Canadian History Ehx
Episodes
The Queen of the Hurricanes: Elsie MacGill
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
She was the first female aeronautical engineer in Canada, and a leader in her industry. She would be help get the Hurricane aircraft off the ground an...
Logtown to Capital: How Ottawa Became The Capital
28 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It was once in a logging town in the middle of the frontier, before it eventually became the capital of the second-largest country on the planet. It i...
A Historic Injustice: Big Bear
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
He was born the son of a chief, and he would rise up to become one of the leading Cree in the Canadian Prairies. The last to sign Treaty 6, and only ...
Exploring The West: The Palliser Expedition
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From 1857 to 1859, five men set out from the Red River area and began exploring and surveying the Canadian West. Their surveys would help lead the rai...
An Interview With Baltej Dhillon
22 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Back in 1989, Baltej Singh Dhillon made national news as a cadet with the RCMP in Regina. After passing all the entrance requirements, Dhillon faced t...
A Century Of Conflict: The Beaver Wars
21 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For nearly 100 years, through the entire 17th Century, the Iroquois Confederacy expanded on its territory through the use of European guns in an effor...
The War Hero: Laura Secord
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With her husband recovering from a war wound, and Americans staying in her home, Secord would overhear battle plans and venture out on a 32-kilometre ...
A National Treasure: When The Grey Cup Was Stolen
14 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Next to the Stanley Cup, no trophy in Canada is more important than the Grey Cup. It is the symbol of football supremacy in our country, and the Grey...
An Interview with An Irish Heart Author Sharon Doyle Driedger
13 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today, a special episode of the podcast. At Christmas, my wife bought me the excellent book An Irish Heart by Sharon Doyle Driedger, which chronicles ...
The 1837-38 Canada Rebellions
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion and the 1838 Upper Canada Rebellion were significant events in our history, even if they are lost to history 200 years...
Placing Blame: The Fire At Parliament Hill
09 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On Feb. 3, 1916, a fire erupted during a session of the House of Commons. Within a few hours, the building was engulfed and the tower had collapsed. S...
Bringing Hate: The KKK In The Prairies
07 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For a brief few years, the KKK was found throughout Canada, with limited success to its efforts except in Saskatchewan. In Saskatchewan, the Klu Klux...
A Short But Influential Career: Harriet Brooks
02 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Harriet Brooks, the first female nuclear physicist in Canadian history, would go on to revolutionize nuclear science before choosing to end her career...
A First World War Hero: Francis Pegahmagabow
29 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
He was a highly-decorated Indigenous soldier who served the entire length of the First World War. He is credited with more sniper kills than any soldi...
A Thriving Community Lost: Africville
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There was a community that existed for 150 years right next to Halifax. The black village of Africville dealt with racism, indifference from Halifax a...
No More Sirs: Canada And Knighthoods
24 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why is John A. Macdonald knighted for serving as PM for 18 years, but John Tupper, who served for 68 days, also knighted? Why don’t we see knightho...
Death In Canada: The Spanish Flu
22 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 1918, as the First World War began to come to an end, a new threat arrived on the shores of Canada. It was the Spanish Flu and by the time it burn...
The Greatest Canadian: Sir Frederick Banting
21 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A few weeks ago we decided to find out, out of 32 individuals, who listeners thought should be on the new $5 bill. The overwhelming choice was Sir Fre...
No Press Freedom: Bible Bill And The Alberta Press Act
17 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Way back in 1937, Bill Bill Aberhart, the premier of Alberta, attempted to deal with the press that he saw as unfair. He would implement an act that w...
52 Long Days: The First Cross-Canada Drive
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It was in 1912 when two men, who hated each other, took a 52 day trip across the country. Becoming the first to cross Canada by car was no easy task. ...
A Century Of Demise: The Bison In Canada
10 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Once, the bison in North America could circle the Earth 1.3 times, but within a few decades, they couldn’t circle a city block. This is the story of...
A Pivotal Battle: The Battle of Saint Eustache
08 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It was a decisive battle in the 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion, and it would result in a literal massacre at a church by the British. It was a battle th...
Before Confederation: The Province of Canada
03 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we know all the provinces but there was a time where only one province existed...the Province of Canada. During its existence it would see open...
Changing Alberta: Leduc No. 1
01 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Prior to 1947, Canada produced 1/10th of the oil that it used domestically. Alberta was a have-not province, and Imperial Oil decided to drill one mor...
