Human Rights a Day
By Stephen Hammond
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Podcast Description
Join me every day for Human Rights a Day. It's a journey through 365 Days of Human Rights Celebrations and Tragedies That Inspired Canada and the World. The short 2 minute readings are from my book Steps in the Rights Direction. Meet people who didn't want to be special but chose to stick their neck out and stand up for what they believed and in doing so changed our world. There's still room for you to make a difference. Start each day with something that will inspire and motivate you to take a chance - to make the world better for us all.
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February 10, 1988 - Army's Homosexual Ban | U.S. Court of Appeals overturns Army’s ban on homosexuals. The United States Army had a policy of banning gay men from its ranks. The Army took its lead from the British Articles of War of 1775 and felt no need to update it. Many Americans felt the ban was a throwback to the days of paranoia and misinformation about gay men’s abilities. When women were allowed into the combat ranks of the military, many assumed they were lesbians. It was not until February 10, 1988 that a federal appeals court in San Francisco struck down the military’s ban, saying it was unconstitutional. The argument that banning gays preserved morale and discipline did not persuade the court to deny gay men and lesbians the same rights as other Americans. In subsequent years, some courts ruled in favour of gay and lesbian military personnel, while others upheld the government’s stance. Years later, when Bill Clinton became president, he tried to allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Knowing his decision would be overturned in Congress, however, he agreed to the compromise policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in which theoretically, if a gay or lesbian soldier did not reveal their true sexual orientation, then they would be allowed to serve. In practice, the military continued to seek out the sexual orientation of gay men and lesbians and throw them out of service. | 2/9/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 9, 1971 - Archie Bunker | Archie Bunker’s All in the Family debuts television’s first gay-themed episode. With the exception of television comedian Ernie Kovacs poking fun at an effeminate character he played in the 1950s, it wasn’t until the 1970s that a gay character played on television. It should come as no surprise that the loveable bigot, Archie Bunker from All in the Family, was the one chosen to encounter that character. First aired on February 9, 1971, with the title “Judging Books by Covers,” the program produced by Norman Lear went like this: Archie’s son-in-law, Michael (“Meathead”), brings home his friend Roger who Archie thinks is gay. It turns out he isn’t, but Archie gets a rude awakening when he discovers that his long-time friend and former football star Steve was in fact gay. Bunker had a hard time coming to grips with the notion that his beer-drinking buddy was homosexual as this didn’t fit his stereotype of gay men. For Bunker, this created a dilemma of staying loyal to his friend or abandoning him because of pre-conceived notions. The episode was rather bold of Lear and his crew, especially as All in the Family had been on the air for only a month. Archie’s gay friend, as it turned out, was a one-time event. It would be six years before a recurring gay character showed up on television. That’s when Billy Crystal played gay character Jodie Dallas on the show Soap. | 2/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 8, 1949 - Cardinal Mindszenty | Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. József Pehm was born on March 29, 1892 in Mindszent, Hungary. Years later he would take the name Mindszenty, from his place of birth. He was active in the Catholic Youth Movement in school and became a priest in 1915. His first book, Motherhood, was published in 1917 and his anti-communist and ultra-conservative beliefs got him into trouble more than once. After World War I, in 1919, Mindszenty became active in the newly formed Christian Party and was arrested and served time under house arrest and in jail until 1919. His work in the church continued and in 1944, he was named diocesan bishop of Veszprém by Pope Pius XII. Shortly afterwards he was arrested by the Nazi-controlled government for denouncing the treatment of Jews. When Hungary was liberated by the Soviet’s Red Army in 1945, Mindszenty moved back to Veszprém. He was elevated to Cardinal of Hungary in 1946, just two years before religious orders were banned by the communist government. On December 26, 1948, along with others, Mindszenty was arrested once more, this time for treason and conspiracy for speaking his mind. On February 8, 1949, Mindszenty was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. Condemnation for this from western leaders and the pope was harsh, but to no avail. During the short-lived Hungarian Revolt of 1956, Mindszenty was released from prison. But that lasted only days. As the Soviets quickly crushed the revolt, Mindszenty took sanctuary in the U.S. embassy in Budapest. He stayed in the compound for 15 years until the