. She then became the Director of Formation and the Superior in Edmonton for three years.
This year in high school one of the Holy Fathers is brutalizing a student. The student is a mild mannered, quiet, strapping farm boy who could give offense to no one. The more the boy turned the other cheek, the more the priest persisted in trying his patience. Finally the boy rose, secured the priest's shirt collar and marched him to the third story window. He thrust the priest out the window saying, "If you ever again do this to me or anyone else in the class, I will kill you. The priest stopped his masochistic practice with this class but not other classes. I learned that day that some people only respect violence.
The Dewline (Distant Early Warning Line) a 3,000 mile line of networked radar stations and small airports for jet fighter planes was constructed to detect trans-arctic Soviet (Russian) invasion that was considered imminent.
November 4: Soviet tanks rumbled into Hungary, killing thousands of unarmed Hungarians and effectively crushing the short-lived revolution.
November 29: Free passage to Canada, for Hungarian refugees, is granted as a result of the failed Hungarian revolution. They arrived, 37,000 of them with few possessions, hoping for a new free life, many in the West. I remember visiting their temporary accommodations in railway cars north of the Edmonton Municipal airport, and by the next year the refugees are assimilated into the main stream. I was surprised how quickly they fit into the Canadian mosaic. I learned that Jews and Asians are not considered equal to white Hungarians.
1956
R. D. (Dick) Garneau, b-1937, the author of this site, graduated from St. Joseph High School in Edmonton and decided to try Aeronautical Engineering in Calgary. I had an aptitude for engineering and mathematic. I was blessed having a tested IQ of 130, and research suggested 100 was average, a university professor averaged 115 and genius was 140 plus. I felt I could do anything I put my mind to. Chemistry was out, as I just didn't like it, electronics was out because the principles came easy but circuits, I was lost, I could understand if I studied hard but I guess I was just lazy. I loved to work with my head and my hands. Trade schools are a serious option. I selected Aeronautical Engineering as it was 50% theory and 50% applied or as they said in these days practical.
1957
The Avro Arrow built in Canada was considered the most advanced and fasted military interceptor jet of all times, but was rejected by the Government. I was designing delta jets in 1952 and decided Aeronautical Engineering would be a good profession.
R. D. (Dick) Garneau, b-1937 quit Aeronautical Engineering because there was no future in Canada. If you wanted to do this type of work you had to go to the United Kingdom or the American space program. Neither which appealed to me. I decided I wanted to be a 'Professional Generalist', 'a jack of all trades, a master of non'. I reason the only way I could do this was to work for a large global company. Opportunity presented itself while I was contemplating my options.
Gerald Garneau quit Imperial Oil Limited, having decided to return to school, having discovered the business world is not his forte. He would turn to the art world and to teaching. Gerald, or Jerry as we called him, quit on a Friday and I, who had abandoned Aeronautical Engineering, the author of this site, decided that maybe I would find Imperial Oil Limited an interesting place to work. On Monday I applied for work, telling them that they should have room for me as my brother had just quit and they wouldn't have had time to replace him. I got a job. On July 4, 1957, Richard (Dick) Garneau joined Imperial Oil Limited, Alberta Marketing Division in Edmonton, and is henceforth dubbed Dick, as Richard is considered too formal. My first job was to deliver the mail, in other words I was a mail-boy.
This year I visited a friend, Dale McIlhargey, who is working in a pharmacy in Hinton, Alberta for the summer. The first pulp mill in Hinton, Alberta started with three thousand men who came from all over Canada. Dysentery ran rampant, and the one pharmacy in town made a killing. Nine months later, just about every ovulating girl in town was pregnant.
Louis Monroe is the head of the Science Department at Churchill High School in Vancouver, British Columbia. His motto is: If you can't buy it, make it, and if you can buy it, make it anyway. Dick Garneau would later marry one of his daughters.
Russia surprised the world by orbiting Sputnik. Those atheistic Bolshevik's had surpassed the Western World. The Western World had said that those Communists are historical liars and are so far behind free world technology that space flight is considered beyond their capability. This raised an important question in my mind, which was, what other distortions of history and reality are we to discover? I learned to be a confirmed skeptic.
From 1957 to 2005 the Atlantic conveyor belt has dropped 30%. This sends warm water up the eastern seaboard of America on to Europe. Failure of this circulation will result in a little ice age. The return of cold water is down 50%
About 37,000 Hungarian refugees arrive in Canada (1956-1957) after the USSR quashes the Hungarian uprising for freedom. I remember visiting the refugees in railway cars at the north end of the Edmonton Municipal Airport. I was amazed how quickly they were accommodated and blended into the Canadian culture. There was not one incident of discontent or complaint.
