Pay your respects and learn some history at the gravesites of Canada’s prime ministers

Unlike other countries, Canadians haven’t erected many monuments to their former leaders. There are a few statues of prime ministers from the era that statues were a thing, but not much else. Even most of their graves are understated and ordinary and not the overblown, ornate tombs that are national pilgrimage sites in other countries.

So they wouldn’t fall into disrepair and lapse into obscurity, the federal government created a program in 1999 to conserve and promote, with dignity and respect, the grave sites of the country’s deceased prime ministers.

Aptly named,  the National Program for the Grave Sites of Canadian Prime Ministers encourages Canadians to visit these historic sites in order to reflect on the the lives and accomplishments of former prime ministers who have had an impact on the history of the country.

If you were to plan a road trip to see them all, you wouldn’t even have to cross all of Canada, but you would have to go overseas to visit one of them. Eight former prime ministers are buried in Ontario, four are interred in Quebec, two in Nova Scotia, just one in Saskatchewan and the only one not buried in Canadian soil lies in England.

If you feel like paying your respects to some Canadian legends, here are a few more details on the gravesites of some of the country’s most famous leaders:

Sir John A. Macdonald
Buried in Kingston, ON

Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, has always been ranked among the country’s great political leaders, but his legacy is controversial mostly due to his assimilationist policies towards the country’s indigenous population. Born in Scotland and raised near Kingston,  Macdonald was instrumental in the making of the Canadian Confederation.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Ottawa, ON

Canada’s first francophone prime minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, followed policies of moderation and reconciliation and always held the belief that Canada is an English-French partnership. He served as PM from 1896 until 1911 during a period of rapid growth and immigration.  Alberta and Saskatchewan were welcomed into Confederation while he was in office.

William Lyon Mackenzie King
Toronto, ON

At 21 years, King holds the record for being Canada’s longest-serving prime minister. He was Canada’s PM before, during and after the Second World War and into the beginning of the Cold War.  Among his most notable accomplishments were social programs that are familiar to Canadians today such as unemployment insurance and family allowances. His government also introduced the Canadian Citizenship Act.

John Diefenbaker
Saskatoon, SK

One of Canada’s most beloved leaders, John Diefenbaker was a prairie populist and a stirring orator. When he came to office in 1958, it was with the greatest electoral victory in the country’s history. He is responsible for introducing the Canadian Bill of Rights.

Lester B. Pearson
Wakefield, QC

A diplomat-turned-politician, Pearson is most famous for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Suez Crisis after he proposed the concept of peacekeeping in the United Nations.  Social programs that his government introduced include the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans and universal health insurance. The maple leaf flag that is flown today was introduced during his time in office.

Pierre E. Trudeau
St. Remi, QC

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Pierre Trudeau was a giant in Canadian history.  His vision of the country was always of a strong united federation with equality among provinces and guaranteed rights for individuals in a bilingual, multicultural Canada. His most lasting accomplishment was the repatriation of Canada’s constitution and the entrenchment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Richard Bedford Bennett
Mickleham, Surrey, England

Bennett was Canada’s prime minister during the Great Depression. Ultimately, he became linked to the economic hard times in the minds of voters and wasn’t re-elected. He retired to Great Britain where he sat in the House of Lords. Although he was born in New Brunswick, he was ultimately buried in England, the only Canadian PM not to be interred in Canada.

As Tourism Week begins, many Canadian province’s still restrict travel

Canada canoe

As Tourism Week in Canada kicks off, it’s still unclear where Canadians will be able to travel this summer. The American border remains closed until at least June 21, international travel restrictions are still being strictly enforced and some provinces still discourage visitors from other parts of the country.

Despite the uncertainty, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) says that vaccinations are the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. Seeing our American neighbours and people from the U.K. already beginning to take vacations, the feeling is that it won’t be long before Canadians will join them.

However, before we all jet off to foreign locales, TIAC is asking Canadians to take a special pledge to support tourism in Canada. They want to drive more domestic tourism business to Canadian travel firms which have lost billions of dollars during the pandemic.

“We are calling on Canadians to take the 2021 Tourism Pledge to travel in Canada, when restrictions are lifted,” says Beth Potter, the President and CEO of TIAC in a release. “This is an invitation to come together as a country and support our local tourism destinations, businesses and employees.”

