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Canada’s Overlooked History of Slavery

Published

1 month ago

August 7, 2024

The issue of slavery in Canada has often been overlooked by historians and society. Substantive recognition of this dark chapter did not begin until the 1960s. Slavery was actively practiced in New France, in both the St. Lawrence Valley and Louisiana, affecting the lives of thousands of men, women, and children of Aboriginal and African descent over nearly two centuries.

Slavery was introduced to New France in stages. The first recorded slave, a young boy from Madagascar or Guinea, arrived with the Kirke brothers in 1629. Before leaving Quebec three years later, they sold him for 50 écus. The boy, named Olivier Le Jeune by his new master Guillaume Couillard, was described as Couillard’s “domestique” (servant) in the record of his burial in 1654, suggesting he might have been manumitted.

Black slaves began arriving in Canada towards the end of the 17th century. Despite the colonial officials’ repeated desires to import African slaves, no slave ship ever reached the St. Lawrence Valley. Black slaves arrived from neighbouring British colonies, smuggled or taken as war captives, or brought back by Canadian merchants from business trips to the south, in Louisiana or the French Caribbean.

Contrary to common perception, the majority of slaves in Canada were of Aboriginal, not African, origin. Native populations had a tradition of subjugating war captives before the arrival of the French. This practice acquired new meanings and proportions with Western expansion. From the 1670s, the French began receiving captives from their Aboriginal partners during commercial and diplomatic exchanges. The Illinois were notorious for their raids against southeastern nations, from which they brought back captives. By the early 18th century, the practice of buying and selling these captives as merchandise was established.

The ethnic origin of Aboriginal slaves is sometimes specified in period documents. They included Foxes and Sioux from the western Great Lakes, Inuit from Labrador, Chickasaws from the Mississippi Valley, Apaches from the American southeast, and especially “Panis.” The term “Panis” was initially used to refer to the Pawnees, a nation in the Missouri River basin heavily targeted by the allies of the French. However, it quickly became a generic term for any Aboriginal slave, regardless of their actual origin.

In contrast, in Louisiana, Aboriginal slaves were harder to acquire and retain in bondage. Colonists, particularly planters, preferred African slaves, whom they judged more suited for working in indigo and tobacco fields. The African slave trade in Louisiana began in 1719.

Slavery in New France was regulated by various laws and customs. Masters had almost absolute control over their slaves, who had few legal protections. Slaves were considered property and could be bought, sold, and inherited. The Code Noir, a set of laws governing the treatment of slaves, was applied to a limited extent in New France, providing some guidelines for their treatment but often ignored in practice.

The slave population in New France was relatively small compared to other parts of the Americas. Estimates suggest that there were about 4,200 slaves in Canada by the end of the 18th century, with Aboriginal slaves outnumbering African slaves. Slave ownership was concentrated among the wealthy elite, including government officials, merchants, and clergy. Many slaves worked as domestic servants, laborers, or skilled craftsmen.

Slaves in Canada lived and worked under harsh conditions. They were often subjected to physical punishment, hard labor, and poor living conditions. Their diet was basic, and medical care was minimal. Despite these hardships, some slaves formed close relationships with their masters and fellow slaves, creating a sense of community and resilience.

The relationship between slaves and their masters varied. Some masters treated their slaves with a degree of humanity, providing for their basic needs and allowing them some autonomy. Others were brutal, inflicting severe punishments and exploiting their labor. Slaves could be subjected to sexual abuse, and their marriages and family bonds were often not recognized or respected.

Manumission, or the freeing of slaves, was relatively rare in Canada. Some slaves were able to buy their freedom or were freed by their masters for various reasons, including acts of loyalty or religious conversion. Free Black and Aboriginal individuals often faced significant discrimination and limited opportunities for economic advancement.

The abolition of slavery in Canada was a gradual process. The British Empire’s Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807 ended the transatlantic slave trade, but it was not until the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 that slavery was officially abolished throughout the British Empire, including Canada. By that time, the institution had already been in decline due to economic changes and growing anti-slavery sentiment.

The history of slavery in Canada is a complex and often overlooked chapter in the nation’s past. It involved the exploitation and suffering of thousands of Aboriginal and African individuals. Recognizing this history is essential for understanding the broader context of racial relations and social justice in Canada today.

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Two youths arrested after emergency alert issued in New Brunswick

Published

2 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONCTON, N.B. – New Brunswick RCMP say two youths have been arrested after an emergency alert was issued Monday evening about someone carrying a gun in the province’s southeast.

Caledonia Region Mounties say they were first called out to Main Street in the community of Salisbury around 7 p.m. on reports of a shooting.

A 48-year-old man was found at the scene suffering from gunshot wounds and he was rushed to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police say in the interest of public safety, they issued an Alert Ready message at 8:15 p.m. for someone driving a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck and reportedly carrying a firearm with dangerous intent in the Salisbury and Moncton area.

Two youths were arrested without incident later in the evening in Salisbury, and the alert was cancelled just after midnight Tuesday.

Police are still looking for the silver pickup truck, covered in mud, with possible Nova Scotia licence plate HDC 958. They now confirm the truck was stolen from Central Blissville.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

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World Junior Girls Golf Championship coming to Toronto-area golf course

Published

3 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Golf Canada has set an impressive stretch goal of having 30 professional golfers at the highest levels of the sport by 2032.

The World Junior Girls Golf Championship is a huge part of that target.

