The Nations of Canada

1917.  A revolution in China (partially funded by contributions from British Columbia) upends life for Chinese-Canadians.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1917.  With Black Canadians rejected at recruiting offices in suspiciously high numbers, a campaign emerges to form a distinctly black unit within the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1917. After touring the battlefield at Vimy, Prime Minister Robert Borden determines that conscription is necessary to maintain the Canadian Corps, sparking Canada's most divisive debate since Confederation.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

Spring 1917.  All four divisions of the Canadian Corps work together for the first time, demonstrating a distinctively Canadian approach to the conundrum of trench warfare at Vimy Ridge.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1916  Faced with war-time budget cuts, the Commissioner of Canada's National Parks system, James Harkin, sees an opportunity in labour provided by interned enemy aliens.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1916.  The residents of Berlin, Ontario face the challenge of being German-Canadians in a nation mobilized for war against Germany.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1916.  After two years (and intense study of battlefield conditions), the Canadian Expeditionary Force begins its evolution from colonial auxiliary to vanguard of the British Imperial Army.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1916. The Newfoundland Regiment finds itself at the centre of the worst day in the history of the British Army.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1916.  As the Canadian Expeditionary Force matures, its soldiers, officers, and (eventually) the politicians back in Ottawa come to realize it has outgrown its erratic creator, Militia Minister Sam Hughes. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1915. A group of writers, journalists and activists based in Winnipeg, score the first victory for Canada's women's suffrage movement.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

The Canadian economy, still reeling from a post-war recession, struggles to meet the production total war demands.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

Spring 1915.  The Canadian government grapples with the fact that over 100,000 residents in the country are foreign nationals, native to countries Canada is now at war with.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

Spring 1915.  The Canadian Expeditionary Force prepares for its first battle outside the Belgian city of Ypres, where, unbeknownst to the Canadians, the Germans make their own preparations to unleash a terrifying new weapon.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

Summer 1914.  Canadians prepare for a war far from their shores, that will nevertheless change their lives forever. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1867-1914.  How did we get here?  Where are we going next?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

Summer 1914.  Ireland teeters on the brink of civil war, re-opening old sectarian divisions in Canada.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1914. A Sikh businessman charters a Japanese passenger liner to test Canada's anti-Asian immigration laws, while anxious British officials and Indian nationalists look on. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1914. In India, the British government attempts to convince a growing independence movement that Indians enjoy all the benefits of subjecthood, including free movement within the Empire.  A key test of that proposition comes in British Columbia.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

Spring 1914.  A disastrous seal hunt raises questions about the growing social and economic inequalities of an industrializing Newfoundland.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1913.  Over a decade of consistent economic growth comes to an end, souring relations between Ottawa and the provinces, and forcing the military occupation of the Vancouver Island coal district. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1912.  Robert Borden finds that his broad coalition (which was so successful on the campaign trail) makes for an unruly government.  Especially with Britain ever more insistent on contributions to the Royal Navy.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1912.  New regulations on the use of French in Ontario public schools galvanizes the province's growing francophone population and sets off a fresh round of French Canadian nationalism in Quebec.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1911.  A panic over black settlers moving into western Canada sparks a heated debate on Canada's immigration laws, and the country's racial politics. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

September 1911.  An unlikely partnership of conservative imperialists and French Canadian nationalists bring an end to Wilfrid Laurier's fifteen-year rule in Ottawa.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1911. Desperate for a distraction from the Navy Question, Wilfrid Laurier is presented with a golden opportunity to fulfill a decades-long ambition by developments in Washington.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1911.  A damning report from a public health official sparks a national conversation on the future of the Indian Residential Schools program.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

As a growing pile of Canadian capital seeks new investment opportunities, a group of entrepreneurs, engineers, and corporate lawyers descend on the fast growing coffee economy of Brazil. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1910.  When Britain calls on Canada to help fund its naval arms race with Germany, Wilfrid Laurier faces his greatest political test since the Boer War.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1910. Disillusioned with the governance provided by the elites of St. John's, Newfoundland's outport fishermen form their own political and social movement.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1910. Nova Scotia enters the industrial age with ambitions to become an international steel-making power.  However, by extension, the province also enters a new, modern age of conflict between the forces of labour and capital.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1909. Canadians grapple with the implications of large scale migration from continental Europe, and begin a long-running debate on how so-called "New Canadians" fit into the national story. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1909. A hustler from New Brunswick exemplifies a novel class of stock brokers and promoters who transform Canada's financial environment, and usher in a new era of industrial consolidation and economic inequality in Canada. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1908. In southwestern Ontario, oilmen, brewers, and cabinet-makers forge a complicated relationship with a different nation-defining sport - baseball.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1908. From Montreal and Toronto, to the mines of Timiskaming and old Rat Portage, Canadians battle over the soul of the nation's most important institution - hockey.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1908. Disillusioned with Wilfrid Laurier's Liberal party, a group of French Canadians commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of Quebec by mapping out a new kind of Canadian nationalism.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1908.  In the aftermath of the Vancouver anti-Asian race riot, Canadian officials visit Tokyo, Washington, London, Bombay, Shanghai, and Beijing - in the process, crafting a position for Canada on the international stage. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

September 1907: An anti-Asian race riot in Vancouver thrusts Canada into the centre of a multi-faceted trans-Pacific geopolitical puzzle involving Japan, Britain, the United States, and India.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1907. A new technology sparks national debates about public utilities, labour relations, and gender. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1906-1907. A coal miner's strike in southern Alberta restricts the supply of fuel on the prairies, just as the region enters the coldest winter on record.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1906. Hoping to encourage a national railroad to rival the Tory-aligned CPR, Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier gets more than he bargained for.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1905. After more than thirty years of Liberal rule in Ontario, a new Conservative government makes a splash by re-writing the rules of the hydroelectricity industry.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1905. A railway construction boom couples with a global arms race to unlock the economic potential of northern Ontario's mineral deposits.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1905. Under pressure from prospectors, the Hudson's Bay Company, and Ojibwe and Cree groups, the federal and Ontario governments put aside their differences and negotiate a treaty for the lands north of Ontario.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1905. Alberta and Saskatchewan join Canada as the eighth and ninth provinces, sparking a fresh round of contentious debates over minority rights, and the division of federal and provincial powers. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1903. In the wake of the Alaska border dispute, Canada looks to strengthen its claims on the islands off its northern coast, in the Arctic Ocean.  The only problem is, no one in Ottawa has any idea how many islands there are, or how far the archipelago reaches.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1903.  Canada disputes American territorial claims in the Alaskan panhandle, in the hope/expectation that recent sacrifices in South Africa will ensure British diplomatic support.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1902. In the aftermath of the Boer War, delegates from the settler Dominions gather in London to discuss the future of the Empire - only to find Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier and Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain have very different interpretations of what that entails.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

1901-1902Canadian soldiers find themselves in a Boer War that has turned into a brutally modern counter-insurgency.  Meanwhile, a group of Canadian women volunteer to do their bit for the Empire by teaching South African children how to be good British subjects.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

Montreal's school system, delicately balanced between the city's Catholic and Protestant communities struggles to accommodate the arrival of Jewish migrants, who fit into neither category.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.

As the Fraser River fishery prepares for the largest salmon run in its history, tensions rise between its labour force of white, indigenous, and Japanese fishermen.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-nations-of-canada--4572969/support.