Indigenous Survivors: "Our people were experimented on"

From the CBC:

"Florence Genaille was just a little girl in a Brandon, Man., sanatorium when she says doctors bound her to a gurney, pumped her body with electric currents and then took notes as her fingers curled, her arms shook and her neck strained backwards.

It was 1953. The Ojibway girl from Rolling River First Nation was at the sanatorium to be treated for tuberculosis.

Today, she believes it was no treatment. It was, she says, a medical experiment and she was their "guinea pig" — an assessment that Genaille shares with hundreds of survivors of the sanatoriums, which have been closed for decades.

They're allegations that historians are now investigating.

"I'm telling you, my fingers were beginning to twist sideways, it was so incredibly painful," said Genaille, now 72. "And now to come to the conclusion our people were experimented on — it's an awful thing to think about."

No evidence of tuberculosis

Genaille still does not know why doctors performed the electroconvulsive therapy. She still does not know why she was sent to the Brandon sanatorium.

At the time, she was attending residential school outside Brandon. She had bad leg pain with no known cause. Finally, the nuns decided to send her to the sanatorium, saying she might have tuberculosis in her bones.

She didn't. In fact, years later, a doctor told her she had no evidence of tuberculosis at all.

But that didn't stop doctors from ordering extreme bed rest for six months, so strict that she was not allowed to get off the mattress, even when they changed the bedding.

That didn't stop doctors from slicing open the back of her thigh to explore her bone, only to sew it back up, scarring her for life and leaving her with a permanent limp. 

She had been, in the doctor's opinion, experimented on — maybe in good faith, but without merit and without consent.

'A lot of power in the hands of doctors'

Mary Jane McCallum is studying this theory.

McCallum, an associate professor with the University of Winnipeg, is researching what went on in Indian hospitals, as some were called then, and sanatoriums.

She has heard stories similar to Genaille's from other sanatorium survivors and does know this: Indian hospitals were long the training ground for medical students.

Parents of young patients were often hundreds of kilometres away in remote reserves, unaware of the procedures and therefore unable to give consent.

"That meant that there were a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of power in the hands of doctors," McCallum wrote in an email to the CBC.

Gerald McIvor agrees. Back in 1952, his brother Michael was just a child when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to the sanatorium in Ninette, Man.

Decades later, he bore the scars — disabling, disfiguring markers where doctors surgically removed a back rib and the lung behind it as a theoretical treatment for the tuberculosis.

"He always wondered, 'Why? Why did they do that?'" McIvor said, adding his brother, who died in 2000, remembered the searing pain and little else.

Years later, Dr. A.L. Paine, a pre-eminent physician who was previously the medical superintendent of the Ninette sanatorium, explained he performed these surgeries with just a local anesthetic.

In a January 1979 paper published in the journal Canadian Family Physician titled Tuberculosis: Past, present and future, he wrote local anesthetic was used "to avoid spread of the disease during general anesthesia," and that patients willingly agreed to it.

"Looking back, one must regret the frequent use of chest surgery attended at times by some deformity or reduced respiratory function," Dr. Paine wrote, while arguing "many patients would have died without surgical aid."

Taken from residential schools to sanatoriums

Today, there are other answers, though some are hidden in the history books.

In the first half of the 20th century, tuberculosis on reserves was a significant problem. The thinking at the time was that it was because Indigenous people lived in the wild.

According to an article in the August 1939 Canadian Medical Association Journal, "the Indian is still a wandering wigwam dweller at heart and adapts himself poorly to living in houses" and has "a native stubbornness and intolerance to interference that makes clinic work difficult."

But under the Indian Act, it was legal to seize kids suspected of having tuberculosis and send them to sanatoriums — sometimes directly from their residential school, as in Genaille's case.

It was also seen at the time as a financial win-win, medical historians say. The practice kept numbers up in both residential schools and sanatoriums where funding was tied, in part, to quotas.

So by the 1950s, even though there were better therapies available for tuberculosis patients and therapies that could let them heal at home, Indigenous patients continued to be detained longer — sometimes years longer — than the rest of the population.

McIvor, Genaille and historians don't yet know the full extent or intentions behind what went on in Canada's Indian hospitals and sanatoriums.

But they want to get some answers.

"I think a lot of these doctors learned from experimenting on us," Genaille said. "Why else would just my kind of people be in there and exposed to this?"


