Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR i963-1964 25 ists represented the radical opinion of that province. Bourassa was entirely opposed to Canada's participation in the First World War, saying it was imperialistic. The issue reached such a point that an election was called and Laurier was defeated. The results of this issue led to misunderstanding and distrust between French and English Canadians. This may have been a first crack appearing in the structure of Confederation. Quebec remained quiet during the twenties and thirties, contributing nothing and causing no trouble. When the Second World War began, Quebec sent its men to Europe along with the rest of the Canadian troops. French and English once again fought side by side in defence of this nation. Some controversy arose during the war over the Dieppe Raid-when five thousand men, mostly French Canadians from the Fusiliers Mont Royal were sent to test the defences of the Wehrmacht in northern France. The result was the slaughter of three thousand men lprimarily French Canadiansj. Quebec's next contribution to Confederation was Louis Saint Laurent, who was Prime Minister of Canada from T948-56. Under the able leadership of St-Laurent, Canada grew in the eyes of the world and began to take its place as one of the more important powers. It was now playing a valuable role in the affairs of the world. ln Canada, under St-Laurent, there was no trouble or dissidence from any of the provinces, and Confederation seemed to be working properly. Thus, wealth and prosperity from the north and a new name in world-wide politics were the results of St-Laurent's leadership. The three great men I have written about have all done much for the cause of Confederation in Canada and they have all been from the province of Quebec, but there have been many more men from Quebec who have also contributed to Con- federation-only they have tried to destroy it. A good example of this type is the late regretted Maurice Duplessis, who as dictator of Quebec for some twenty years, retarded the advance of his province by thirty years. He as well completely corrupted the provincial government and left a large debt to be paid by his successor, when he died in 1956. Although Duplessis did not wish to withdraw from Confedera- tion, he did as much damage by keeping back his province, and trying to run it as if it were his own. The trouble and commotion in Quebec today may be a direct result of Duplessis' oppression while he and the Union Nationale were in power. Quebec's next memorable contribution was in 'l96'l and came in the form of a civil servant by the name of Marcel Chaput. His resignation from the civil service caused quite a stir in Quebec, and shortly afterwards Dr. Chaput published his book, l'Pourquoi ie suis Separatiste in which he gives his reasons for wanting Quebec to be a free state on its own apart from the rest of Canada. He followed this up by creating the 'illassemblement pour l'lndependance Nationale fR.l.N.l. This idea of separatism remained non-violent for a while, consisting only of demonstrations and speeches-until the spring of 1963, when an elderly man and an army sergeant-maior fell victims of terrorist bombs. The old man, Wilfrid O'Neil was killed, and the sergeant-major, Sgt.-Mai. Leia was maimed for life, courtesy of the terrorist Front de Liberation Quebequoise lF.L.Q.l. What looked like the beginning of a patriot revolution soon petered out because the 'lQuebequois either did not know or did not care what was behind the terrorist ideas. lt is early in T964 and with the recent raid on a Montreal armoury, the situation in Quebec is tense, but no one knows how it will all end. Many things may happen before 1967 and l wish to speculate upon the major events which could take place in these three years:- The rest of Canada lexcept in Quebec where the English have all been learning French and trying to speak in French. It is amazing what a few bombs can doll is tired of hearing all this talk about bilingualism and Quebec-this and Quebec-cela, in my opinion, if Quebec is not careful it may be ousted from Confederation-a solution

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I4 BELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE Quebec's Contribution to Confederation from 1867-1967 In Quebec today, a question has arisen in the minds of many English and French- speaking Quebecers: that quesilon ls: llWill Quebec secede from Confederation? Recent events have shown that some Quebecois would like to see their state as an independent republic. These people have their reasons for wishing to see Quebec a republic, but why do they strive so hard to undo the work of the men who made Confederation possible, among whom were French Canadians? ls the situation that desperate that the nation should be split up? These separatists want to ruin the work of one hundred years, during which Canada grew up-one hundred years work, to which Quebec itself contributed. That is the topic of my essay: Quebec's contributions to Confederation. This province's first important contribution was in the realization of Confederation itself. lt was a French Canadian George ilater Sir George! Etienne Cartier, who had the insight to see that unless French and English Canadians joined as one, there would never be Confederation. Thus, in 1864 he joined forces with John A. Macdonald and the Conservatives of Upper Canada, in an attempt to achieve responsible government and confederation. This union proved that French and English could work side by side for the good of the nation. Later, in the same year, he displayed great statesman- ship at the Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences, where he and Macdonald were trying to explain the benefits