If Canadian consumers decided to shift two-thirds of their planned international holiday expenditures towards domestic tourism, it would make up for the estimated $19 billion shortfall currently facing the visitor economy, per a recent report by Destination Canada. It would also help sustain 150,000 jobs and accelerate the recovery of the tourism sector by one year.

“We understand that everyone is eager for some much-needed vacation time and we are calling on Canadians to plan their future travel within Canada,” said Marsha Walden, President and Chief Executive Officer, Destination Canada.

For now, that probably means staying in your home province, but things could start opening up as the summer progresses and more people are fully vaccinated.

Newfoundland & Labrador

The advisory council to Newfoundland’s premier filed a report last week that called on the provincial government to reopen  the province’s borders to the rest of Canada by July 1.

The committee recommends that until vulnerable groups in the province are fully vaccinated, visitors be tested for COVID-19 before arrival although they won’t have to quarantine. The next stage would be to re-open the Atlantic bubble then allow partially vaccinated Canadians to enter as of June 1, although they must present a negative COVID test before arrival.

Nova Scotia

In Nova Scotia, lockdown restrictions that have limited travel have been extended and the province’s premier has said they could last until at least June 1.

In one Global News report, tourism operators were pessimistic that this year’s tourism season would be worse than last summer when the Atlantic bubble partially saved their season.

Prince Edward Island

P.E.I. Premier Dennis King told CBC News he would announce reopening plans on Thursday.

“I think you will see our measures that will include testing coming into our province through all of our points of entry as an added level of protection for Islanders. As more and more of us get vaccinated, we can back our way out of that. That’s going to be part of the plan,” he said.

The premier said the province hopes to allow visitors from the Atlantic region “really soon” and from the rest of Canada in the later end of the summer season.

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is keen to welcome tourists back to the province, at least from the rest of Atlantic Canada.

“We are hoping to open the Atlantic Bubble in July to get the season started,” said Carol Alderdice, the President and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick. “Our operators have been exceptional at implementing protective measures against the spread of COVID-19 for over a year and we are ready to greet our guests.”

Last year, the province introduced the NB Travel Incentive program which offered rebates for residents who travelled within the province.

The province has said the program will return this summer, but has released no further details.

“As long as all things continue to improve in relation to COVID-19, we will look forward to announcing the dates of the summer Explore NB Travel Incentive Program,” Morgan Bell, a communications officer with Tourism, Heritage and Culture told CBC News.

Quebec

The Quebec government is offering  discounted provincial park passes as well as subsidized activities and vacation packages to encourage local tourism.

“The pandemic has had negative consequences for tourism businesses. These initiatives are a way for the government to revive the industry,” Quebec’s Minister of Tourism Caroline Proulx told CBC News. “I honestly believe that we will have a better tourist summer, especially with the return of festivals.”

The province’s Explore Québec program  offers travel packages at a minimum of 25 per cent off along with other offers at Quebec Getaways.

Ontario

Canada’s largest province announced its reopening plan last week that sets June 14 to restart some activities that would allow a certain amount of tourist traffic to resume, with further restrictions being eased in July and a near return to normality in August. However, there’s concern that those dates aren’t set in stone as they are conditional on certain vaccination and caseload milestones being met.

The province’s border remains closed with neighbouring Quebec and Manitoba to non-essential travel until June 2, but there have been noises that it could be extended, possibly until the June 14 date that is part of the reopening plan.

Manitoba

The tourism picture for Manitoba this summer is unclear, but there’s some optimism that the province will beat back the third wave and gradually begin reopening, at least to local visitors.

Destination Canada projects the province’s tourism businesses will lose about $400 million this year, but that’s a best-case scenario if tourism is permitted by July. Things are bleaker if they remain closed until the end of the summer, reported CBC News.

Saskatchewan

Many provinces are modelling their reopening plans after Saskatchewan’s “road map,” which itself is inspired by the actions of well-vaccinated jurisdictions like Israel and the U.K.

As destinations and activities reopen throughout the summer,  Tourism Saskatchewan predicts a good summer ahead with about 75 or 80 percent of the activity it would see in a normal year.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel which is something I think the industry and public sees that, “ spokesperson Jonathan Potts told CKRM.  “If people continue to get vaccinated and things continue going in Saskatchewan’s favour, we could see a fairly normal summer this year.”

Alberta

Alberta is still battling its third wave of COVID infections, but premier Jason Kenney has said the provinces will soon outline its reopening plan.