See also:

Former sanatorium patient searches for answers, validation

B.C. author tells the horrific story of so-called 'Indian hospitals'

Aboriginal children used in medical tests, commissioner says

Canadian government withheld food from hungry aboriginal kids in 1940s nutritional experiments, researcher finds

Researcher calls for public inquiry into medical experimentation on students not compensated in settlement agreement


Comment:

We know that they performed experiments on Aboriginal children with nutrition and vaccines, now it seems only a matter of time until the rest of the accusations of medical experiments come spilling out. (Some already have!)

Unless of course, the government can cover it up. One successful avenue has been the "reconciliation process" - by giving abuse victims payoffs and then essentially shutting them up. One would think if you want "reconciliation" and "healing" that you'd have massive investigations into things, clear up the truth and make everything public - enabling the country to move on. But of course, they don't want that. They just want to pay people to shut up and stifle anything from becoming public. We can't change the past, but we could learn from it. But why would cakers do that? Have to focus on the number one priority: making Canada look "good" to the world and feeling superior to Americans!

See post: Canadians aren't sorry for genocide: 'Intentions were good'


What a disgusting country I live in (unwillingly).

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Dismal reviews of Canada's attractions

It's always a breath of fresh air to read the truth in a caker publication. As this article is not only true but a relative rarity, I'm going to share it here. (My comments in italics)


From the National Post:

"If this year is anything like 2016, a flock of tourists the size of the population of Nova Scotia will be coming to Canada this summer. While most go home satisfied, a chosen few will gaze upon Canada’s wonders and decide that the whole enterprise was a waste of time.

Three months ago, the National Post explored the phenomenon of tourists giving dismal reviews to Canada’s world-renowned national parks. Now we present a gallery of reviews bashing everything else, from museums to memorials to historic sites. All reviews are quoted verbatim.

 Royal Tyrrell Museum (Drumheller, Alta.)

"Rather than calling this a Museum, I would call it a shrine to the ideology of evolution. No real dinasaur bones are on display, just fiberglass replicas. The written presentation accompanying each display presents only the theory of evolution. Almost no factual info such as who found the bones and where and when they were found is available."

Being that dinosaurs are integral to Drumheller and what it's known for, you'd think they could do better, i.e.: have REAL bones. But that's asking too much of Canada and its dino capital! I remember visiting as a kid and seeing a few museums, no doubt they are dismal viewing as an adult.

Rideau Canal (Ottawa, Ont.)

"This open sewer/historic canal does not have any decent places to eat nearby (nothing remotely at Vancouver’s culinary level) or interesting attractions, because the Stalin it’s type bureaucracy that controls it (called the NCC) doesn’t like vibrant urban activity."

Having lived in Ottawa, I can comment on this. The canal is a murky green-brown. It's shallow and the bottom is filled with rocks, concrete and garbage. There's no wildlife to be seen other than the odd duck. In the summer it STINKS in many areas from the sewage seeping in or broken pipes releasing fecal fumes. Walking along it presents no special viewing, with little to do, a lot of roads and traffic and abandoned homeless camping spots.

CN Tower (Toronto, Ont.)

"Hours in a line to get up, and the same to get down. Why did I think viewing Toronto would be worth any wait?"

You spend an hour or two waiting in line. You finally get to the top. You look out the window and get to see Toronto. All you witness are brown and grey buildings as far as the eye can see ... incredibly ugly and depressing. Then you get to spend half an hour getting down. Just skip it, trust me.

National War Memorial (Ottawa, Ont.)

"This gives a poor image of Canada’s War Memorial. It is most likely the entrance to a hotel. Come on get with it."

Yeah this is the war memorial. Just a little statue down town among other statues and monuments. They sometimes do a changing of the guard near it, which looks like a cheap knock-off version of the British kind, done for a few tourists' pennies. You can go see the Canadian War Museum nearby ... nothing special either. It would do for a small city, but this is the nation's capital!

World’s Largest Fiddle (Sydney, N.S.)

"We were walking by the waterfront when we saw the fiddle. People call this an attraction? It’s just a fiddle, nothing to write home about."

This is a great example of how interesting Nova Scotia is. Oh I know, I know ... you have waterfront views of the ocean and can go on boats. Just don't remind the cakers that you can do that anywhere on coastal lands ... this is "special" in Canada.

Emily Carr Birthplace (Victoria, B.C.)

 

"Only three of the rooms in the house are available for viewing, The video about Emily Carr is far too long. Two cats have the run of the entire site, which we had to leave due to our alergic reaction to the felines. Save your money."