Vatican worked out a compromise and he was released to Vienna in 1971. He died on May 6, 1975 | 2/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 7, 1971 - Women of Switzerland | Women of Switzerland win the vote. The women of Switzerland got the vote well behind women of most Western nations. In a referendum in 1959, male voters soundly defeated the idea of sharing the vote. However, the next decade spelled dramatic change on that front, and Swiss men finally relented. On February 7, 1971, in a two-to-one majority, Switzerland’s male voters granted women the right to vote in federal elections and to stand for office. While all political parties and most churches and businesses supported the move, women voiced concerns that those who’d voted against them would continue to try and limit women’s roles to “kinder, kirche und kuche” (children, church and kitchen). Today, Swiss women still face major hurdles in politics and government, but a growing number are being elected to public office, and the barriers continue to drop. | 2/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 6, 1921 - Laurier Saumur | Jehovah’s Witness crusader Laurier Saumur born in Gatineau, Quebec. In 1940, two countries had banned the Jehovah’s Witness religion: Nazi Germany and Canada. The man who relentlessly fought the oppression of his religion was Laurier Saumur, born in Gatineau, Quebec on February 6, 1921, one of 14 children. Raised Catholic, he moved to Ottawa at age 18, where his love of reading led him to information about his church he didn’t like. While in Ottawa, he discovered that one of his brothers was in prison for being a member of a banned organization, the Jehovah’s Witnesses. He began questioning his religion and on July 1, 1944 became baptized as a Witness. Witnesses believe in two worlds that exist simultaneously, with most people on earth living in Satan’s world. Witnesses also believe that one day the Earth will be destroyed at Armageddon. Part of the religion includes proselytizing on the street and at people’s doorsteps. However, in the 1940s, fearing a threat to the Catholic church, Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis declared “a war without mercy against the Witnesses of Jehovah.” Quebec City did its part with a by-law requiring the police chief’s permission to hand out pamphlets. Since permission was never forthcoming, Saumur was arrested more than 100 times between the mid 1940s and early 1950s. He challenged the arrests and twice his case went to the Supreme Court of Canada. In 1947 the Supreme Court said the case was out of its jurisdiction, yet in 1953 ruled in Saumur’s favour, saying the by-law infringed on his religious freedoms. In 1949 Saumur married Yvette Ouellette. They chose not to have children so they could devote their time to missionary work, which they did with extensive travel across Canada. Saumur died on March 22, 2007 in Grimsby, Ontario. | 2/5/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 5, 1983 - Klaus Barbie | “Butcher of Lyon” Klaus Barbie is extradited to France for crimes against humanity. Klaus Barbie, born in Germany in 1913 and a member of the Hitler Youth, became known as the “Butcher of Lyon” for his brutality. He was responsible for the torture and murder of thousands of Jews and other prisoners in France during World War II. He headed up Gestapo Department IV in Lyon, France between 1942 and 1944, and after the war, was used by the United States for counter-intelligence work. He then made his way to Bolivia, where he became a citizen and lived for many years under the name Klaus Altmann. Between February 4 and 5, 1983, Barbie was expelled from Bolivia to France, where he was kept in detention in Lyon until his trial began on May 12, 1987. On July 4, 1987, he was found guilty of 17 crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment. Barbie died of leukemia in the prison hospital in Lyon on September 25, 1991. | 2/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 4, 1906 - Gladys Strum | Gladys Strum, pioneer in Saskatchewan and Canadian politics, was born. Gladys Grace Mae Lamb was born on February 4, 1906 in Gladstone, Manitoba. At 16, she became a teacher in Saskatchewan, where she met her husband Warner Strum. Early in their marriage, Warner contracted tuberculosis and Gladys got an understanding of the deficiencies in Canada’s health care system. During travels to New Zealand, Strum gained an appreciation for that country’s progressive health care practices, which prompted her to get involved in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party in Canada. Although defeated in her bids for the legislature in 1938 and 1944 (the latter by six votes to Premier Patterson), Strum was actively involved in Canada’s first socialist government when Tommy Douglas became premier in the June 1944 election. The Saskatchewan CCF elected Strum president, making her the first woman president of a political party in Canada. The following year, she was elected the CCF Member of Parliament for Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan, the only woman in the House of Commons during that session and the fifth woman MP elected to Ottawa. Among other achievements, Strum was successful in convincing the speaker of