The Greatest Chin In Boxing: George Chuvalo
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
He was never knocked out, he took Muhammad Ali the distance twice and was called “the toughest guy I ever fought” by Ali. He is George Chuvalo, an...
Prairie Sentinels: The Grain Elevators
27 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
They once numbered over 5,000 and dotted the landscape of the Canadian Prairies. Today, less than 500 remain and fewer survive each year. The grain e...
A Pivotal Moment: The Winnipeg General Strike
24 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It was the largest strike in Canadian history, and it involved 35,000 people from nearly every industry in the City of Winnipeg. It would last for wee...
A Legendary Albertan: John Ware
20 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
He was born into slavery but by the time of his death in 1905, he would become a legend of the Canadian West and one of the most respected men Calgary...
Where It Started: The Origins Of Tim Hortons
19 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It is a coffee shop that is part of Canadiana. Love them or hate them, there is no denying the impact Tim Hortons has had on Canada. In today’s epis...
A Groundbreaking Journalist: Kit Coleman
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Kit Coleman was the first female war correspondent in the world, the first syndicated Canadian columnist and one of the most popular journalists of th...
Changing Measurements: Canada Goes Metric
10 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 1970, Canada made the decision to ditch Imperial measurements and go metric. If you think the carbon tax was a hot button issue, then the metric s...
A Brief Country: The Republic of Canada
06 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
While Canada is a constitutional monarchy today with a parliament, there was a brief Republic of Canada for a few months in 1837 and 1838. Its story ...
An Engineering Marvel: The Victoria Bridge
03 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Once called the Eighth Wonder of the World, and for a time, the longest bridge in the world, the building of Victoria Bridge was a monumental effort i...
Gold and Death: The Fraser Canyon War
01 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We don’t think of Canada as a place where a lot of wars have been fought, but this isn’t the case. Canada has seen several wars, including the Fra...
A Legendary Pilot: Wop May
30 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
He was there when the Red Baron was shot down, saved hundreds of lives in the Race Against Death, participated in The Hunt for the Mad Trapper and abo...
Monsters And More: Magog, Quebec
20 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Magog and its history dates back over 200 years, all thanks to the American Revolutionary War. Along the way since then, they have had some great peop...
The Terribly Planned 1874 NWMP March West
18 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It started off as a plan to get 300 NWMP officers to the Canadian west to bring law and order. It became a legendary ordeal for those officers and rec...
The Race Against Death: Saving Lives In Alberta
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It was the winter of 1929, fears of a diphtheria epidemic were high as a man had been diagnosed with the contagious disease. With no means of communic...
The Mining Years Of Bruce Mines
13 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The first town in northern Ontario, and the second copper-mine town in North America, Bruce Mines had a brief but thriving mining industry for 30 year...
The Mad Canadian: Ken Carter
09 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The subject of the documentary Devil At Your Heels, Daredevil Ken Carter made a name for himself jumping cars. He tried to become the world’s greate...
The War Reaches Canada: The Battle of the St. Lawrence
04 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For two years, U-boats patrolled the inland Canadian waterway of the St. Lawrence River. During that time, they would sink multiple ships, take the li...
No Margarine For You: The Canadian Ban
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For roughly half a century, margarine was a no-go in Canada. With the dairy industry successfully lobbying the federal government to keep margarine of...
Amber Valley: Grit and Determination
29 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
From 1909 to 1911, 1,000 African-Americans came from the American South to Alberta and Saskatchewan. Before racist attitudes closed the door on the im...
An Epic Operation: Canada and the Coronation
25 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1952 was a huge moment for the 20th century. It was also a big moment for Canada as a member of the Commonwealth,...
The Confederation Train
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
During Canada’s Centennial in 1967, the Confederation Train took Canada’s history to dozens of cities and hundreds of thousands of Canadians. Over...
The Rise and Fall: Eaton’s And Canada
13 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It was the largest department store chain in Canada, and a defining part of our culture, and then it was gone. This is the story of the rise and fall...
George Dixon
11 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Considered to be the greatest featherweight boxer in history, and the first black person to win a world championship, George Dixon was a marvel of ath...
A Celebration Of Great Canadian Moustaches
04 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Going through Canadian history, there have been many great moustaches. From the neat and tidy moustache of Sir Robert Borden, to the wild moustache of...
A History Of Western Separation Movements
30 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Since Confederation, provinces have been trying to leave Canada. These days, western or Alberta separation seems to be the hot-button topic but not on...