The Canadian dollar is trading at $1.04 U.S. funds.
Imperial Oil Limited opens its first petrochemical plant in Sarnia, Ontario.
1958
“I think there is a world market for about five computers.” So says Thomas Watson, chairman of I.B.M. I learned that many great leaders are actually very astute followers.
Marian Ann Carter d-1958, Edmonton,
Alberta, wife of John A, McDougall (1856-1918). Photo taken Edmonton,
Alberta
Italians during the period (1958-1961) became the leading category of immigrants into Canada. Unlike the Hungarians, the Italian immigrants tended to settle into cultural ghetto's before eventually dispersing into other areas of the City of Edmonton.
I recall my first exposure to English arrogance at Imperial Oil Limited in Edmonton was in the personage of one Frank R.... One fine morning I made the mistake of saying good morning to Frank. I shall never forget his sharp retort, "MR. R... to YOU." This is followed over the next few months with a continuous barrage of small incidents of English arrogance. These snide snipes had always been there but, until this incident, my mind was not attuned to this laughable behavior. My turn came when working in the Stationary Department. Mr. R... requested an ashtray- not an ordinary ashtray mind you- but an expensive one. It had to be more expensive than any other executive's ashtray. The City of Edmonton was searched and many ashtrays costing one hundred dollars each were obtained for approval. They were rejected. A few that cost two hundred dollars were obtained and rejected. I then had a brilliant idea. A paper company, as a promotional gift, had given me an ashtray. I washed, polished and carefully wrapped the sample ashtray. When presented to Mr. R... he inquired, as he had before, about how much it cost. I replied that a man in his position shouldn't be concerned about the price of important things like this. He accepted the ashtray as the most expensive one in the office, and years later I was told that it was capitalized on the books of account at three hundred dollars. His English arrogance never bothered me from that day forward and, in fact, I began to rather enjoy observing his eccentricities and devising creative methods to divert their intent. This brings to mind another policy I detested, which is the English practice of reviewing every letter mailed externally to the office, even if to another company office. Mr. R... and other executives would change a few words and, at best, sign his name along with yours or, at worst, he would take your letter and apply his name, with no mention of yours truly-the author. To over come this problem, I took all my letters to another typist on another floor. This change of practice is soon detected, and a new policy is created; all secretaries must not type letters for other than their own floors, unless assigned by a secretary. My policy, from that point on, was to hand write- or rather hand print- all future letters on what are known as speedy memos, which are carbonized paper forms. The advantage was that they never got into the reading file, so the managers really didn't know what you were doing. It was a great system. I got a great joy at beating the systems of the company. I realized that systems were the glue that governed an enterprise, not its people. I made a firm commitment to master every system, manual and machine.
March 25: The AVRO CF-105 Arrow, considered one of the most advanced fighter aircraft of the day, flew for the first time. I honestly thought I had made a mistake in abandoning Aeronautical Engineering but the program was soon chopped by short sighted people.
June 1st. The Bohemian Maid Brewery had a name change, alias August 5, 1924 Northwest Brewing Company, alias 1907 Strathcona Brewing and Malting Co., alias 1893 Ochsner Brewery, started brewing March 1894 the brewmaster was Robert Ochsner wife and it was located below Saskatchewan Drive, 10542 Fort Hill, Edmonton, in a park, on a hill, with no railway service. If I recall correctly it had a spring water supply.
