It is #CanadaBookDay so lets celebrate some of our great writers, in the style of steampunk!
1. Margaret Atwood
She has won two Booker Prizes, the Governor General's Award & many other awards. She has written 18 books of poetry, 11 non-fiction books & 18 novels.
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2. Richard Wagamese
A survivor of Residential School, he was given the name of Buffalo Cloud and told by an elder his role was to write stories.
He wrote several books but his most famous was Indian Horse, which won several awards & became a movie.
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3. Robert Munsch
In his writing career, Munsch wrote some of the best-known children's books in the world. His most famous was Love You Forever, which has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. The Paper Bag Princess has sold 7 million copies.
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4. Farley Mowat
One of Canada's most beloved writers, his books have been translated into 52 languages and sold 17 million copies. His best known books are People of the Deer and Never Cry Wolf. His books often had an environmental focus.
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5. Rita Joe
Called the Poet Laureate of the Mi'kmaq People, Rita Joe survived Residential School and relearned her language & culture. Her poems often outlined her experiences at the school.
Rita Joe Day is celebrated in Nova Scotia every Feb. 20.
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6. Alice Munro
Her work has revolutionized the architecture of short stories & are often set in Huron County, Ontario.
She has won three Governor General's Awards & a Man Booker Prize.
In 2013, she became the 1st Canadian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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7. Robertson Davies
Over the course of his writing career, 11 books in three different trilogy sets. He won the Governor General's Literary Award in 1972 & was short listed for the Booker Prize in 1986.
He was often referred to as Canada's Man of Letters.
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8. Gabrielle Roy
One of French Canada's most celebrated writers, Roy's work helped lay the foundation of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.
In 1945, she wrote her most famous book, Bonheur d'occasion, which was released in English as The Tin Flute in 1947
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9. Mordecai Richler
His work often focused on the Jewish community in Canada, along with Canadian & Quebec nationalism. Some of his most famous works were The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz & Solomon Gursky Was Here. He won 2 Governor General Awards.
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10. Lucy Maud Montgomery
Her most famous work is Anne of Green Gables, which has sold 50 million copies, but in her life she also wrote 20 novels, 530 short stories, 500 poems and 30 essays. Most of her work was set in Prince Edward Island.
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Today is Tartan Day! The day was first celebrated in 1987 in Nova Scotia and has been celebrated nationally since 2010.
Canada's Official Tartan was designed in 1964 by David Weiser.
Here are the official (and unofficial) tartans of Canada's provinces and territories.
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British Columbia:
This tartan was designed by Eric Ward in 1966 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the union of Vancouver Island and British Colony. It was adopted as the official tartan in 1974. It represents the Pacific Ocean, the forests and the Pacific Dogwood.
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Alberta:
The official tartan was designed by Alison Lamb, director of the Edmonton Rehabilitation Society, and Ellen Neilsen, the weaving instructor. It was adopted in 1961. It represents the forests, grain fields and Alberta's official colours.
From 1963 to 2009, Canadian Roman Catholic priests took to the ice for charity.
Through 907 games, they raised $4 million and only lost six games.
Not bad for a team whose backup goalie was a horse.
This is the story of the Flying Fathers!
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In 1963, two priests from Northern Ontario, Les Costello and Brian McKee, heard about a boy who lost the use of an eye. His mother couldn't cover the medical bills so they organized a charity game to raise money.
Costello had played in the NHL for 15 games in 1948-49.
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The game raised $5,000 to help the mother. Originally it was supposed to be a one-off event but proved to be so popular it became an annual tradition.
Calling themselves the Flying Fathers and Puckster Priests, they became known for their entertaining antics on the ice.
In 2006, after the Alberta government had a huge surplus, three million people received a cheque for $400.
Officially called Prosperity Bonus, the cheques were more widely known as Ralph Bucks, named after Premier Ralph Klein.
This is the story.
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In November 2004, the Progressive Conservatives won their 10th consecutive majority government. While it was another election win for the party, the party was worried after it saw the popular vote fall from 61.9% to 46.8%, its lowest since 1993.
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In September 2005, Premier Ralph Klein announced that the province had a $6.8 billion surplus due to high oil and gas prices. This was far above the $2.8 billion that was previously estimated in the 2005-06 budget, and part of that would go to Albertans.
From 1928 to 1972, the Alberta Eugenics Board imposed sterilization on individuals deemed by an appointed board to be "mentally defective".
In that time, 2,832 sterilizations were conducted, the vast majority without consent.
This is the story.
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In the early-1900s, eugenics was growing in popularity. By the early-1920s, eugenics supporters began to lobby Alberta's ruling party, the United Farmers of Alberta, to implement eugenics legislation. On March 25, 1927, the UFA introduced a sexual sterilization bill.
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The bill was opposed by the Conservative and Liberal parties and did not reach second reading. It was reintroduced on Feb. 23, 1928 and passed one month later.
The Act formed the Alberta Eugenics Board, which was chaired by Dr. J.M. MacEachran.
In pre-colonial Canada, the First Nations established many prominent settlements.
Two of the most famous were Hochelaga and Stadacona, located on the sites of Montreal and Quebec City.
These two villages were home to nearly 4,000 people.
This is their story.
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It is not known when Hochelaga first appeared.
Historians believe the village was established at some point between 1200 CE and 1500 CE. The village apparently sat at the base of Mount Royal, and was surrounded by farmland.
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The size of the village varied by the time of year. When Jacques Cartier arrived in 1535 it had between 1000 and 3000 people.
Within the village there was at least 50 homes, according to Cartier.
Each home measured 15 metres in length and 3.5-4.5 metres in width.
There is a unique dialect of the Irish language that evolved in Newfoundland and became forever linked with the island.
It is called Newfoundland Irish and many work to keep the language alive.
This is the story.
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Irish immigrants arrived on the island to work in the late-1600s. Over the next 200 years, the Irish language was used heavily on the island, and became its own dialect. Church services were even done in Newfoundland Irish on the island.
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Irish poet Donnchadh Ruadh Mac Commara sailed around the island and used Newfoundland Irish in his Irish language poems. By the 1780s, the Irish were the dominant ethnic group of St. John's and by 1815, 19,000 Irish lived in Newfoundland.