Parliament that women need no longer wear hats or handkerchiefs in the gallery. She was also famous for her line, “No one has ever objected to women working; the only thing they have ever objected to is paying women for working.” Strum was defeated in 1949. However, she made her way back into politics in 1960 as a member of the Saskatchewan Legislature from Saskatoon. During that session she was proud to vote for the legislation that created Canada’s first socialized medical system. Strum died in Penticton, B.C. on August 15, 2005. | 2/3/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 3, 1960 - "Winds of Change" in Africa | British prime minister speaks of “winds of change” in Africa. On February 3, 1960, when British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan addressed the Houses of Parliament in South Africa, he said “winds of change” were blowing through the continent. This got a rather chilly response from the white minority rulers of South Africa at the time. After all, he seemed to be suggesting that blacks be allowed to run their own affairs, if not their own countries. Macmillan also spoke of the need to "create a society which respects the rights of individuals – a society in which individual merit, and individual merit alone, is the criterion for a man's advancement, whether political or economic." South Africa’s prime minister, Dr. Verwoerd, responded, "We are the people who brought civilisation to Africa… To do justice in Africa means not only being just to the black man of Africa, but also to the white man of Africa." Although it would be another 30 years before blacks were given the vote and the control of their own country, Macmillan was the first of his power and stature to make such comments. | 2/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 2, 1989 - Bill White | Bill White becomes the first black president of baseball’s National League. William DeKova White had an extraordinary baseball career both on and off the field. He spent 13 years as a major-league first baseman with the New York Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1966, White tore his Achilles tendon during a paddle-ball game. It curtailed his baseball career, prompting him to retire from the game entirely in 1969. But he didn’t stray far; he landed a job at a television station that led to work as an on-air sports announcer. When he became the New York Yankees’ play-by-play announcer, he was hailed as America’s first black announcer for a major league team. He held that position for 18 years, until February 2, 1989. That’s when he took a salary cut to become the National League’s first black baseball president, and incidentally the highest-ranking black official in American professional sports. He held the job for five years before retiring. | 2/1/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 1, 1994 - Jewish Teachers | Supreme Court hears case regarding paid time off for Jewish teachers. In 1985, three Jewish teachers by the names of Joseph Kadoch, Louise Elbraz and Jacob Lahmi took an approved, unpaid day's leave of absence to celebrate Yom Kippur. The only trouble was, the three employees of the Quebec School Board in Chambly would have preferred a paid day off. Their union agreed they were entitled to this, and filed a grievance aimed at securing pay for teachers on their holy days off work. The labour arbitration found that the school board had discriminated against the teachers and should have granted them paid leave. The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where the judges heard it on February 1, 1994. Five months later, they (like the arbitrators) ruled against the school board and in favour of the teachers and their union. The Supreme Court justices noted that the school board was able to accommodate these teachers without undue hardship, and already had an established history of granting all teachers paid days off if they had a “good or valid” reason. The decision is regarded as a significant victory for Canadians outside of the traditional Protestant and Catholic faiths. | 1/31/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 31, 1958 - James Gladstone | James Gladstone becomes Canada's first aboriginal senator. James Gladstone’s aboriginal name was Akay Namuka, which translates to “Many Guns.” Born May 21, 1887 near Mountain Hill, Northwest Territories, he was a member of the Blood Reserve in Alberta. After completing his schooling, Gladstone apprenticed as a printer, worked as an interpreter and eventually landed an RCMP position as “chief scout and interpreter.” Then he drifted for a while before taking up farming. Soon, he busied himself incorporating modern farming methods into his toil, encouraging others on his reserve to do the same, and establishing various business ventures with his sons. In 1949, he became president of the Indian Association of Alberta, where he was credited by some with bringing the federal vote to Treaty Indians in 1960. In 1957, newly elected Prime Minister John Diefenbaker made good on his pledge to appoint an Indian to Canada’s Upper Chamber by tapping Gladstone for the Senate. On January 31, 1958, Gladstone was officially sworn in. During his time in the Senate, Gladstone worked to create a better life for aboriginal people. Ironically, due to his First Nations status, he was denied the ability to vote in federal elections, until that was changed two years later. Gladstone retired from the Senate on March 3, 1971 and died six months later at the age of 84. On October, 2001 Gladstone was honoured for his years of service with the unveiling of a sculpture in the Senate on 25 October, 2001. | 1/30/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 30, 1948 - Mahatma Ghandi | India's "father of the nation," Mahatma Ghandi, assassinated. Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi, born on October 2, 1869, went to England to study law at the age of 19, where he was shunned by fellow students for being Indian. After completing his law degree, he returned to India for two years before moving to South Africa, where he became the first “colored” lawyer to be admitted to the bar. During his 20 years in South Africa, Ghandi initiated peaceful protests against racism, which evolved into efforts to end British rule when he headed back to India in 1914. There, he led the Indian National Congress Party, spearheaded protests and began a campaign of non-cooperation with the British. Although his activities landed him in prison for two years, they eventually led to India’s independence in 1947. Unfortunately, the victory was tempered by a split amongst Muslims that resulted in the formation of Pakistan. The violence that subsequently erupted many times between the Hindus and Muslims took a great toll on Ghandi. On January 30, 1948, he was on his way to a prayer meeting when he was assassinated by a fellow Hindu who felt betrayed. Ghandi, known as Mahatma or “great soul,” was the father of his country and remains an international symbol for peaceful protest. | 1/29/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 29, 1939 - Germaine Greer | Author of the Female Eunuch, Germaine Greer is born in Melbourne. Germaine Greer became known as one of the defining authors and speakers of the feminist movement in the 1970s due to her first book, The Female Eunuch. Greer was born on January 29, 1939 in Melbourne, Australia and was educated in a convent. Her post-secondary education earned her degrees at Melbourne and Sydney Universities before she attended Newnham College, a women’s college at the University of Cambridge in England on a scholarship. After receiving her PhD in 1967, she stayed in England to lecture in English at Warwick University until 1973. While there, Greer published the Female Eunuch in 1970 and it immediately became a best seller. Since that time it has been translated into numerous languages and continues to be sold around the world. The controversy of the book came from Greer’s frank talk and explicit language about women’s sexuality and how the traditional family repressed women, turning them into eunuchs. Greer was quoted as saying, “I have always been principally interested in men for sex. I've always thought any sane woman would be a lover of women because loving men is such a mess. I have always wished I'd fall in love with a woman. Damn.” But her language garnered more than just criticism. While speaking in New Zealand in 1972 she was fined $40 for swearing. Greer continues to write books and articles, and is a regular commentator, not only calling women to action, but encouraging men and women to challenge conventional roles. Greer, an avowed anarchist, has lived and worked in Italy, England and the United States. | 1/28/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 28, 1916 - Manitoba Women | Manitoba becomes Canada’s first province to give women the vote. The mostly upper-class women involved in the early days of Canada’s women’s movement viewed universal suffrage (the vote) as a tool to strengthen good, Protestant values in Canada. Their fight, of course, was a lengthy one, and led to a patchwork of results. Involved in the process were women of the Dominion Women’s Enfranchisement Association and the National Council of Women, where between 1890 and 1900 they introduced a number of bills for provincial suffrage that were all defeated in the legislatures of Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Quebec. The campaigns, political alliances and tactics continued into the new century, but that didn’t change much for almost another generation. Of course the vote did come to women and it started in Manitoba. After years of battles with Manitoba politicians, suffragettes like Nellie McClung – a long-time Manitoban and member of the Women’s Christian Temperance – could celebrate. On January 28, 1916, the government of Manitoba amended the Election Act, finally granting women the right to vote. Manitoba was the first province to give women the vote. It would be decades before all women throughout Canada joined them at the voting booth. Women in Saskatchewan and Alberta got the vote in 1916; followed by women in B.C. and Ontario in 1917, Nova Scotia in 1918, New Brunswick and the Yukon in 1919, P.E.I. in 1922, Newfoundland in 1925, Quebec in 1940 and finally women in the North West Territories in 1951. All aboriginals, including women, only got the right to the vote federally in 1960. | 1/27/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 27, 1959 - Maurice Duplessis | Supreme Court rules against Premier Duplessis for punishing Jehovah’s Witness. Years ago, many people regarded the Witnesses of Jehovah as a radical Christian sect, especially in Quebec, where they were very critical of the Roman Catholic church. During World War II, Quebecors banned Jehovah’s Witnesses as an organization and imprisoned Witnesses practicing their beliefs. After the war, Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis did everything in his power to put a stop to this group. In 1945, provincial authorities carried out large scale arrests of young Witness men and women as they broke local by-laws by handing out their magazines. Montreal restaurateur Frank Roncarelli gave legal assurances for each arrest and by November 12, 1946, he had posted about 380 sureties. Later that month, Premier Duplessis, who also served as Quebec’s attorney general, ordered the head of the Quebec Liquor Commission, Edouard Archambault, to revoke the liquor license at Roncarelli’s restaurant Quaff. This was despite the fact that Roncarelli and his father had held the license for 34 years. Since Roncarelli was clearly being punished for supporting the Witnesses, the message was clear that other supporters would suffer. Without a liquor license, Roncarelli lost his business, which prompted him to personally sue the premier. He not only won more than $8,000 in damages, but on January 27, 1959 the Supreme Court of Canada upheld that decision and upped the award by $25,000. Some judges used harsh words, one describing Duplessis of “gross abuse of legal power.” With legal expenses, the premier was ordered to pay $46,132 personally. Roncarelli moved to the United States to work for a highway construction company. He died on September 26, 1981 in Groton, Connecticut. | 1/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 26, 1990 - Donald Marshall | Racism caused 11 years of wrongful imprisonment for Donald Marshall, judge rules. When he was 17 years old, a Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq First Nations named Donald Marshall Jr. and his friend Sandy Seale tried to rob a man who pulled a knife on them, killing Seale. Marshall was convicted of the murder and spent 11 years in jail before the actual killer bragged about his actions, leading the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to quash the conviction. Marshall became part of a process that exposed racism in the Nova Scotia police and judicial system. On January 26, 1990, the report of the Royal Commission on Donald Marshall, Jr. was released with harsh words for the entire justice system. The judges filing the report found grave injustices for non-Caucasians, especially black and Mi’kmaq Canadians. Their findings spotlighted complete incompetence, investigations designed to support their theory and discount others, police using oppressive tactics on witnesses, and Crown lawyers failing to disclose statements from witnesses supporting Marshall. Racism was at the heart of the problem, and Nova Scotia took action to repair some of the damage. | 1/25/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 25, 2007 - Quebec "Standards" | Quebec town adopts popular “standards” that challenge religious differences. Although in 2007 all residents of Hérouxville, Quebec had been born in Canada, the town council decided the community would welcome immigrants – as long as any immigrants followed the town’s clearly established and democratically elected rules. On January 25, 2007, the mayor and six councillors of this rural community of 1,300 adopted a set of “standards” that included the following: “We would like to invite, without discrimination, in the future, all people from outside…to move to this territory. ‘Without discrimination’ means to us, without regard to race or to the colour of skin, mother tongue spoken, sexual orientation, religion or any other form of beliefs.” Prospective newcomers were told, “the lifestyle that they left behind in their birth country cannot be brought here with them and they would have to adapt to their new social identity.” The standards went on to state, “We consider that killing women in public beatings, or burning them alive are not part of our standards of life.” Newcomers were told to prepare for Christmas celebrations in schools and public places. On more than one occasion it was spelled out that men and women were equal and they could interact, work and even swim together. And despite a ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada a year earlier allowing Sikh boys to wear the kirpan to school, the standards stated, “Children cannot carry any weapons real or fake, symbolic or not.” While these standards were condemned by human rights groups, they were met with widespread popularity throughout Quebec. This issue of accommodating persons with religious and cultural differences became an election issue and was significant in reducing the governing Quebec Liberal party to minority status in the March 2007 election. | 1/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 24, 1965 - Sir Winston Churchill | Sir Winston Churchill dies at age 90. Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England on November 30, 1874. Known as one of the great statesmen of the 20th century, he was also an accomplished writer and painter. Churchill was born into the British aristocracy, and his childhood entailed boarding schools, poor marks and distant parents. After a short stint in the Army, in 1900 Churchill followed in his father’s footsteps to become a Conservative member of Parliament (MP). He soon became politically disenchanted, however, and crossed the floor to sit as a Liberal. He served in cabinet, including as first lord of the admiralty, into World War I. He re-joined the Conservatives at the end of the war, and stayed there. In cabinet during World War II when Prime Minster Chamberlain resigned, Churchill took the helm and led his country to victory. Although his government was subsequently defeated in 1945, he returned to power in 1951 and stayed until he resigned in 1955. He stayed on as an MP until a year before his death. Churchill wrote many books and in 1953 won the Nobel prize in literature "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." In 1963, U.S. President Kennedy named Churchill the first honorary citizen of the United States. Two years later, on January 24, 1965, Churchill died. | 1/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 23, 1996 - Religious School Funding | Supreme Court of Canada rules against expanding religious school funding. Susie Adler argued what she felt was a legitimate case: If Ontario fully funds Catholic and Protestant schools, why are schools that are run by other religions in the province not entitled to the same support? Adler linked up with fellow Jewish parents and the Ontario Alliance of Christian School Societies to take the government of Ontario to court. Why? Because their charter rights had been violated, she claimed. While the group lost their cases at all levels of courts including the Ontario court of appeal, Adler and her colleagues were given a chance at the Supreme Court of Canada. They made their arguments there on January 23 and 24, 1996. Ten months later, the court weighed in, dismissing their case and ruling that the Ontario government is not obliged to give funding to these private schools. While Ontario and Quebec specifically protect their Protestant and Catholic minorities, the court stated, this is part of a compromise that need not be extended to other religions. Governments may choose to give such funding, the court continued, but they are not required to do so. | 1/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 22, 1979 - Edward Schreyer | Former Manitoba Premier Edward Schreyer becomes Canada’s Governor General. Edward Schreyer was Manitoba’s NDP premier between 1969 and 1977. A strong advocate of social democratic principles, he was a surprise pick for most Canadians when Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau appointed him Canada’s governor general. Schreyer was sworn in on January 22, 1979 – at the age of 43, Canada’s third youngest to take on the role. Prior to his appointment, all the queen’s representatives and heads of state had been “Canadian blue bloods” and/or individuals highly ensconced in the political sphere. The new Manitoban dignitary was anything but. Schreyer, with Ukrainian roots and a Catholic, was the first leader of the Manitoba CCF/NDP who was not of an Anglo-Saxon and Protestant background. His government was foremost in Canada regarding legislation in sustainable energy, the environment, as well as pharmaceutical care. His focus on environmental issues led to the creation of the Governor General's Conservation Awards in 1981. After his term ended in 1984, Schreyer announced that funds from the first five years of his governor general’s pension would go to the Canadian Shield Foundation to further its work with plant life in the Canadian Shield. Shortly after stepping down as governor general, Schreyer – never one to let grass grow under his feet – was appointed Canada’s high commissioner to Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu from 1984-88.When he returned home he and his wife Lily moved back to Manitoba where he served on various boards and foundations before unsuccessfully attempting to make a return to politics. | 1/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 21, 2004 - Juliet O'Neill | RCMP raids home of journalist Juliet O’Neill, prompting widespread condemnation. Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O’Neill was writing about the imprisonment and torture of Canadian Maher Arar, who spent a year in a Syrian prison after being detained in the United States and sent to Syria due to information given to them by Canadian officials. The issue became more than just an embarrassment for the Canadian government as questions arose about the information Canadian officials had given the U.S. In the end, Arar was exonerated with an apology and an $11.5 million settlement from the Canadian government. On January 21, 2004, 10 RCMP officers raided O’Neill’s home, taking copies of her computer files along with notebooks, address books and other documents. They were investigating a possible breach of the Security of Information Act and implicating O’Neill in criminal activity. Worldwide condemnation by organizations devoted to freedom of the press followed immediately. PEN Canada for Freedom of Expression expressed outrage at the Canadian police actions. