Thread by @sunnshiiny

Spoiler; I’m also from Edmonton, but have never been to Stampede.

But stampede has been around for a long time. However, it’s purpose has evolved over time.

https://twitter.com/sandersonshpk/status/1413669486427656193

The Calgary Stampede started off as an annual trade and information fair exhibiting the region’s innovations and progress. It was meant to attract Eastern Canadian farmers and ranchers to Alberta. A sparsely populated region in Western Canada that remained a territory.

An annual display of the Eurocentric “civilizing” of the Wild West.

And a call for Canadians to move west to assist in “civilizing” & settling the region.

Remember treaty 7 had been signed in 1877. Populating the region was paramount to maintaining control of land title.

By the early 20th century, the stampede was added (rodeo, stage shows and a profit generator for the region).

Bear in mind, 1912 was peak Gilded Age era in North America. When Robber Barons ruled politics and society with impunity and protected their power & wealth.

And they certainly were wealthy. Burns (one of the Big Four) is a celebrated Alberta founding capitalist who had immense power to shape and control the region and influence governments. He was eventually appointed to the Senate representing Alberta.

Burns was an extremely influential Albertan. Touted as Alberta’s greatest citizen, he epitomizes the libertarian ideology promoted by UCP and CPC in Canada.

Burns and the Big Four made the 1912 Stampede a celebration of the conquering of the West. Current cons revere him.

The Calgary Stampede didn’t become an annual event until 1923.

But another single event was put on to honour the returning veterans from WW1 in 1919. In the middle of a global flu pandemic. Eerily similar to modern events.

Profit before people or victory before public health?

The Exhibition and Stampede merged after declining attendance at the exhibition. The west essentially had been tamed. So the spectacle of the Stampede was added to attract people.

And that’s when western wear was encouraged and the facilitation of a regional brand was begun.

I grew up in Edmonton in the 1970’s and a similar effort was made with Klondike Days. Everyone was encouraged to wear Yukon Gold Rush era clothing. Pancake breakfasts were daily. Shows and horse racing, the midway and street parties for 10 days.

So why were efforts made to reinforce western cultural beliefs and values on an annual basis?

Maybe to reinforce the beliefs and values that settlers and homesteaders belonged and mastered the Wild West?

I never really thought about it until attempting this thread.

One of the main focuses of both the Stampede and Klondike Days was the reinforcement of the Cowboy Code.

When the west was barely populated with settlers and homesteaders in the late 19th and early 20th century, there was no recognized law enforcement in rural & remote areas.

So a universal norm system was developed to stand in for legal code and law enforcement. An honour system.

Today it’s recognized as the idealized characteristics of macho male culture. And heralded as natural laws that every man should observe.

And I mean only men. Women were still considered the more delicate and cloistered mothers and wives who remained on the homestead. The public realm was reserved for men and flashy non traditional women (women of ill repute) who weren’t extended any respect or courtesy.

The Cowboy Code serves as an annual reminder and reinforcement of respectable behaviour for men and women. It’s based on late 19th century beliefs and values. And it’s been an annual event in Calgary for almost a century.

Basically, if you’re a Calgarian, you attend the Stampede. You wear western clothing, extend your warmest greetings to those who participate, adopt the silent Cowboy Code, and reinforce the misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic beliefs and values of rural Alberta.

Even if it’s for just 10 days, the event has become a widely accepted cultural celebration of male dominance, Christian faith, female subordination, traditional values, libertarian beliefs and the veneration of wealth and power in the hands of white powerful men.

2021’s Calgary Stampede will be doubly so, to partially make up for its cancellation in 2020 due to covid.

It will be a reminder to all Calgarians and rural Albertans that the social order in Alberta remains intact. And UCP remains its main guardian.

The celebration of and commitment to, if not longing for, the mythical Agrarian/Cattleman/Oil Baron past when white men dominated and everybody knew their place in the social order is an expectation of every Calgarian.

2021 will be no different.

I hadn’t really given much thought to why Klondike Days was renamed and rebranded. But I’m kinda glad it did. Today it’s just known as “the Ex.” A banal trade show with a midway and shows for entertainment.

Edmonton is not holding this event again in 2921 due to covid.

But some “well meaning” entrepreneurs have secured a contract for a midway and shows to be offered anyway.

I’ll have to extend some Cowboy Courtesy with the tip of my hat for thinking of Edmontonian’s annual dose of testosterone fuelled midway & free shows only $15 at the gate.

No wonder Kenney moved mountains to get The Stampede operational. His popularity has tanked and he needs a boost to the Calgary economy. Regardless of the cost to public health. Indoctrination events are very important.

Why did AHS bother to charge pastors & the liberty folks?

Was it all for show kicking out 2 MLAs who questioned his leadership and demanded society be reopened with no restrictions for good.

Ultimately, isn’t that what has been achieved? Kenney has removed all restrictions July 1, 2021 and has no plans to reinstate them.

And the Stampede is reinforcing and celebrating over a century of western Canadian domination by white wealthy men.

Funny, I said Kenney’s unpopularity and the internal conflict drama was just a ruse. How embarrassing that I was correct in that assessment.