of Confederation to delegates from the other provinces. During 1865-66, when the cause of Confederation seemed dead, Cartier, Macdonald and George Brown remained steadfast in their opinions and sailed to England to urge action on the British government. Finally their efforts paid off when on July 1st, 1867, the Canadian Dominion came into being, and Quebec had contributed to this event. For the next few years, Quebec played an unimportant role in national affairs and did not contribute much. ln 1885, there even arose rumblings of discontent and protest over the execution of Louis Riel, a half-breed rebel, who had tried to establish his own government in the West. After a while, these rumblings calmed down. The next notable contribution from the French speaking province came in 1896 with the election of Wilfrid Laurier as prime-minister. He had the honor of being Canada's first French speaking prime-minister, and he firmly believed that all Canadian people should understand each other and work together for their country. Laurier's fifteen years as prime-minister were years of unprecedented growth and prosperity. Although he was not directly responsible for this wealth, his policy did much to promote this good fortune, by encouraging immigration, opening up the West to settlement and railroads, and the expansion of commerce and industry. Laurier also established a Board of Railroad Commissioners to control railway rates and service, a Civil Service Commission for government officials, and a Commission of Conservation for the preservation and use of Canada's natural resources. ln 1900, he created a Department of Labor to control labor problems. Because of Laurier's policy of winning the people of every province to a common loyalty, and binding together the country, Canada had progressed much since 1867. When Laurier resigned in 1911, five provinces had been added to the four at the time of Confederation, vast changes had taken place in communications and trade, in ways of life and beliefs. A new sense of pride and loyalty for Canada had developed. In Quebec, this pride did not make itself too apparent, and if it was there the Quebecers were doing a good job of hiding it. They did not contribute anything until 1917, when they began to cause trouble. Borden was advocating conscription and wanted to introduce it in Canada. Laurier and some of the Liberals were against it -this caused a split in the Liberal party. ln Quebec, Henri Bourassa and his National-

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26 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE which would please all except 'lla belle province . If Quebec became independent it would not survive a year-economically it would be ruined and its only means of restoring itself would be to become part of the United States. If terrorism became the main tool of the radical separatists, Quebec may find itself involved in a civil war, the results of which would not be pleasing to imagine. If tension continues in Montreal, there may be no World's Fair or lto please Mayor Drapeaul EXPO 671 and if Canada failed to have the world's fair, public opinion would not be on the side of the French Canadians and their 'lstate . But this is just speculation on my party I do not know what will happen, but I hope that Quebec will prove itself worthy of the trust put in it by the Fathers of Confederation and will not secede. Whatever the future may be, I hope it will be for the good of Canada and the separatists will never be completely umaitres chez nous . Michael Dorland NOTE: This was one of the essays for which first prize was awarded in the Meighen Essay competition. Unfortunately space does not permit including the essay of G. Norsworthy. Jug Travels 4,000 Miles via Gulf Stream Vacationing Selwyn House boys began an interesting and unusual correspondence with a Spanish farmer! Lyle McCoy and Michael McHugh sealed a letter containing their home addresses in a gallon iug and dropped it into the Gulf Stream off Miami Beach. The boys' via nsea mail adventure of 25th July 1962 became an unthought of reality on 25th August 1963, when a letter postmarked in Spain arrived at the house of a very surprised Lyle McCoy. The mystery was pieced together when Dr. Carlos Blanco Aquinaga, professor of Spanish at Hopkins University, translated it. Dr. Blanco noted with the translation that the writer was probably an older person and could well be a farmer. From the translation he discovered that the letter had entered through the Port of Cedeira located between Capes Prior and Estaca de Bares. After its difficult entry into the port the bottle's final destination became a field where it was found by a fourteen year old who gave it to Manuel Rodriguez Garcia. The bottle had in it three messages fthe third being from Kenneth Locklin, 14, of Baltimore, Md.J from which only the address was legible. The messages were wet because of the vapour in the receptacle. Also it had on the cover approximately one kilogram of barnacles. Mr. Garcia then con- cludes Ul have no more information to send you and l would be grateful if you answer me and tell me on what date it was thrown into the sea. The boys have since written to Senor Garcia explaining their part in the episode. We all sincerely wish that this unusual turn of events will inspire a regular correspon- dence and whole heartedly commend the boys on their sense of adventure. Rodney D. Devitt The DeviI's Ring One afternoon a young American doctor, by the name of John Pratt, dropped in at a public auction which was being held in Wilhelmstrasse. Seeing nothing of any real value, he made up his mind to leave right away, but suddenly his eye was caught by a curiously ornamented ring which came under the hammer. He found