Credit Valley Golf and Country Club will host the international tournament from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5, with 24 teams representing 23 nations — Canada gets two squads — competing. Lindsay McGrath, a 17-year-old golfer from Oakville, Ont., said she’s excited to be representing Canada and continue to develop her game.

“I’m really grateful to be here,” said McGrath on Monday after a news conference in Credit Valley’s clubhouse in Mississauga, Ont. “It’s just such an awesome feeling being here and representing our country, wearing all the logos and being on Team Canada.

“I’ve always wanted to play in this tournament, so it’s really special to me.”

McGrath will be joined by Nobelle Park of Oakville, Ont., and Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta., on Team Canada 2. All three earned their places through a qualifying tournament last month.

“I love my teammates so much,” said McGrath. “I know Nobelle and Eileen very well. I’m just so excited to be with them. We have such a great relationship.”

Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont., Calgary’s Aphrodite Deng and Clairey Lin make up Team Canada 2. Liu earned her exemption following her win at the 2024 Canadian Junior Girls Championship while Deng earned her exemption as being the low eligible Canadian on the world amateur golf ranking as of Aug. 7.

Deng was No. 175 at the time, she has since improved to No. 171 and is Canada’s lowest-ranked player.

“I think it’s a really great opportunity,” said Liu. “We don’t really get that many opportunities to play with people from across the world, so it’s really great to meet new people and play with them.

“It’s great to see maybe how they play and take parts from their game that we might also implement our own games.”

Golf Canada founded the World Junior Girls Golf Championship in 2014 to fill a void in women’s international competition and help grow its own homegrown talent. The hosts won for the first time last year when Vancouver’s Anna Huang, Toronto’s Vanessa Borovilos and Vancouver’s Vanessa Zhang won team gold and Huang earned individual silver.

Medallists who have gone on to win on the LPGA Tour include Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., who was fourth in the individual competition at the inaugural tournament. She was on Canada’s bronze-medal team in 2014 with Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont., and Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee.

Other notable competitors who went on to become LPGA Tour winners include Angel Yin and Megan Khang of the United States, as well as Yuka Saso of the Philippines, Sweden’s Linn Grant and Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand.

“It’s not if, it’s when they’re going to be on the LPGA Tour,” said Garrett Ball, Golf Canada’s chief operating officer, of how Canada’s golfers in the World Junior Girls Championship can be part of the organization’s goal to have 30 pros in the LPGA and PGA Tours by 2032.

“Events like this, like the She Plays Golf festival that we launched two years ago, and then the CPKC Women’s Open exemptions that we utilize to bring in our national team athletes and get the experience has been important in that pathway.”

The individual winner of the World Junior Girls Golf Championship will earn a berth in next year’s CPKC Women’s Open at nearby Mississaugua Golf and Country Club.

Both clubs, as well as former RBC Canadian Open host site Glen Abbey Golf Club, were devastated by heavy rains through June and July as the Greater Toronto Area had its wettest summer in recorded history.

Jason Hanna, the chief operating officer of Credit Valley Golf and Country Club, said that he has seen the Credit River flood so badly that it affected the course’s playability a handful of times over his nearly two decades with the club.

Staff and members alike came together to clean up the course after the flooding was over, with hundreds of people coming together to make the club playable again.

“You had to show up, bring your own rake, bring your own shovel, bring your own gloves, and then we’d take them down to the golf course, assign them to areas where they would work, and then we would do a big barbecue down at the halfway house,” said Hanna. “We got guys, like, 80 years old, putting in eight-hour days down there, working away.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

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Purple place: Mets unveil the new Grimace seat at Citi Field

Published

3 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK (AP) — Fenway Park has the Ted Williams seat. And now Citi Field has the Grimace seat.

The kid-friendly McDonald’s character made another appearance at the ballpark Monday, when the New York Mets unveiled a commemorative purple seat in section 302 to honor “his special connection to Mets fans.”

Wearing his pear-shaped purple costume and a baseball glove on backwards, Grimace threw out a funny-looking first pitch — as best he could with those furry fingers and short arms — before New York beat the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on June 12.

That victory began a seven-game winning streak, and Grimace the Mets’ good-luck charm soon went viral, taking on a life of its own online.

New York is 53-31 since June 12, the best record in the majors during that span. The Mets were tied with rival Atlanta for the last National League playoff spot as they opened their final homestand of the season Monday night against Washington.

The new Grimace seat in the second deck in right field — located in row 6, seat 12 to signify 6/12 on the calendar — was brought into the Shannon Forde press conference room Monday afternoon. The character posed next to the chair and with fans who strolled into the room.

The seat is available for purchase for each of the Mets’ remaining home games.

“It’s been great to see how our fanbase created the Grimace phenomenon following his first pitch in June and in the months since,” Mets senior vice president of partnerships Brenden Mallette said in a news release. “As we explored how to further capture the magic of this moment and celebrate our new celebrity fan, installing a commemorative seat ahead of fan appreciation weekend felt like the perfect way to give something back to the fans in a fun and unique way.”

Up in Boston, the famous Ted Williams seat is painted bright red among rows of green chairs deep in the right-field stands at Fenway Park to mark where a reported 502-foot homer hit by the Hall of Fame slugger landed in June 1946.

So, does this catapult Grimace into Splendid Splinter territory?

“I don’t know if we put him on the same level,” Mets executive vice president and chief marketing officer Andy Goldberg said with a grin.

“It’s just been a fun year, and at the same time, we’ve been playing great ball. Ever since the end of May, we have been crushing it,” he explained. “So I think that added to the mystique.”

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