1959
One of the most profound experiences of my life happed this
year at Imperial Oil Limited. New employees were offered a question and
answer session with the top geologists and geophysicists. I had just read
a number of books on 'Continental Drift' later called 'Plate Tectonics' from the
late 1800's. Continental Drift was first proposed in 1596 by Abraham
Ortelius (1527-1598). I assumed it was common knowledge, as the research
in the late 1800's was
compelling. I naively ask "do we take into consideration the
'Continental Drift' theory when selecting sites for oil/gas
exploration"? WELL! I received a 15 minute lecture on
the 'Solid State Theory' of geology and was firmly told the 'Continental Drift'
aka 'Plate Tectonics' hypothesis was preposterous, ridiculous and no credible
geologists supported that position. The common phrase among leading
scientists for the past 60 years was "Utter damn rot". I learned that day that just
because everyone in the world believes something, that doesn't mean it's
true. This realization served me well for the balance of my life. In the 1960's 'Plate Tectonics' became an accepted norm but little
or no credit is give to those early researchers of 'Continental Drift' from the
1800's, to 1596. They called it NEW, to save face, but the theory goes
back to Genesis. Even as late as 1970 many geologists refused to accept
the theory
Alfred Wegenar (1880-1930) developed his 'Continental Drift' aka 'Plate
Tectonics' theory which he published in 1915 as "The Origin of Continents
and Oceans". Some contend he originated the theory of 'Continental
Drift' aka 'Plate Tectonics' but this is not true as the theory has been around
for thousands of years going back before Genesis. This theory was
considered eccentric and preposterous and the 'Solis State Theory' remained firmly
entrenched for another 50 years. The scientific community was shocked and hostile
with comments such as:
More recently in the late 19th century about 20-30 years before Alfred Wegenar continental drift was quite popular among common folks but the scientific community didn't embrace it until the 1960's
Robert Garneau Metis (1909-1997) moved to 12034 - 83 street, Edmonton, to a smaller, retirement type home. He enjoyed junk, and had said that if he had to do it all over again, he would have been a junk dealer. Before the move to the new house, the Garneau boys sent Robert and Marion for a night out on the town and hired a truck to haul the excess junk to the dump. I remember that dad was devastated. But within two years he had rebuilt his junk collection, which remained until his death.
Evelyn Rideau derivations of the name include (Renaud, Renault, Renaut, Renaux, Reneaux) born about 1939, living Edmonton, Alberta, in a rental house west of the Clark Stadium (about 92 St. & 108 A Ave.) about 1959. She moved to south Edmonton, a few blocks east of 75 Street likely on 90 avenue and I lost track of her. Possibly between 85 St to 83 street and maybe 95 Avenue? She had an older sister who was married to a man working for the Bohemian Maid Brewery below Saskatchewan Drive. It is not a common name, so hopefully some one will find this on a search and drop me an e-mail, see Directory page for e-mail. Evelyn was the authors first real love and I continue to wonder, what is, was and might have been! See Dating, the quest for love & lost love
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (1926 - ) a Jesuit educated man, leads a Cuban revolution with the support of the Roman Catholic Church. The coup d'etat ousted General Fulgenico Batista B-1901, a dictator who encouraged the Mafia in Cuba and courted the USA to look the other way, which they did as it was good for business.
February 20: The Progressive Conservative Government, with a myopic vision, cancelled the CF-105 Arrow project and effectively killed the Canadian aircraft industry. The Avro Arrow was considered the most advanced interceptor jet in the world. Nearly 14,000 jobs are lost and most aero engineers are forced to move to the United States of America to find work. Most blame Prime Minister John Diefenbaker b-1895 Ontario, d-1979 Ontario, a man of little vision, for this disaster. I was very thankful I had quit becoming an aeronautical engineer.
April 22: The Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas believed they would be killed this day. The Davidians, 76 died including 20 children April 19, 1993 in Waco Texas.
May 19: Police swooped down on the children of the Sons of Freedom in British Columbia; gathering up the children for placement in an old sanatorium. They were hunted down and chased up the mountains like animals. One hundred and fifty children were forcibly removed from their homes on religious grounds and systematically humiliated, degraded and mistreated, while in the government's care. They were beaten and sexually abused. The Government's objective was to assimilate the children by stripping them of their language, culture and religion. The children were frequently strapped, beaten and humiliated by the government staff. The United Nations had declared this type of treatment as genocide, and the Canadian Government was fully aware of their actions.
August 17: at 11:37 P.M. just west of Yellowstone National Park experienced an earthquake measuring 7.3 to 7.5 on the Richter scale lasting 30-40 seconds. It killed 28 people, mostly campers and another 8 in Idaho by a landslide, and caused damage as far away as Old Faithful. About 18,000 people fled Yellowstone but the road to the north entrance was blocked. The epicenter was at Duck Lake, junction highway 287 & 191, Montana and was only 11 km subsurface. In Yellowstone some 200 geysers erupted and new ones sprang to life. This quake is often referred to as the Madison River Canyon earthquake. The author had just visited Yellowstone in July of this year and returned in 1960 to view the damage. I recall one story of a mountain climber who was sleeping on the top of one of the mountains when it actually dropped 6 feet, sending him crashing to the ground. I learned this year the power of nature.