There's nothing special to see on Vancouver Island. The only things worth going for are hiking in the ancient redwood forests and whale watching. As for this, you basically get to walk into a house, see a couple rooms of nothing and walk out: sums up Vancouver Island nicely.

Montreal’s Gay Village (Montreal, Que.)

"I starting visiting Montreal about 5 years ago. In those days the Gay Village was vibrant with sexual energy and had an edge that was exciting. Open and friendly with a true element of masculinity. Montreal’s Gay Village has been reduced to a play ground for straights, twinks and girls. Even venues like the once famous Leather/Denim bar at the edge of the Village, Le Stud, has made double sure that that only women and boys are welcome. They claim that this is a club for “men who like men”, but upon entering the place there is not a masculine man in site."

I can't comment much on this, other than "upon entering the place there is not a masculine man in site" could probably apply to many places in Canada. Montreal is a dirty, brown, grey ugly city with a few nice spots thrown in. The people are marginally better than the rest of cakers and there's more to do than the average caker city ... although Montreal's "vibrancy" would be considered normal in any American or European city, i.e.: human activity.

Terry Fox Monument (Thunder Bay, Ont.)

"There is not much to do in thunder bay, its a very boring city, that i probably why this monument is on the list of what there is to do in thunder bay!"

Ah Thunder Bay, I'll touch on this place soon. In most normal countries, a "monument" is something like the Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty. In sad Canada, a little piece of concrete in any of its small dump cities becomes a "monument" and an "attraction."

Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Winnipeg, Man.)

"I feel like my human rights were violated by having them trap me in this monstrosity for two hours. It’s not just bad. It’s surprisingly bad. It’s embarrassingly bad … there’s very little here. Granted, they keep reminding you that ‘some of the galleries are not open yet’… but even if these unopened spaces are full of spectacular things like animatronic Gandhis and holographic race riots, it still won’t be enough."

It's Winnipeg - enough said! If you leave Winnipeg without being robbed, stabbed or losing your will to live ... consider yourself blessed.

Notre Dame Basilica (Montreal, Que.)

"Line was so long, we couldn’t get near the place. The plaza was ok. A guy was selling his guitar CDs and playing guitar. However, he had the amp plugged into the CD and he wasn’t actually playing the guitar. Interesting."

In my experience, whenever you want to do anything remotely interesting in Montreal or see an "attraction" be prepared to wait 60-120 minutes to get in, and then it's never worth the hype. In this case, there's a nice church. Too many to count in Europe, plenty in the US - but here any nice or older architecture is a big deal.

Habitat 67 (Montreal, Que.)

"Looking at these appartment buildings, it looks like a very unco-ordinated pile of boxes. Not my style of architecture."

Yes, sad but true ... this ugly lump of buildings is an "attraction" that cakers proudly list as something to see in Montreal. Here if you can build things and have them last a few decades without falling apart or succumbing to the bone-shattering winters, it's applauded.

Butchart Gardens (Victoria, B.C.)

"What a disappointment. Of course it was late May so not a lot of flowers but was very busy and not much to see. Too many tourist but the most disappointing this to me was seeing a Japanese flag flying next to the Canadian flag. Are you kidding?"

A nice garden ... they have one in every city. Next!

World’s largest dinosaur (Drumheller, Alta.)

"Just did not look real, at entrance to museum,maybe kids like it but it looks like a poor imitation.it is valuable as a landmark on the way to see something else."

They said it was the world's largest dinosaur - not that it was a quality one! Once you're finished looking at this paper-mache school project, why not head on down to the dinosaur museums with no bones?

Wreck of the S.S. Ethie (Gros Morne National Park, N.L.)

"Not worth going down the steps to the beach! It’s just a bunch of rusty metal parts scattered along the beach! An environmental clean-up is needed by the Federal Government! Even the interpretation sign was in poor shape, too!"

In most places, looking at rusty garbage dumps would be considered a forced chore. Here in Canada it's an "attraction"! So have a long hard look at this photograph and skip the visit.

Miss Piggy Plane Crash Site (Churchill, Man.)

"While there is some sort of story that goes with Miss Piggy, it is simply a bucket of rust that crashed near Churchill. If you are interested, just look at the pictures. The only thing interesting about it was looking for polar bears while my group stared at it."

Do I even need to comment? It's an old junk plane. I hope they got their money back, but I doubt it - scamming unaware tourists and immigrants is how we keep the local dollars flowing!

Plains of Abraham (Quebec City, Que.)

"The french come here every year on their national holiday to celebrate their independence but they forget it was the ENGLISH who won the war and granted them the right to stay here and practice their language and religion."

