Monthly Archives: April 2021

April events overload! Psychedelics, Native languages, & Canada’s wartime history

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An item from one of our fellow Canadian organizations in the Bay Area.  And thanks to the folks at the Canadian Studies Program at Berkeley for helping to promote our event.
Canadian Studies Announcements
In this issue:
  • Next Week: “Canada’s Role in a Psychedelic Renaissance”, feat. Erika Dyck
  • Watch our recent healthcare panel online!
  • Co-sponsored event: Mohawk language revitalization with Kahtehrón:ni Stacey
  • Earth Day activities with a Canadian focus
  • External event: Canada and the Korean War, 70 years on
  • External event: Bay Area ANZAC Day commemoration
  • External event: Western Washington U celebrates 50 years of Canadian Studies
Next Week
Psychedelics, Eh? Canada’s Role in a Psychedelic Renaissance
April 27 | 12:30 p.m. | RSVP here
In the 1950’s, the Canadian province of Saskatchewan was on the cutting edge of research into hallucinogenic drugs. Under the province’s massive healthcare reforms, researchers received grants to pursue LSD treatments they thought could revolutionize psychiatry. What do these experiments say about Canada’s healthcare system and society at the time? And what can we learn from the program’s successes and failures at a time when psychedelics are attracting renewed scientific and public interest?
Erika Dyck is the Canada Research Chair in the History of Health & Social Justice at the University of Saskatchewan. She specializes in the history of psychiatry, and has written several books on the history of psychedelic research and eugenics in Canada. She is the author of Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD from Clinic to Campus (Johns Hopkins University Press), which covers the complex history of LSD in North America.
This event is co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics.
Watch Our Recent Healthcare Panel Online!
Did you miss our April 6 panel on healthcare in the US and Canada, featuring Planet Money co-host Amanda Aronczyk and University of Toronto professor Gregory Marchildon? Don’t worry – thanks to our partners at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, you can now watch the event on YouTube here! Find out why Canada’s health system has such a polarized reputation in the US, how the system really works, and what lessons the US could take from the Canadian experience.
Image: Woman protests for healthcare reform in Connecticut, 2009. Credit: Sage Ross on Wikimedia Commons.
Co-sponsored Event
Indigenous Language Revitalization with Kahtehrón:ni Stacey
April 28 | 4:00 p.m. | RSVP here
The UC Berkeley Language Revitalization Working Group, in cooperation with the Canadian Studies Program, will host Indigenous language specialist Kahtehrón:ni Stacey to discuss her work with the Mohawk language in Canada. Stacey is an expert in language revitalization, particularly among adult second language learners, and has worked as a curriculum consultant for Kanien’kéha education at the Kahnawà:ke Education Center in Quebec since 2015.
Stacey received her masters’ degree in indigenous languages revitalization from the University of Victoria in 2016, while maintaining her role at the KEC. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in education at McGill University, which awarded her its prestigious Vanier Scholarship in 2018. Her research investigates approaches for adult language learners in achieving mastery proficiency, and explores approaches to collaboratively develop a path for other advanced language learners to follow.
Please email Martha Schwarz to RSVP and receive a meeting link.
Earth Day 2021
April 22 – Events happening all week
First launched in 1970 and officially celebrated in Canada since 1980, Earth Day is a global celebration aimed at promoting environmental protection and conservation. Find ways you can get involved through lectures, activities, and events with a Canadian focus by visiting earthday.ca.
Image: Magpie River, Quebec by The Canadian Press/HO-Boreal River
Affiliate/External Events
Canada and the Korean War: A Forgotten Ally in a Forgotten War
April 22 | 12:30 p.m. PT | RSVP here
Almost 30,000 Canadians fought in the Korean War, helping to protect the Republic of Korea (South Korea) from repeated North Korean and Chinese encroachments south of the 38th Parallel. Although often overlooked or forgotten, the war is a key chapter in the US-Canada relationship, in Canada’s modern military history, and in the record of Canada’s engagement with multilateral and collective security institutions.
On the seventieth anniversary of one of the most notable episodes of Canadian involvement in the Korean War, the Battle of Kapyong, the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute and History and Public Policy Program are bringing together three leading specialists in Canada’s diplomatic and military history to examine the Canadian experience of this devastating conflict. What domestic and international forces drove Canada to participate in the UN intervention in Korea? How did the war shape or reshape the US-Canada relationship? How did Canadian soldiers experience the conflict? And finally, how is the Korean War remembered in Canada today?
Speakers include Dr. Meghan Fitzpatrick of Defence Research and Development Canada; Dr. Jack Cunningham of the University of Toronto; and Dr. Andrew Burtch of the Canadian War Museum.
ANZAC Day 2021 Commemoration
April 25 | 10:00 a.m. PT | RSVP here
ANZAC Day commemorates the anniversary of the costly Allied landings at the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. While the main Allied combatants were from Australia and New Zealand, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment also participated in the campaign – the only North American unit to do so.
US Branch 25 of the Royal Canadian Legion is partnering with the Australian American Chamber of Commerce and the New Zealand American Association of San Francisco to stream a small ANZAC Day service from Hero’s Grove in Golden Gate National Park. Please RSVP above to attend.
Book Talk: Bridging the Longest Border with Dr. Donald Alper
April 29 | 7:00 p.m. PT | RSVP here
As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, Western Washington University’s Center for Canadian-American Studies is sponsoring a talk by Dr. Don Alper on his new book, “Bridging the Longest Border”. The book is a story of how a handful of visionaries built a program at Western Washington University to educate students and community leaders about Canada. While not a history lesson, this book traces the journey of creating a place for developing knowledge about this important country just a stone’s throw away.
Dr. Alper is an emeritus professor of political science at Western Washington University, and the former director of Western’s Center for Canadian–American Studies and the Border Policy Research Institute. Known nationally for his advancement of Canadian Studies in the United States, he has taught courses on Canadian politics and Canada-U.S. relations for more than 40 years. Don Alper will be joined in conversation with Cat Wallace, journalism instructor at Whatcom Community College and editor.
Canadian Studies Program
213 Moses Hall #2308
Canadian Studies Program | Univ. of California, Berkeley, 213 Moses Hall #2308, Berkeley, CA 94720