1960
In this year 'The Pill' was introduced and would have a profound impact on our culture; almost as great as the introduction of the Automobile. Few girls in my group of friends used the pill.
The automobile changed the centuries old tradition of promenading to meet members of the opposite sex. During the 1940's promenading vanished due to the war effort and absence of men. During the 1950's promenading revived but it changed it's form into curb cruising with the males in automobiles. The 1960's saw the end of promenading being replaced by trolling for members of the opposite sex, in public places, mostly bars. Promenading was an era of innocence with the objective of meeting compatible people for dating and ultimate marriage. Trolling became a not so innocent encounter for consensual sex and if sexually compatible common law marriage or marriage. 84% of Canadians believe divorce is ok. 71% of men have lost respect for women and think brothels are ok. Surprisingly 50% of women think brothels are ok. 79% of Canadians don't believe you need marriage to have children. 66% say its ok to kill an unborn child. These are 2009 statistics. Romance is dead! I think we have thrown out the baby with the bath water. How did our culture degrade so much over the next 50 years.
Evidence of a Viking settlement in Newfoundland is found after years of denial by archeologists. Viking accounts are now considered to be factual rather than myth.
This decade saw the slowly developing realization that the Government, churches and business have been practicing genocide against non-European peoples, not only in America, but throughout the world. The Sons of Freedom, who were European, clearly suggested the English and French could be the next victims of forced detention and assimilation. It is noteworthy that in Australia, the taking of aboriginal children from their parents for assimilation is called 'The Stolen Generation', and was not discontinued until this decade. Tens of thousands of children were involved, and the Government fears to admit guilt, as this could lead to payment of compensation. The aboriginals, 400,000 people, continue to be the poorest, least educated, unhealthiest and most jailed group in Australia. Even as late as 2001, Australian Prime Minister John Howard rejected a National Apology for the countries mistreatment of aboriginal peoples; lest you think it is a yesteryear problem.
The author separated from his first real love Evelyn Rideau, through no fault of hers and entered into a rebound relationship with Noreen Anne Monroe. See REBOUND & MARRIAGE
July 23: Edmonton, marriage Richard Daniel Garneau born, August 10, 1937, Edmonton, Alberta son of Robert Garneau (1909-1997) and (IV)-Marion Salzl (1910-2009); married, Noreen Monroe born 1939, daughter John Lewis Monroe born 1910 and died July 29, 1991 and (II)-Gladys Mary Parker born, May 2, 1911, Vancouver, British Columbia died 1968 Rome, Italy.
1961
June 1: The census of the west is: B.C. 1,629,000, Alberta 1,332,000, Saskatchewan 925,000, Manitoba 922,000, Yukon and N.W.T. 38,000.
December 31: Robert Garneau (1909-1997) became District Chief of the Edmonton Fire-fighters.
1962
David Bruce Garneau is born February 25, 1962 at Edmonton son Richard Garneau b-1937 and Noreen Ann Monroe. Gerald Garneau is teaching half time at St. Andrews and St. Alphonsus Schools when he met (II)-Donna Marie Claire Mahood, his future wife who is also teaching at St. Alphonsus School in Edmonton, Alberta.
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." Decca Recording Co., rejecting the Beatles.
March 6: Sons of Freedom Doukhobors destroyed an electric power pylon, and nine were arrested and sentenced, May 10-11, to 15 years imprisonment. It is important to remember that their children, 170 of them, were taken away from their parents and the children were interned in a Residential School from 1953 to 1959. The children were released amidst great resentment. Eight hundred Sons of Freedom walked from the Kootenays to Agassiz Mountain Prison in the lower mainland to join their imprisoned relatives. They camped at the gates of the prison until 1972.
May 2: The Canadian dollar was officially pegged at 92.5¢ US. This was deemed necessary to protect the Ontario industrial base.
June 11: Seventy two Sons of Freedom Doukhobers were charged with various incidents between 1958 and 1961, but the charges of conspiracy were dismissed August 7.
July 30: The Trans-Canada highway is finally completed from sea to sea at the Roger Pass in British Columbia. It is considered the longest National Highway in the world.
October: John Fitzgerald Kennedy President of the United States of American warned Americans that the world was on the brink of Nuclear War. The military consultants recommended an immediate air strike. Most Canadians were not surprised as the Cold War taught them that World War III was inevitable, it was just a matter of when. This was a key turning point in east-west relations and the beginning of the end of the Cold War. We were soon to realize that the Russian People were as terrified of an 'Atomic War' as was the rest of the world..