“It’ll be a careful plan that will get us to a great Alberta summer as long as Albertans continue the huge momentum to get vaccinated,” he said.

In an interview with Global News, the Tourism Industry Association of Alberta’s Darren Reeder said he fully expects the province to reopen travel within the coming weeks, but doesn’t think it will see any international travellers.

He hoped that the provincial government would offer tax credits or vouchers to incentivize staycations in order to overcome that shortfall and the association would do its part to encourage Albertans to discover what their province has to offer

“There are things in your own backyard and adventure is something you create with your own ingenuity and your own creativity,” he said.

British Columbia

B.C. premier John Horgan has also promised a reopening plan this week which would outline under what conditions travel restrictions will be lifted.

Tourism Industry Association of B.C. chief executive officer Walt Judas told CBC that it wants restrictions lifted on non-essential travel that have ravaged the province’s tourism  industry.

Judas said the association wants provincial travel reopened this week, followed by increased interprovincial visitors and ultimately international tourists.

Yukon

Yukon has closed off its borders to domestic and international travel for much of the pandemic, but now its plan is to allow anyone who is fully vaccinated to visit and enjoy the territory’s immense beauty.

Quebec City’s summer visitors invited to experience a taste of winter

Outside of its ski destinations, tourism in Canada during winter has always been a bit of a hard sell, but Québec City Tourism, in collaboration with Ateliers du Carnaval de Québec, has come up with a unique way to let visitors experience winter right in the middle of summer.

Seeing that the province is in the midst of a record-setting heat wave with temperatures in the high 30s Celsius, the promotion is either a stroke of genius or blessed by fortunate timing.

A 26-by-9-foot container, refrigerated to 4 to 8̊⁰C and decked out in all the trappings of the snow season has been set up near Dufferin Terrace in Quebec City to offer tourists a feel for Québec winters, with ice sculptures, a mini ice hotel, a ski lift, a Québec décor, and videos on popular seasonal activities.

The container will be open noon to 9 p.m. seven days a week until September 3, 2018 next to Dufferin Terrace between the Samuel de Champlain monument and the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac Hotel, which is Ground Zero for tourists and locals alike.

As an added bonus, Bonhomme Carnaval, the famed mascot of the city’s winter carnival, will be making surprise visits throughout the summer.

To reduce the ecological footprint of Micro Climat(e) and support carbon neutrality, 1,000 trees have been planted as part of the green program of the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac Hotel “Château Boréal”.

The container is easily transportable so expect it to go on tour eventually as the city continues to promote winter tourism.

Earth, wind and water: 10 offbeat experiences in and around Montreal

There’s nothing better than getting outside during a Montreal summer, but if you have already overdosed on festivals and had your fill of celebrating the city’s 375th birthday, we’ve got 10 unique experiences in and around Montreal that will help you get off your couch to try something new.

IN THE AIR

Skydive without a parachute

Unless the engines are on fire, most people would rather not jump out of an airplane, yet there are thousands who strap on parachutes to skydive for fun.

If you’re hesitant to make that jump, the closest thing is to take a leap into the skydiving simulator at SkyVenture, located in Laval’s Centropolis complex.

It’s basically a cylindrical room with a giant fan on the floor that blows air upward with enough force to make you float in the air. Each flight lasts 60 seconds, which is the typical length of a parachutist’s free fall, and children as young as four can do it.

An intro package with two flights costs $68. A four-flight package sells for $93.93, and a 10-flight deal is available for $182.65.

2700 Cosmodôme Ave., 514-524-4000, skyventuremontreal.com

Read the rest of the story on montrealgazette.com.

Montreal: The city of bagels

Ask any Montrealer to name the city’s most iconic foods and without hesitation, they will answer smoked meat and bagels. But what most probably don’t know is how Jewish immigrants brought those foods here and how they managed to endure as favourites.

One Montrealer who knows that history and is keen to share it with locals and visitors alike is Kat Romanow, the Director of Food Programming at the Museum of Jewish Montreal.

“Jews have lived all over the world and wherever they’ve settled they’ve taken the cuisine of that region and adapted it to the Kosher food laws — so when we talk about Jewish food, we’re talking about a cuisine that is very diverse,” she explains.

Romanow’s enthusiasm for the community’s history is contagious and the perfect starting point to understand how the city’s 93,000 Jews and their cuisine fit into the story of Montreal.

You can read the rest of the story at the Jewish Chronicle.