History Browser

It's "an especially intimate and heartbreaking reminder of the sorrows of war." This ragged teddy bear, now on display at the Canadian War Museum, accompanied a Canadian medical officer overseas during the First World War. His daughter gave it to him to keep him safe. Sadly, the officer died at Passchendaele and the bear was sent home. As the Canadian War Museum opens its new location in 2005, this CBC-TV report looks at the teddy bear as well as other fascinating items on display at the museum.

Wilfrid Laurier's penchant for compromise allowed him to remain in power for 15 years, earning him the nickname of the "Great Conciliator". But in 1911, this talent proved inadequate to the task of winning elections.

Throughout his career, compromise would remain the main political strategy Laurier used to settle conflicts. A staunch defender of national unity, he was called on to solve a series of major controversies which set Canadians against one another.

Louis Riel was born in Saint Boniface in 1844 and was educated in Montréal. When he returned to the Red River Settlement in 1868, he found the community anxious and divided over its political future.

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier National Historic Site of Canada is located in Saint-Lin-Laurentides, a town 50 km north of Montreal. The site commemorates one of the most important figures in Canadian political history, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the man often referred to as the father of modern Canada.

The Nursing Sisters' Memorial is located in the Hall of Honour in the centre block on Parliament Hill. The sculptor was Mr. G.W. Hill, R.C.A., of Montréal. The completed panel was mounted in the Hall of Honour during the summer of 1926. In the Programme given at the presentation on Parliament Hill, the artist interprets the sculptured panel.

Île aux Noix has been occupied for nearly 6000 years. During the prehistoric period, the region just to the north of the island was visited by Amerindian nomads. Following the arrival of the Europeans, the trade route formed by Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River became the theatre of military activities. However, it was during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) that the island truly earned its place in history books. Website includes a map of the forts of New France.

Excerpt from an interview with Mary Riter Hamilton is accompanied here by paintings. Focuses on what remains standing after the horrors of war. The spirit of hope shows through in a painting entitled "Looking Outwards."

A technically oriented web site describing CFAMS, the computer program for collection management in Canadian Forces (CF) military museums. It is available as shareware for the cost of program duplication. CFAMS has been thoroughly tested and bench-marked to run as a stand-alone database and to accommodate 55 000 records. The classification system incorporated into CFAMS is the Parks Canada Nomenclature military object terminology.

Japanese-Canadian names are added to a Second World War memorial, thus helping to lesson the painful memories of internment, relocation, and prejudice against this minority during the war.