October 15-28: John Diefenbaker (1895-1979) Prime Minister of Canada loses public support when he is slow to support President John F. Kennedy in support of the National Security of North America, during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
December 8: The first session of Vatican II (1962-1965) closed, with Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) not pleased with the progress. He is attempting to pull the Church, kicking and screaming, into the twentieth century. The old conservative guard is not pleased. His objective for this council is to liberalize the Roman Catholic Church.
Between 1962 and 1990, ten Christian Brothers from the Mount Cashel orphanage in Vancouver were convicted of abusing boys in their care.
1963
Cindy Anne Garneau is born September 24, 1963 in Edmonton, Alberta son Richard Garneau b-1937 and Noreen Monroe b-1939.
Diefinbaker issued his famous quote; "Everyone is against me except the people". Kennedy, however, considered Diefinbaker as a platitudinous old bore. This likely represents the decline and fall of the Colonial English culture in Canada.
In the spring Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) published his Encyclical welcoming progress and proclaimed every man's right to worship God in accordance with the dictates of his own conscience and to profess his religion both in private and in public. In essence, this spelled the end of Inquisition type thinking. No longer would Catholics blindly follow the Churches teachings. A fundamental principle of the value, dignity, and the liberty of each individual that has been given rights by God , which no man or institution can ever take from them. The old guard considered this heresy. This is reformation type thinking. It is aboriginal type thinking and is perceived as an attack against all known European traditional authority. A great rebirth is taking place. Beliefs, values and principles are being openly challenged. Organizational experimentation, floating parishes, theological think tanks, human rights, and a search for historical Christian roots had begun. Pope John knew that the Church problems were systemic, and that assimilation doctrine is fundamentally wrong.
President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) president (1961-1963) is assassinated .
June 3: Pope John died or is killed (assassinated ), and by June 17, Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) is elected as a conservative. A gray cloud descended upon the Church. John Paul acknowledged his regret for the shared role of Catholic leaders in perpetuating the division within Christianity.
June 29:
1964
Stephen Andrew Garneau is born December 11, 1964 in Edmonton, son Richard Garneau b-1937 and Noreen Garneau b-1939.
Tommy Douglas (1905-1986) was shadowed by the RCMP from 1956 to 1986 even as the NDP leader. It was claimed that in 1964 he was an active member of the Communist Party at the University of Chicago.
Pope Paul VI, in a sermon on Passion Sunday, stated, "Jews are predestined to receive the Messiah and have been waiting for him for thousands of years. When Christ comes, the Jewish people- not only do not recognize him- they oppose him, slander him and finally kill him." The media of the laity, however, is playing a different tune. No more concentration camps; no more gas chambers; no more attempts to slay an entire people; no more persecution of Jews, native peoples or minority groups. The people began to openly proclaim the Church is and has grievously erred and is less Christian than it proclaims itself to be. It is noteworthy that the Jews didn’t kill Christ; it was the Romans (Italians) who did the killing. The Jews didn’t have the authority. It is also noteworthy that crucifixion was a Roman form of execution, and stoning was a Jewish form of execution at that time.
The Great Canadian Oil Sands (Sun Oil Company) start development of the Athabasca Oil Sands at Fort McMurray.
March 27: The Alaska earthquake caused a Tsunami that reached 67 meters (220 feet) in some areas. Many villages in Alaska were completely wiped out. Vancouver Island suffered much damage but no loss of life on the Island nor elsewhere in Canada. In Crescent City, California many people mounted a hill to observer the approaching tsunami and were swept to their death. Crescent City reported 11 deaths..
December 15:
December 16: Canada adopts the Maple Leaf flag designed by Alan Beddoe. Royal assent was given January 28, 1965.
1965
Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919-2000), a unionist and socialist; boarding on a communist, joins the Liberal Party, not because he believes in Liberal Policy, but because they are in a position of power.