The Alberta Rat Patrol
28 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you look at a large map of the distribution of brown and black rats, you will see they cover the planet. You will also see a large Alberta-shaped s...
Blairmore’s Communist Council
21 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The thought of a Communist-led town council seems very unlikely today, but for a period of three years in the 1930s, Blairmore, Alberta had one such c...
Joseph Montferrand
14 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Joseph Montferrand was a man of exceptional strength and moral code who became a hero to the French-Canadian loggers he worked with. Today, he has bec...
The Sunnyslope Shelter
07 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s brief look at various aspects of Canadian history, I explore the Sunnyslope Shelter. This small dugout in the middle of a field in Centra...
The Pemmican War
30 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After a two week break, I come back to Canadian history and a look at a war fought between two fur trading companies that few people know about: The P...
Eddie Panagabko
13 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
He spent part of a season with the Boston Bruins, and then went on to have success in the WHL on a team that would eventually make its own way into th...
The Matchless Six
09 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s short look at Canada’s history, I dive into the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam and tell the story of the Matchless Six. In a time when som...
Johnny Quilty
06 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
He was on his way to NHL stardom after winning the Calder Trophy as the best rookie in the NHL. Unfortunately, the Second World War and a horrific on-...
Canada's Titanic: The Empress of Ireland
02 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When the Empress of Ireland sunk beneath the waves of the St. Lawrence River in 1914, the disaster killed nearly as many people as the Titanic. Not a...
Don McLeod
30 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
He was a goalie who could defeat Bobby Orr in the Memorial Cup, but he only played 18 games in the NHL for two teams. Nonetheless, Don McLeod would ...
How The Provinces Were Named
26 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
From British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador each province and territory has a unique story to tell with its name. In this episode of Penny Siz...
Hal Winkler
23 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If he was born a few years earlier, or a few years later, Hal Winkler would probably be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, his career lasted o...
Changing The Game: The North West Company
21 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For her entire adult life, Madeleine Parent fought for workers right in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. For her efforts, she was jailed, put on trial ...
Israel Umbach And The Stony Plain Chained Train
19 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 1907, the CNR wasn't paying its taxes and Stony Plain sheriff Israel Umbach had enough. With a chain and a padlock, he would ensure the company pai...
Jack Leswick
16 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Jack Leswick was one of three brothers from Humboldt to make the NHL. He was a star of various leagues before making the jump to the Chicago Black Haw...
The Mythical Voyage of Henry Sinclair
12 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Three centuries after the Vikings and a century before Cabot, did a man by the name of Henry Sinclair land in Nova Scotia? The evidence is sketchy but...
Small Town Hockey Heroes: Ron Boehm
11 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In my first episode in the Small Town Hockey Heroes, I am looking at Ron Boehm. Born in Allan, Saskatchewan, Ron Boehm would play hockey throughout Ca...
The Cascadia Earthquake
05 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It was an earthquake that shook 1,000 kilometres of land, registered 9 on the Richter Scale and sent a 10-foot-high tsunami towards Japan on Jan. 26, ...
A Legend In Song: The Mystery of Bill Barilko
17 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Every Canadian knows the song about him, and the myth surrounding him, but who was Bill Barilko? Where did the man who scored the winning goal for Tor...
The Champlain Sea
10 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For a brief period of time, about 3,000 years, there was an entire sea in the confines of Canada, and the United States. In my new short-form history...
Canada's Own Prohibition Era
07 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
While the American Prohibition Era gets much more attention, Canada had various levels of prohibition before the United States did, from the municipal...
The Fate Of Henry Hudson
27 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
He was one of the greatest explorers of the New World, with several geographical locations named for him. Unfortunately, he, along with seven of his c...
School's Out For Gopher Day In Saskatchewan
20 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On May 1, 1917, thousands of children from hundreds of school were given the day off. Why? To kill 500,000 gophers in a governmental effort to rid the...
A Terrible Tragedy: The Lost NWMP Patrol of 1911
09 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On Dec. 21, 1911, four men set out on a journey from Fort McPherson to Dawson City. None of the men, nor their dogs, would ever make the destination. ...
The Battle of Hudson Bay
03 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It was the largest Arctic naval battle in North American history, and it was fought on the shores of Hudson Bay hundreds of years ago. This battle is ...
When The Newton Boys Terrorized Saskatchewan
01 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first episode of the podcast. It is rough. Enjoy! For a period of time in 1922, small towns in Saskatchewan were under the gun from an out...