A nice looking park to walk around with a cheesy little museum. Unlike in the US, nothing of major historical importance to most people and no summer re-enactments or in-depth viewing/historical tours.

West Edmonton Mall (Edmonton, Alta.)

"While this place is a Mall crawlers fantasy I hate Malls. There is nothing you could ever need that this place doesn’t have except for peace and quiet. If I liked Malls I could spend weeks in here and not see everything they have to offer."

Nothing special ... a giant mall. It has a bunch of stores in it, a movie theater, pools, etc. If you're like me and hate malls and pathetic unnecessary consumerism - this is your worst nightmare. Of course, to the hillbillies in northern Alberta - a big mall is "fancy" and exciting!


Comment:

There you have it folks. This is literally the kind of garbage you find as things to 'see and do' in Canada. I took the Parliament building off the list to be fair. While Ottawa is a complete dump, the Parliament building does hold historical significance for Canada and it is the only one in the country. I toured it once during a visit, never felt the need to go back a second time - which probably says something.

There was no commentary on Niagara Falls, so let me fill you in: stick to the American side. Niagara and St. Catherines are creepy. 

The Canadian side is filled with cheesy attractions: arcades, bad restaurants and such. It's like a trailer trash wannabe version of Vegas, but I'm pretty sure a sight-seeing attraction put together by a mobile home park would actually be nicer and more interesting. You can buy severely overpriced trinkets all plastered with a maple leaf to remind you of your awful vacation. 

Niagara Falls is filled with immigrants from developing nations (who didn't know better), drug addicts, criminals and general hillbillies. 

There you have it folks - a cross country tour of Canada! 

If you come ... do it for the wilderness and outdoor activities ... the only things actually worth seeing. But if you can do them in Europe or the USA - stay there! They too have mountain ranges, beaches, prairies, coastal waters and even arctic climates. 

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Food insecurity in Nunavut 'should be considered a national crisis' expert says

The fun continues in Canada. Take a glimpse at the North of the country:

Nunavut (we descend deeper into hell); Yukon (not gold); 
Northwest Territories: a new level of hell

From CBC: 

Food insecurity in Nunavut 'should be considered a national crisis,' expert says

"Food insecurity in Nunavut "needs remedial action," say the authors of a new report who call for a national food policy.

The Conference Board of Canada released its 2016 food report card on provincial performance, which looks at industry prosperity, healthy food and diets, food safety, household food security and environmental sustainability.

The group defined food insecurity in terms of affordability, availability and utilization, as the United Nations does, said report co-author Jean-Charles Le Vallée, associate director of the board's Centre for Food in Canada.

Nunavut lags far behind the rest of Canada with one in four people food-insecure compared with up to 10 per cent in the provinces.

"Nunavut is affected more than any other province or territory by household food insecurity, and needs remedial action," the report's four authors wrote.

The challenges include high food prices in remote and Northern communities and low incomes for Canada's Indigenous population as a whole, they said.

"Canada doesn't think as a country strategically around food," Le Vallée said. "We don't have a national food policy. We don't have a national food strategy."

In Nunavut in 2014, almost two-thirds of those under the age of 18 were living in households that were food-insecure, said Valerie Tarasuk, a professor in nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto who studies food issues in relation to poverty and homelessness.

"That's huge. That should be considered a national crisis," Tarasuk said.

Food insecurity in Nunavut can be addressed, in part because the population is not that large, she said.

"[It's] really a matter of great urgency that somebody federally move into Nunavut now and start to figure out what kind of resources need to be allocated there to enable people to meet basic needs."

Alarm bells are ringing but new approaches are needed, said Iqaluit resident Leesee Papatsie. She created a Feeding My Family Facebook group.

"There's still people struggling to put food on the table," Papatsie said. "Sometimes we get asked, 'You have extra cereal? You have bread?' Just the basics."

The Conference Board assigned Nunavut a D for food security for those aged 12 and older based on 2011-12 data from Statistics Canada. The Northwest Territories was assigned a B and Yukon and all provinces got As.

The report said some people are more vulnerable, including those living in remote areas, hunting and gathering societies such as the Inuit, single parents, inner-city poor and low-income Canadians.

Overall, food insecurity affects 4 million Canadians, the report estimates.

For Tarasuk, those numbers show no province or territory deserves a grade of A or B on food insecurity because so many are still going hungry.

"There is no question food insecurity erodes people's health," she said.