The Vertical Mosaic, by John Porter, describes Canada as a vertical Mosaic of different ethnic, language, regional and religious groupings unequal in status and power and had a profound impact on my understanding of the unjust and unequal representation in the status and power structure in Canada. Porter noted that those with English origin had better income, education and health, than those of eastern or southern European origins. Native Indian, Inuit and Metis the founders of this land were the most disadvantaged. This English arrangement also applied to the legal system, power structure, political system and in decision making. Some sociologists were amazed to find his assessment of Canada hasn't changed much by the turn of the twentieth century. That is because the English prejudice is systemic, being built into the legal, religious and business systems of Canada. That Ontario with its Liberal social engineering principles has assumed the English position relative to Quebec and the west is of no surprise. The French have made some minor gains as have women. The ills of the past are couched in more politically correct terminology and most Canadians are oblivious to many aspects of their own cultural roots, especially in Ontario and Quebec.
Few people realize that child slavery existed in England to about this time under the guise of 'The Home Children Program", where 15,000 English children are sent to Australia, New Zealand and Africa as slave labor. Canada, Australia and New Zealand had received 100,000 child slaves between 1869-1930, with an estimated 150,000 being the overall total. It is estimated that about 75,000 children were abused and suffered child neglect. Because the children's identities were deliberately falsified to disguise a child's origins the practice was labeled "Stolen Identities".
Alberta finally granted Indians (First Nation People) the right to vote in Alberta elections, 60 years after the formation of Alberta.
May 12: The terms of the 1876 treaty with Saskatchewan Indians, requiring the Federal Government to provide free medical care, was upheld in court.
1966
After more than four centuries of the censorship of the Index of Forbidden Books, which caused readers to be excommunicated, imprisoned or killed, the censoring is discontinued by Pope Paul VI (1963-1978). The credibility of the Church carried no weight and, since most people had ignored the Index for years, this was considered a nonevent. He also allowed dispensation from religious and celibacy vows upon leaving the religious life and there is a flood of applicants. The Conservatives initially considered this a cleansing of bad blood (Liberals) from the Church, but as the numbers leaving continued to increase they lobbied to bring back the old rules. The church was crumbling before their very eyes. Some were saying that God gave the Church one last chance to come out of the dark with Vatican II, but I learned that the leaders liked the dark.
January
6:
1967
(II)-James Brady (1908-1967) Metis and a Cree friend, on a prospecting expedition, disappeared. They were lost at Lower Foster Lake, Saskatchewan. Some believe the two were murdered for political reasons. I am not sure this has any credibility
Gerry Garneau and family moved to Eugene, Oregon to obtain his Masters in Fine Art. He would return to Edmonton in 1969. The Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception of St. John, New Brunswick, to which Marion Garneau would join, is created this year.
Governor John Love of Colorado signs the first law legalizing the killing of the unborn in the United States.
G.B. McClellan, a former RCMP commissioner was appointed ombudsman of Alberta, the first ombudsman in Canada or North America. It is noteworthy that Ombud meaning agent was a political representative for citizens who feel abused by Government and originated in Sweden in 1809.
July 24: General Charles de Gaulle of France, as a quest of the Canadian Government, shouted a slogan: "Vive le Quebec ... libre". De Gaulle was considered a great man but not a friend of Canada. Some suggest he inspired the creation of the Parti Quebecois for Quebec at the expense of the rest of Canada. Resentment against France ran deep.
September 30: The Great Canadian Oil Sands plant began operations to extract oil from Alberta's Athabasca tar sands.
1968
Robert Garneau Metis (1909-1997), on January 1, 1968,
became assistant Chief of the Edmonton Fire-fighters.
Mark Raymond Garneau is born July 4, 1968 in Edmonton, Alberta son
Richard Garneau b-1937 and Noreen Monroe b-1939.
Premier Manning, of Alberta, resigned after twenty-five years in office, marking a record of longevity in the Premiers office unparalleled in the British Empire. He reflected the desires of Albertans, being ultra-conservative with our resources. He established the energy conservation board as a symbol of great pride. His administration is simple, honesty and with integrity- in short- a Government the people could trust. Manning, however, was oblivious to the moral issues of cultural genocide being practiced under his administration.
Harry Edwin Strom, Social Credit, is elected Premier of
Alberta 1968-1971.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919-2000) is
elected as Prime Minister of Canada, the press hyped him up as the savior of
Canada and Treadeaumamia is born. This
same year the PQ (Parti Quebecois) is created, and Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000) is in support of this
organization. He believes in
centralization, so as to better control things.
The one king, one religion and one God philosophy is very deeply
ingrained in the French and English Canadians and in the Liberal Party.
Oh yes, the terms change but the philosophy remains the same.
Most are not even aware of the origins of their inherited beliefs and
values.