90th Anniversary Challenge Coin Design Competition

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In the lead up to our 90th anniversary on August 12, 2021 we have been exploring ways to provide some form of commemoration of this milestone for our membership.  Other branches have undertaken everything from t-shirts and jackets to ball caps to lapel pins and buttons to cookbooks to ceremonial plates and spoons – even matchbooks and ashtrays.  For example, this is a throwback lapel pin from Branch 25.

Many will recall that last year we produced a challenge coin to mark an occasion.  In 1995, Branch 25 of the Royal Canadian Legion began its affiliation with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps Arkansas Division.  In his initial proposal to the branch, Comrade Fred Rutledge wrote that the relationship between the two organizations was natural, as it was quite common for Legion branches in Canada to sponsor a local cadet corps.  At the time, then Commanding Officer Lt. Lee Smith wrote that this affiliation would assist the cadets in participating to the fullest in the many training opportunities available to them.  To commemorate that anniversary, Branch #25 sponsored a competition to design a challenge coin that reflected this 25th anniversary, as well as both Branch 25 of the Royal Canadian Legion and the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps Arkansas Division.

Branch 25 is currently sponsoring a competition for the design of a 90th anniversary challenge coin. To providing you with some inspiration, below are example of existing Royal Canadian Legion challenge coins.

 

Over the years, there have been branches of the Royal Canadian Legion in Oakland, Sacramento, Alameda, Redwood City, Petaluma, Berkeley, Hayward, Santa Cruz, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and San Francisco.  Today, only the branch in San Francisco remains.  However, as branches ceased to exist the San Francisco branch assumed responsibility for their members and commitments – including maintaining and honouring the plots with Canadian and British veterans at Liberty Cemetery in Petaluma and Greenlawn Cemetery in Colma.

So submit your design of a 90th anniversary challenge coin to commemorate the occasion and recognize our history to mkbarbour-at-gmail.com

 

Please RSVP – Upcoming Veterans Affairs Canada virtual panel – Remembrance in a digital age / Veuillez confirmer votre participation – Discussion virtuelle d’Anciens Combattants Canada – La commémoration à l’ère numérique

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This event from Veterans Affairs Canada may be of interest to some of our members.

Le français suit.

Remembering the brave Canadians who have put their lives on the line defending peace and freedom is as important as ever. Yet how we commemorate our Veterans’ service and sacrifice is changing. While monuments and ceremonies will always have their place, we have to evolve our commemorative activities to embrace more digital tools and spaces if we want to truly engage with Canadians.

Join us at 12:00 PM ET on 29 April 2021 for a one-hour virtual panel discussion on the future of commemoration in Canada. This time we will be talking about remembrance in the digital age.

Panelists will be:

The discussion will be moderated by Anthony Wilson-Smith from Historica Canada.

To register, please email us at vac.education-education.acc@veterans.gc.ca and include the following:

  • Language preference for the session (English, French or bilingual)
  • Any questions you have for the panelists

You have until April 23 to RSVP. If you are not able to watch the live event, the session will also be available for later viewing on our website.

We invite you to share this message with your network or anyone you think would be interested.

Thank you,

Veterans Affairs Canada

***********************************************

Il n’a jamais été aussi important de se souvenir des braves Canadiens et Canadiennes qui ont risqué leur vie pour défendre la paix et la liberté. Toutefois, la façon dont nous commémorons le service et les sacrifices de nos vétérans évolue. S’il est vrai que les monuments et les cérémonies auront toujours leur place, nous devons moderniser nos activités commémoratives afin de tirer profit des outils et des espaces numériques et, ainsi, de mobiliser pleinement la population canadienne.

Joignez-vous à nous le 29 avril 2021 à 12 h (HE) pour une discussion virtuelle d’une heure sur l’avenir de la commémoration au Canada. Le thème de la discussion sera la commémoration à l’ère numérique.

Voici les panélistes :

La discussion sera animée par Anthony Wilson-Smith de Historica Canada.

Pour vous inscrire, veuillez nous écrire au vac.education-education.acc@veterans.gc.ca et fournir les renseignements suivants :

  • Votre langue de préférence pour le déroulement de la rencontre (français, anglais ou bilingue)
  • Toute question que vous aimeriez poser aux panélistes

Vous avez jusqu’au 23 avril pour confirmer votre participation. Si vous ne pouvez pas participer, ne vous en faites pas, la discussion sera enregistrée et disponible sur notre site Web.

Nous vous invitons à partager ce message aux membres de votre réseau ou à quiconque pourrait être intéressé.

Merci,

Anciens Combattants Canada