By the time someone is seriously worried about being able to feed themselves and family, chances are they're behind on rent, utility bills and prescription medication.

Regardless of where in the country people are struggling, Tarasuk said other research points to the benefit of interventions to improve the financial circumstances of those at the bottom of the economic spectrum.

The food insecurity situation in P.E.I. hasn't changed in about 10 years, said Colleen Walton, a nutrition researcher at the University of PEI and a member of the province's food security network.

"Parents, especially women, will protect their children, so when you have children living in food-insecure situations and experiencing hunger and poor-quality diets we know that the families are in dire, dire conditions," Walton said. "It's all about money."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's mandate letter for agriculture includes a call for a food policy "that promotes healthy living and safe food by putting more healthy, high-quality food, produced by Canadian ranchers and farmers, on the tables of families across the country."


Comment:

What a lying, sham country this is! The other provinces got "A" levels? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

What about Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or other poverty levels? Not to mention the poverty levels in the east coast, northern BC, on and on ...

Typical cakers: lie about the state of things, self-congratulate and ignore the rot!

I'm disgusted!

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Canadians put Stanley Cup on their money

From the CBC:

"Canadian hockey fans are about to score a new coin to mark the 125th anniversary of the Stanley Cup.  

According to details obtained by CBC News, the 25-cent regular circulation coin will feature an image of the Stanley Cup flanked on the left by a hockey player in period uniform and on the right by a player in a modern day uniform. Above the two players and the cup will be a banner with the inscriptions 1892 and 2017. At the bottom of the coin will be the inscription "125 Years Ans."  

The obverse side will feature the usual image of the Queen by North Vancouver artist Susanna Blunt.  

The Royal Canadian Mint will likely unveil the coin next week.  

"It will be in conjunction with the celebrations of the 125th anniversary of the Stanley Cup," said Alex Reeves, spokesperson for the Mint, who declined to reveal the exact day of the unveiling.  

A tribute organized by a number of groups including the National Hockey League, the Ottawa Senators and Rideau Hall is scheduled to run March 15-18 to mark the 125th anniversary of the most coveted prize in professional hockey."

Cakers are actually putting the Stanley Cup on money! And Ottawa is running a 3 day commemoration event for its 'anniversary'.

Honoring World War I veterans by putting symbols on coins - that I get. But a Stanley Cup? I guess we're just lucky it's on the quarter and not the twoonie. Surprised they didn't consider the Cup more worthy than the veterans for a larger coin!

(The last Canadian team to win a Cup was Montreal in 1993.)

Monarchy and hockey. Pathetic. Next up on our money ... Tim Horton's and the CBC, maybe a homage to our "free" healthcare on the 100 bill.


Here are some comments from readers of the article:

Got it. Let's put a pipeline and a smoke stack on one side, and a selection of small arms and other weaponry we export on the other. Two hallmarks of Canada's valuable contribution to the world. Weapons to conflict zones and tar to the biggest polluters US & China. Yey Canada! We own the podium... yey!! clap, clap..........clap


It may be an anniversary thing, but why is the mint shilling for the NHL? The cup predates the league, but I don't see the point in commemorating a trophy for what is now a multi-billion dollar professional sports league. I'm sure the NHL is happy for the free advertising


Perhaps the mint should hold off on the Stanley Cup version at least until one Canadian team wins it again.


"The reverse side will feature the usual image of the Queen by North Vancouver artist Susanna Blunt." ............................ "this is a busy year for the mint, with plans for a series of coins to mark Canada's 150th anniversary." ................ Time to get out of this archaic colony? Become "Canada" finally? If monarchists must win (they always do), let's put the image of our last "real" link with the crown? Queen Victoria had something to do with this place. Today's "family" is simply sucking in the glory of good old England


Lacrosse was Canada's official national sport until it was forced to share that honour with ice hockey in 1994. The consumption of beer would be awfully close as well. 

Why not have a coin commemorating those activities ?


Good to see. I'd also advocate that we don't do enough to honour our First Nations peoples. I'd really like to see more emphasis on the history of FN people's in Canada and that it be celebrated on items like coins and stamps. 

Example. Francis "Peggy" Pegahmagabow 

This guy was the complete hero that Canada should be recognizing. I'm surprised a movie hasn't been made about this man http://www.canadaatwar.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=2681


 @Rob Mccallum 
The most confusing part for immigrants must be the queen. Did these local Canadians "elect" this monarch that's on their money? (That question should be open to all.) Immigrants paid to enter a democracy and what did they get? Monarchy/democracy is an oxymoron.


