Red Green

"If you can't be handsome, be handy" 

Smarting over our defeat in the French and Indian War of the 1750's (The War of The Conquest to those north of Chicago) American's have chosen to remain willfully clueless about our northern neighbors.  The vast majority of Canadians live within 50 miles of the US yet unless they live within 50 miles of Canada, most American can't name the foreign country due south of Detroit, Michigan.

To better know their northern neighbors, the provincial governments of Canada begged Canada's most revered citizen to create and present an educational television program for American's highlighting the best of Canadian culture, sports, and inclusion.  Mr. Red Green accepted, with trepidation, the challenge.

     

If you have ever seen an episode it's unlikely you'll ever forget Red's homespun wisdom (think Andy Griffin), or the friendly faces at Possum Lodge. If like Mrs. T you've missed Red's program most can be found on YouTube.

I remind you of the Red Green show in order to alert you that Red is bringing Canada to the US this spring. Red is going on tour hopefully to a village near you. He doesn't hit Mayberry until May.

Toad

RMS Empress of Ireland

The sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland on the St. Lawrence River, eastbound from Quebec to Liverpool, on this date in 1914 marks the worst maritime accident in Canadian waters.

Sailing in heavy fog, The Empress was hit broadsides by a Swedish coal ship Storstad which gashed the Empress below the waterline, causing her to sink in less than 14 minutes, leaving 1012 passengers and crew dead. She lies at the bottom of the river near Rimouski, Quebec.

Several boards of inquiry were conducted to understand what happened and why. The Canadian and Swedish boards differed of course. One month after the sinking Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated leading to WWI. Meanwhile, The Canadian Pacific Company, owners of the Empress of Ireland were quite content to minimize any bad publicity in order to keep their transoceanic shipping and mail contracts and to minimize passengers fears.

While Canadians were becoming involved with the war effort, the story of the sinking of the Empress was overshadowed by war news and later of the Lusitania's demise. The Empress of Ireland was quickly forgotten.

Toad