A fifty-five member Vatican Council of Cardinals, Bishops and laity, including 5 women, recommend that the Church accept some forms of birth control. It is interesting to note that Pope John Paul II (1978 - ) was assigned to the commission, but he refused to attend a single meeting. The commission’s opinion is supported by 80-90 percent of the Roman Catholic Church membership.
The Canadian Divorce Act authorized the granting of divorce, solely on the grounds of marriage breakdown. An amendment to the Criminal Code legalized therapeutic abortions in certain cases.
Dr Martin Luther King Jr. (1922-1968) is assassinated at Memphis, Tennessee, by James Earl Ray d-1998. Some suggest, including Ray that the murder was part of a conspiracy.
June 6: Los Angles, California, Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968) is assassinated .
July 25: Humanae Vitae is published as a result of Vatican II. It did not contain the vision of Pope John XXIII (1958-1963). Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) and a small group of conservatives unilaterally banned all forms of birth control. The Conservatives are pleased, but the majority of the Church begins losing their faith in the institutions of man. By 1969, United States church attendance dropped by 33 percent. In America, 20,000 priests resigned with 125,000 resigning worldwide. Ninety percent of Roman Catholics rejected the moral authority of the church. This marked the decline and fall of the Roman Catholic Empire. By the end of the century, the churches have still not recovered their moral authority and seriously lag behind civil authority with regards to Principles, values and morals.
September 8: The first of 10,000 Czechoslovakian refugees, from the August 21, Soviet Union invasion of that country, arrived in Canada.
1969
The F.B.I. under direction of J. Edgar Hoover received intelligence that two men of the Nazi party in California were on their way to assassinate Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000). Mitchell Sharp, external Affairs minister said he had no knowledge of the threat. Jean Chretien future Prime minister and current Indian affairs minister also says he has no knowledge of the incident. A United States spy in the Ottawa Canadian Police Department reported they were advised of the threat April 25, 1969, at 11:30 p.m.
In 2005 a Class Action lawsuit is finally allowed against the New England Company an Anglican Church charity for the Federal Government at the Mohawk Institute Residential School near Brantford, Ontario. It is alleged that between 1953 and 1969 about 1,400 native people were harmed with physical and sexual abuse. They were forcible confined and suffered loss of language. It is noteworthy that about 90,000 others are still waiting to have their grievances heard.
Walter Salin Chell of Calgary is credited with inventing the bloody caesar.
The author thinks it was this year that a bedraggled teen age girl carrying a beat up suit case, arrived at our door seeking help. Her name was Ellie and she was about age 18 and said she was looking for my brothers place who was a teacher. I asked her to come in and talk. She said she needed a place to stay while she finished high school. We said we had lots of room and would be happy to help her. We had lots of long talks about life and living. I told her if she wasn't prepared to help herself I wouldn't cross the street to help but if she wanted to help herself I was prepared to crawl across the street to help. She turned out to be the most perfect teenager that you could ask for. She went to a school dance and sewed herself into her dress, forgetting you might have to go to the bathroom. She cut one side of her hair short while leaving the other side long, naturally applying various colors. She studied hard and helped out around the house. She graduated from High School and moved to Mississauga, Ontario and got married. I learned a lot from Ellie, especially what to expect from teenagers and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. The short year she was with us, it was like family. I learned that the heart and home always has room for one more and not to pass up an opportunity.
January 7: More than 600 Indians and Metis protested a Manitoba Hydro project, calling for a 35 foot increase in the water level of South Indian Lake, and the diversion of 80% of the Churchill River. It is interesting to note that the word 'hydro' referring to electricity production, is a uniquely Canadian word.
May: The Criminal Code Amendment Act liberalized laws on abortion, homosexuality, birth control and lotteries. The opponents to the bill point to the principle of the slippery slope.
June 25: Among the recommendations in a Government report on Indian Policy were: full citizenship for Indians; abolition of Indian treaties; Indian control of reserves and financial aid.
August: Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000) was challenged about Acadians-Canadians who were deported, their lands confiscated. Should we compensate for this? What about the Japanese-Canadians, imprisoned and their property confiscated? Should we compensate them? The Ukrainians and other Europeans were rounded up as "Enemy Aliens" although many were Canadian born? Were not even acknowledged! Trudeau in his flippant manner used a John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) quote "We must be just today". It is noteworthy that there is no limit on prosecution of war crimes.
September 2: Some suggest the concepts of the computer internet were first proven this year, others suggest the Internet started January 1, 1983.
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