Where are the new coins to honour females and female contribution?


How many millions are we spending to pay for these pointless governor generals? How much is the Queen-thing actually costing us? I am so tired of watching this governor general giggle his way into retirement on our dime, for nothing. Schmoozing with Harper for years was also sickening to watch.


A $2 coin called a "Vimy" sounds better than one called a toonie. 
The names given to our $1 and $2 coins, at present, sound more like an animated series of comedy short films than Canadian currency.


The Libs likely wouldn't remove the queen from Canadian currency, but they should. Why do we still honour the medieval principle of "inheriting" whole countries


It's always nice to see glimpses of common sense before they are "down voted" out of viewing. I wasn't kidding, welcome to Canadian "identity": hockey, maple syrup, beavers, a lousy coffee chain and the Queen - who doesn't even live here.

The act of living becomes a tedious chore when done in sad-sack Canada ...

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The day Mackenzie King met the Fuhrer

Article by National Post:


Prime Minister Mackenzie King kept seeing lions.

While on the train from Paris to Berlin in 1937, he saw a lion-shaped cloud facing towards Germany. During a visit to the Berlin Zoo, a zookeeper allowed him to pat a lion cub on the head. While reading the bible aloud, he kept stumbling onto passages that mentioned lions.

“The lion has appeared over and over again,” he wrote in his diary.

For the 62-year-old King, it was as clear a sign as any that his visit with Adolf Hitler was to be the pinnacle of a divine mission to bring peace to an unsettled Europe.

The awkward Canadian leader had long believed that he had been elevated to the prime minister’s office for a higher purpose. And as a holy feeling seemed to enshroud King as he entered the Third Reich, he determined that this meeting with the Fuhrer was it; the pinnacle of his spiritual journey — “the day for which I was born.”

“I imagine, Mr. King, this is the greatest day of your life,” King’s secretary, Edward Pickering, told his visibly enthralled boss.

In reality, he was striding into one of the darkest hours in Canadian diplomatic history. 
Hitler would fool many on his path to orchestrating the Second World War, but few more thoroughly than the envoy of Canada.

“As I talked with him, I could not but think of Joan of Arc,” wrote King in his diary that night.

The entry overflowed with pages of near-infatuation for Hitler. The German leader was “eminently wise,” a “mystic,” a “deliverer of his people from tyranny.”

King went into obsessive detail about Hitler’s background, his vegetarianism, his love of nature, his alleged religiousness. He remembered every detail from the meeting: How Hitler positioned his hands, what he was wearing, his “knowing smile” and his “smooth” skin.

“He is particularly strong on beauty, loves flowers and will spend more of the money of the State on gardens and flowers than on most other things,” said King.

The meeting had opened rather oddly.

King had strode into Hitler’s office and plunked a biography of himself on the Fuhrer’s desk. The prime minister then cracked it open to show Hitler pictures of his childhood home of Berlin, Ontario.

The city was renamed Kitchener during the First World War, but the symbol-obsessed Canadian was trying to prove his fated links to this meeting.

“I said I thought I understood the German people very well,” he wrote later.

The prime minister had been repeatedly doing this with Nazi officials — although all it seemed to do was inspire polite silence.

King would also try to ingratiate himself to German officials by cheerfully mentioning that he represented the riding of North Waterloo — the apparent significance being that it shared the same name as the Belgian battlefield where a combined Anglo-German force had defeated Napoleon.

As the encounter with Hitler had drawn closer, everything around King had seemed to abound with symbolic resonance.

In his diary, King began underlining words such as “pillow” and “links”, contending that they seemed “significant.”

Every bible passage he read seemed to be speaking directly to him.

“For he shall gives his angels charge over thee, and keep thee in all thy ways,” in particular, echoed in his head as he entered the grounds of the Reich Chancellery.

The night before the encounter, he had made sure to sleep under a Mackenzie tartan blanket, and said he felt that “the whole Mackenzie clan were communicating in my diplomatic mission and telling me what to do.”

The racist extremism of the Nazis was no secret when King arrived in the Third Reich. Public book burnings had been staged as early as 1933 and German Jews were being progressively stripped of their property, employment and rights.

Only two months before King’s arrival in Berlin, in fact, the city’s mayor had effectively banned Jewish children from attending public school.

Meanwhile, Germany was rearming. Troops had already marched into the demilitarized Rhineland, openly violating the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

In his own meeting with King, top Nazi Hermann Goering had even openly discussed the Anshcluss, the coming annexation of Austria into the Reich — and the first of many Nazi land grabs.

