Curious Canadian History

In October of 2006 Jess Larochelle from Ontario was guarding an observation post near the Afghanistan village of Pashmul when dozens of Taliban insurgents attacked Jess’ position. The ensuing battle is almost unbelievable in what Jess did and how he did it. Bruce Moncour is a veteran of Afghanistan and for years has been leading the charge, through his organization Valour in the Presence of the Enemy, to get Larochelle awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest medal for bravery in the Canadian military. Recently Bruce’s organization has celebrated a couple major victories that are getting him and his organization ever closer to that ultimate goal.

Bruce Moncur is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran, advocate, and grade 5 teacher. In 2006, he deployed to Afghanistan with the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment and fought in Operation Medusa, the largest Canadian-led battle since the Korean War, where he was seriously injured in a friendly-fire incident. After a long recovery, he became a leading voice for veterans’ rights. He is the founder of Valour in the Presence of the Enemy

David O’Keefe is one of the most engaging voices on Canada’s Second World War story, in the classroom, on the page, and on screen. A professor of history at Marianopolis College in Montreal, he’s the bestselling author of One Day in August and Seven Days in Hell, with a new book, Missing Presumed Dead, coming in late 2027. You can also see him right now in the new Tom Hanks World War II documentary, bringing fresh insight and energy to some of the war’s most hotly debated battles.

Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast Hostile History!
Hostile History on Spotify
Hostile History on Apple
Hostile History on Amazon

Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:

Amazon
Indigo
Dundurn
Goodreads
Indiebookstores.ca
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Moe Norman was a Canadian golf legend widely regarded as one of the greatest ball strikers in golf history. Born in Kitchener, Ontario, in 1929, Norman became famous for his remarkable accuracy, consistency, and unique single-plane swing technique. During his career he won more than 50 Canadian tournaments, including several Canadian PGA Championships. Although he struggled to adapt socially to the pressure and culture of the PGA Tour, many professional golfers, including Tiger Woods and Lee Trevino, praised his extraordinary talent. Moe Norman died in 2004 but remains an iconic figure in Canadian golf history.

Lorne Rubenstein is a Canadian writer, broadcaster, and journalist best known for his work covering golf. He has written extensively for major newspapers and magazines, authored several books on golf (including two on Moe Norman), and earned respect for his thoughtful commentary on the sport, its players, history, and culture in Canada and internationally. He is a member of the Canadian golf hall of fame for his work and in 2018 received the PGA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast Hostile History!
Hostile History on Spotify
Hostile History on Apple
Hostile History on Amazon

Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:

Amazon
Indigo
Dundurn
Goodreads
Indiebookstores.ca

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Canadian government has a long history of regulation, exploitation, and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2) people. One of the most painful chapters in this history is the “LGBT Purge,” a term that refers to the expulsion of LGBTQ2 service members and employees from the Canadian Armed Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and federal public service between 1955 and 1992. The LGBT Purge was the subject of a class action lawsuit filed in 2017 that resulted in a settlement agreement in 2018. On a parallel track to the settlement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a formal apology for the government’s history of state-sponsored discrimination against LGBTQ2 people in 2017.

Daniel Del Gobbo is an Assistant Professor and Chair in Law, Gender & Sexual Justice at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law. His research explores how legal processes and institutions can be redesigned to promote access to justice and social justice for historically marginalized groups, with a focus on the rights of women and queer and trans people in Canada. He earned his J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2011, LL.M. from Harvard Law School in 2015, and S.J.D. from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 2021.

Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast Hostile History!
Hostile History on Spotify
Hostile History on Apple
Hostile History on Amazon

Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:

Amazon
Indigo
Dundurn
Goodreads
Indiebookstores.ca
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John A. Macdonald stands as one of the most influential and controversial figures in Canadian history, a political architect whose vision helped bring a nation into being. The first Prime Minister of Canada. His rise through colonial politics, his central role in Confederation and his leadership in the first decades of this country’s existence shaped the nation we understand today in so many ways. He was a man of ambition, a man of compromises, and a man of contradictions and the complexities that defined him also defined his leadership in a fragile, emerging country dealing with a rapidly evolving world and continent. Through both achievement and controversy, Macdonald’s legacy continues to shape Canada. In this second installment of a two part series we look at John A Macdonald’s early vision for Canada, resistance to that vision, his controversial policies towards First Nations and finally his legacy. This is John A. Macdonald Part 2.

Patrice Dutil is a professor of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University. He has written, co-written and edited fourteen books and has covered many aspects of leadership, both at the political and the administrative level. Dutil is known for having founded the Literary Review of Canada thirty-five years ago. He was also the President of the Champlain Society for nearly a decade.

Dutil has written extensively about Macdonald. He co-edited Macdonald at 200: New Perspectives and Legacies with Roger Hall. That book came out in 2015. More recently, he has published Sir John A. Macdonald and the Apocalyptic Year of 1885 and Ballots and Brawls: the 1867 Canadian General Election.

Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:

Amazon
Indigo
Dundurn
Goodreads
Indiebookstores.ca
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John A. Macdonald stands as one of the most influential and controversial figures in Canadian history, a political architect whose vision helped bring a nation into being. The first Prime Minister of Canada. His rise through colonial politics, his central role in Confederation and his leadership in the first decades of this country’s existence shaped the nation we understand today in so many ways. He was a man of ambition, a man of compromises, and a man of contradictions and the complexities that defined him also defined his leadership in a fragile, emerging country dealing with a rapidly evolving world and continent. Through both achievement and controversy, Macdonald’s legacy continues to shape Canada. In this first installment of a two part series we look at John A Macdonald’s immigration to Canada from Scotland, his life as a lawyer, his early entry into politics and his role in shaping the confederation debates.
Patrice Dutil is a professor of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University. He has written, co-written and edited fourteen books and has covered many aspects of leadership, both at the political and the administrative level. Dutil is known for having founded the Literary Review of Canada thirty-five years ago. He was also the President of the Champlain Society for nearly a decade.

Dutil has written extensively about Macdonald. He co-edited Macdonald at 200: New Perspectives and Legacies with Roger Hall. That book came out in 2015. More recently, he has published Sir John A. Macdonald and the Apocalyptic Year of 1885 and Ballots and Brawls: the 1867 Canadian General Election.

Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:

Amazon
Indigo
Dundurn
Goodreads
Indiebookstores.ca
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.