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The Niagara Independent, July 15, 2022 \u2013<\/em> When reflecting on Canadian history these days it seems to be, at best, an exercise of self-flagellation and, at worst, the expunging of historical facts to promote specific narratives. Woke activists are intently, purposefully rewriting Canadian history and their actions are being furthered \u2013 in some cases sponsored \u2013 by the Trudeau Government.<\/p>\n It is the oft quoted George Orwell who wrote, \u201cThe most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.\u201d<\/p>\n And so it has passed with one of Canada\u2019s Founding Fathers of Confederation and first Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, pioneer educator Sir Edger Ryerson, Upper Canada Governor John Graves Simcoe, Halifax founder Lt.-Gen. Edward Cornwallis, as well as Hector-Louis Langevin, Samuel de Champlain, Captain James Cook, Henry Dundas\u2026<\/p>\n Candice Malcolm, founder and editor-in-chief of True North<\/i>, has been a constant critic of the woke refashioning our country\u2019s history. In a 2021 editorial, Malcolm assessed, \u201cAccording to the woke, everyone and everything is viewed through the lens of race, and anyone who doesn\u2019t bow down to the woke mantra gets mobbed, bullied and ultimately canceled. The ultimate goal of the woke mob is to tear down what they call hierarchies of power, essentially dismantling every institution in our society. Canada seems to be ground zero for this new uprising.\u201d<\/p>\n The woke\u2019s revisionism of Canadian history got a huge boost in 2019 when the federal cabinet issued a directive to review and revise historic plaques and monuments nationwide to address concerns of the Canadian legacies of \u201ccolonialism, patriarchy and racism\u201d. Then Environment Minister Catherine McKenna directed more than 2,100 historical designations be inspected to, in her own words, \u201cguide the way history is shaped at Parks Canada places for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n The federal Historic Sites and Monuments Board set about to develop new designations that would \u201caddress conflict and controversy\u201d and \u201cpower dynamics\u201d; \u201cconfront the legacy of colonialism and its impact on Indigenous peoples\u201d; stress \u201cinclusiveness\u201d; and focus on \u201cdiversity of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability and religion.\u201d<\/p>\n As a result of this review, Blacklock\u2019s Reporter<\/i> reveals that a total of 205 plaques and monuments are placed on a blacklist for removal based on \u201cpublic requests\u201d and\/or \u201cidentified as urgent by Indigenous consultants.\u201d A few examples are cited:<\/p>\n Increasingly Canadians learn of the federal government\u2019s obvious attempts at obliterating or revising the country\u2019s history. It was recently revealed that the federal cabinet was responsible for ensuring Canada would not issue commemorative medals in observance of the Queen\u2019s platinum jubilee. Justin Trudeau\u2019s Quebec Lieutenant Pablo Rodriquez, who currently is Canadian Heritage Minister, led a cabinet discussion that nixed jubilee medals to recognize the remarkable longevity of Canada\u2019s Head of State. (Aside from snubbing our Queen, this cabinet decision also prevented Canadians of Commonwealth ancestry any chance to formally celebrate Canada\u2019s British history.)<\/p>\n Earlier this year the news surfaced that Leslie Weir, Canada\u2019s chief archivist, is systematically purging documents from the federal government\u2019s webpages. Weir is rewriting the government\u2019s account of the country\u2019s history, expunging documents that \u201cmay offend people.\u201d Without a definition of \u201coffensive,\u201d more than 7,000 web pages on the Library and Archives Canada website have already been removed. These include references to PM Macdonald and Egerton Ryerson, the War of 1812, and \u201cAnything lacking Indigenous perspectives and\/or that ignores or dismisses the impact of colonialism on First Nations, Inuit and the Metis Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n The Library and Archives Canada website also recently deleted a \u201cHistory of the Prime Ministers of Canada\u201d from its webpages. Weir and her colleagues have labelled this information \u201coutdated and redundant.\u201d<\/p>\n Increasingly, historical references are being removed from the public space. These actions are not restricted to the federal government. For example, the Ontario government removed from the Legislature\u2019s lawn and crated a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald; the Manitoba government will not replace the toppled statue of Queen Victoria at its Legislature; and the BC government approved the Royal BC Museum\u2019s move to close its floor of exhibits dedicated to the early logging and fishery settlers of Canada.<\/p>\n The deliberate revision and removal of our country\u2019s history is occurring in spite of a majority of Canadians who oppose the woke\u2019s actions. A Leger poll conducted in February for Postmedia<\/i> found that 44 per cent want a version of history that relates both \u201cgood and bad.\u201d Another 30 per cent opposed \u201crewriting\u201d history because the people involved \u201cdo not look good by today\u2019s standards.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet, the woke are having a direct impact on how Canadians view their nation\u2019s history. Another 2022 Leger poll, this one completed for the Association for Canadian Studies, found that 51 per cent of Canadians believe Canada was founded by three people: British, French and Indigenous peoples. Furthermore, one in four Canadians under the age of 25 believe Canada was founded solely by Indigenous peoples. This is in spite of the facts that underline the original notions and the evolution of this country\u2019s nation state: the agrarian New France settlement in 1534 and the victorious British conquest of 1763, the establishment and adherence to \u201cpeace, order and good government\u201d, the Confederation agreement, a fledgling Dominion\u2019s proud contributions to WW1 and WW2, etc.<\/p>\n Herein lies the serious issue with the woke activists\u2019 revisionism. It points to an Orwellian fate that will have Canadians\u2019 sense of their origins and core values blurred and confused. Recall that scene in the novel 1984<\/i> when Winston is talking with an old man in a pub about their history before the Revolution: \u201cWithin twenty years at most, he reflected, the huge and simple question \u2018Was life better before the Revolution than it is now?\u2019 would have ceased once and for all to be answerable.\u201d<\/p>\n And so it has appeared to have passed with Sir John A., and so it may pass with Canada.<\/p>\n Chris George<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of\u00a0CG&A COMMUNICATIONS<\/a>. Contact:\u00a0ChrisG.George@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n