One of Germany’s bestselling book at the time was Hitler’s autobiographical Mein Kampf, a wildly anti-Semitic tome that was quite explicit in stating Germany’s need to turn east and seize “new land and soil.”

But aside from the rearmament (which Hitler brushed off as a necessary evil that Germany “did not like”), none of this was mentioned in the meeting.

King opened by praising the “constructive work” of Nazi Germany and said he hoped that “nothing would be permitted to destroy that work.”

“It was bound to be followed in other countries to the great advantage of mankind,” King added, according to his diary...

Ultimately, King and Hitler only met for slightly more than an hour. For the Nazi leader, the meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister had been just one appointment among many; a diplomatic nicety shoehorned into a day jammed with briefings and strategy sessions.

But to King, it was a triumph.

The next morning, the prime minister had a “vision” of standing in a beautiful summer field tinged with red roses. At the field’s edge rose the buildings of Parliament Hill, all of which seemed fresher and newer than before.

“The improvement in the buildings was clear — it was a work of reconstruction for which I was responsible,” he wrote.

King had travelled to Berlin just as Canada had begun beefing up its defence budget for fear that they would once again have to fight an increasingly militaristic Germany.

“We have no desire for war; our people don’t want war and we don’t want war,” Hitler told King upon hearing this.

It would be a common Nazi refrain right up until the moment that German troops would begin sweeping through Europe. Everyone from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to U.K. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain would at some point accept the word of Hitler that the German dictator had no dreams of conquest.

But King didn’t just believe Hitler; he called the statement a “real note of humility.”

The German leader then looked the Canadian in the eyes and gave a chilling prediction of what another world war would do to Europe.

“Let us assume a war came. What would it mean?” he said.

Regardless of who won, both sides would lose a generation of men — only to then conquer an enemy whose territory had been completely reduced to ashes.

“We would have obliterated civilization of both countries, indeed of greater part of Europe; all that would be left, would be anarchy,” said Hitler.

As King travelled home to Ottawa via France, he was roughly following the same route that nearly 300,000 Canadian soldiers would soon have to take going the other direction. Of those, more than 40,000 would never return.

When war began to break out in Europe only two years after King’s visit, the prime minister had no illusions about what it would mean.

He envisioned France and the U.K. being turned to rubble, and had a particularly strong mental image of St. Paul’s Cathedral collapsing to the ground. (The London landmark survived World War II).

Meanwhile, he had “no doubt” that Canada wouldn’t escape this world war unscathed. He predicted that Canada’s coasts, harbours and even some of its inland cities would be bombed.

And yet, it would take time for King to understand the Second World War as being the tailor-made creation of the “calm, passive” man he had met in Berlin that summer’s day in 1937.

Even as King ramped up his country for another European war, he wondered whether Poland was to blame for provoking this new war, or whether France and the U.K. had simply been too inflexible with the Third Reich.

“One hardly knows whether to think he was sincere at the time of speaking or not,” wrote King of Hitler on September 6, 1939, the eve of Canada’s declaration of war against Germany.

“He evidently has turned in a completely opposite direction.”

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Sad and depressing: a gallery of letters from Canadian pioneers

This is a copy of a National Post article: ‘Indescribably sad and depressing’: A gallery of letters from Canadian pioneers and immigrants who absolutely hated it here.


If you were born in Canada, chances are good that your family tree contains at least one person who spent much of their life absolutely hating this place.

Despite our treasured national mythos as a promised land of wealth and opportunity, our history is littered with tales of people crying or screaming with anguish after taking their first steps in the True North.

A gallery of examples are included below. While many would learn to thrive in the new country, history books usually leave out the part where the mere sight of Canada sparked utter horror in new immigrants.

“As we sped across Ontario with its rocks, hills and tunnels, we were afraid we were coming to the end of the world. The heart of many a man sank to his heels and the women and children raised such lamentations as defies description.”

 (Ukrainian immigrant Maria Adamowska, describing her train journey west in 1899.)

“I became anxious when I wondered what kind of a person would be here to greet me. He had a good physique like I had seen in his photo, but he was simple-minded. I was so sad — I despaired.”

 Japanese immigrant Ishikawa Yasu, who came to Victoria in the early 20th century as a “picture bride”; a woman paired with a husband in Canada purely through photographs.

— Excerpted from Good Wives and Wise Mothers: Japanese Picture Brides in Early Twentieth Century British Columbia.

“She and the children left her husband. She said: ‘You can keep your Saskatchewan, I’ve had enough!’ She was a beautiful woman. She came from around Montreal. She often came over. She ranted and raved about her husband. ‘Isn’t it appalling of him to bring us to country like this! Freeze … did we freeze!’”

Saskatchewan pioneer Rachel Périgny-Desmarais, describing the departure of a neighbour.

— Excerpted from “Other” Voices: Historical Essays on Saskatchewan Women

“The Canadian prairie with its long winters and impermanent rectangular houses conveys something indescribably sad and depressing.”

Montreal-based German consul Karl Lang in a 1913 report warning fellow Germans against further immigration to Canada.

— Excerpted from A History of Migration from Germany to Canada, 1850-1939.

“I came because my daughter is here and I wanted to be close to here … but I am not happy here … I keep hoping that once I learn the language it will be better for me here. But the language is very hard. Sometimes I just cry because it seems I will never get it into my head.”

 A mid-1970s interview with a Polish immigrant identified as Ludwiga.

— Excerpted from The Immigrants, by Gloria Montero.

“I don’t look lonely, do I? And I’ve been on the land all my life.”

Canadian Minister of Immigration Robert Forke attempting to reassure British journalists in 1927. At the time, many British households were receiving troubling letters from recently immigrated family decrying the loneliness of life in Canada.

“There are all kinds in this army of the disappointed; the thin, peaked-faced, unhealthy-looking east-end Londoner; the brawny man from Battersea; the sallow mechanic; the city tradesman; the clerk.”

From a 1908 report by The Globe describing unemployed British immigrants who had come to Canada with visions of “easy wealth.”

“When it was difficult to find work he would be cross with the children, even with me. I tried to understand the changes in him. I knew he was worried. But one night I couldn’t stand it anymore and I started to scream at him, to scream and to hit him. And you know what he did? He cried. My husband cried like a child.”

A mid-1970s interview with an Ecuadorian immigrant identified as Angelina.

— Excerpted from The Immigrants, by Gloria Montero.

“He will find at first that the travel and change of life will raise his spirits; then will come a period of depression, under the rough task of beginning in a new country, to be followed by the feeling of security of home and subsistence, which is the most solid blessing to a man.”

From an 1873 immigrant guide to British Columbia. That same guide warned women and “men not accustomed to rough work with their hands” to stay away.

“If the people knew what poor emigrants have to go through, there would not be many come to Canada. Though, thank God, I have known none, yet I have seen plenty of their miseries.”

An 1837 letter by an unknown author published in Great Britain to warn away future emigrants to Canada.

“After they landed, Mrs. Patterson used to tell that she leaned her head against a tree, which stood for many a year after, and thought if there was a broken-hearted creature on the face of the earth, she was the one.”

From an 1877 history of Pictou, Nova Scotia describing one of the area’s earliest settlers.

“Three months ago a Hollander committed suicide due to despondency and poverty and there’ll be more … There are a lot here who would very much like to return to Holland.”

A 1928 letter written to a Arnhem, Netherlands newspaper in which Dutch immigrants to Canada attempt to warn others from going to Canada.

“The central government, the provinces, and the railroads are all trying as hard as possible to win immigrants. They distribute brochures that praise Canada to the heavens. Care, particularly with regard to these publications, is strongly urged.”

Another early 20th century German government pamphlet warning its citizens to stay away. This one warned that “the greatest part of Canada is uninhabitable for Europeans.”

— Excerpted from A History of Migration from Germany to Canada, 1850-1939.

“Our host … had written to us to boast of the prosperity he had attained in such a short time. He said that he had a home like a mansion, a large cultivated field, and that his wife was dressed like a lady … How great was our disenchantment when we approached that mansion of his … it was actually just a small log cabin.”

Another entry by 1899 Ukrainian immigrant Maria Adamowska.

Thoughts:

It's not surprising to me to read about how Immigration Canada lied and conned people into coming here, how they hated it and warned others away - as this continues even 100 years later.

I actually felt emotional reading these quotes. Think of how awful Canada is now when we have TV and internet and modern travel! Can you imagine the hell these people endured? I have some idea. I've lived all over Canada: I've lived in its hinterlands; I've grown my own food, gutted animals for food, lived in arctic temperatures requiring snowshoeing; seen old trapper fur cabins, you name it. I know Canada intimately.

Those poor people. There was no escape for them, but thankfully for us in this modern age - escape is possible!

MUST ESCAPE CANADA ............ !

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