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Vienna-based International Press Institute also had harsh words for Canada’s Prime Minister Paul Martin and the RCMP. The Ottawa Citizen went to court, demanding their documents and those of O’Neill returned. In October of 2006 an Ontario judge granted most of their demands and had harsh words for the RCMP. Judge Ratushny wrote the RCMP’s allegations of criminality by O’Neill was, “abusive conduct… that amounts to an intimidation of the press and an infringement of the constitutional right of freedom of the press.” The judge further ruled that certain actions of the RCMP “offend the public's sense of decency and fairness and does undermine the integrity of the judicial process.” | 1/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 20, 2005 - Norman Kwong | Norman L. Kwong of Calgary installed as Alberta’s 16th Lieutenant Governor. Norman Kwong was born in Calgary, 1929 to parents who had immigrated to Canada from China years earlier. In high school, Kwong took a liking to football and at the age of 18 in 1948 joined the Calgary Stampeders Football Club as a halfback. In doing so, he became the first Chinese Canadian player on a Canadian Football League team (CFL) and the youngest on a team that won the Grey Cup. He played for Calgary for three years before being traded to the Edmonton Eskimos for another 10. His career was a spectacular one. Known as the “China Clipper,” he broke numerous records and won many awards. In 1955 and 1956, Kwong won the Schenley Award (given to the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian player). In 1955 he won Canada’s Athlete of the Year. He retired from professional football in 1960 but came back almost three decades later to become president and general manager of his first team, the Stampeders. In 1998 Kwong was awarded the Order of Canada. Seven years later, on January 20, 2005, Kwong was installed as Alberta’s lieutenant governor, the first Chinese Canadian to hold the Alberta post. | 1/19/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 19, 1966 - Indira Gandhi | Indira Gandhi wins Congress Party support to become India’s first woman prime minister. Indira Gandhi was born into a political family. Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was India’s first prime minister, following independence from British rule in 1947. She was schooled in West Bengal and Oxford, and married Feroze Gandhi, a lawyer who rose to prominence in Indian politics before his death in 1960. Like her father, her husband and the most famous of Indians, Mohandas Ghandi (no relation), she was always actively involved in the Congress Party. When India’s prime minister died suddenly four days before the leadership contest, Gandhi put her name forward to lead the party. On January 19, 1966, she won the support of 355 of the Congress Party’s MPs, in sharp contrast to the 169 who supported former Finance Minister Morarji Desai. She became India’s first woman prime minister, leader of the largest democracy on Earth. Although she also won the general elections in 1967 and 1971, 1977 proved her first election loss. She’d just been convicted of corruption and creating a two-year state of emergency during which she imprisoned opponents and severely limited the media. In 1984, four years after returning to politics, she ordered the storming of the Sikh holy Golden Temple in order to arrest Punjab militants taking refuge inside. She paid for the decision with her life. Outraged about the damage done to their sacred temple, her two Sikh bodyguards killed her in November 1984. | 1/19/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 18, 2001 - Robert Latimer | Supreme Court upholds Robert Latimer’s 10-year sentence for murdering daughter Tracy. When Robert Latimer killed his daughter on October 24, 1993, some called him compassionate while others called him a murderer. Tracy Latimer was 12 years old at the time of her death. Due to a lifetime of severe cerebral palsy, she weighed 40 pounds, was a quadriplegic, had the mental capacity of a four-month-old baby and was unable to walk, talk or feed herself. Her mother and father witnessed her five to six seizures a day and felt she endured excruciating pain. Doctors suggested surgery to allow for tube feeding and perhaps better management of her pain, but the Latimers refused, thinking of this as mutilation and the continuity of her suffering. Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer, placed his daughter in their pickup truck and ran a hose from the exhaust pipe into the cab. Initially, Latimer told authorities Tracy had passed away in her sleep, but he later confessed to his actions. He was convicted of second-degree murder but the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a second trial when they discovered the prosecution had interfered in the jury selection. In late 1997, a second jury came down with the same conviction, but recommended parole after just one year in prison. Judge Ted Noble gave Latimer a “constitutional exemption” of a sentence of less than two years, one of those years to be served in the community. On January 18, 2001 the Supreme Court of Canada rejected his shortened sentence, ordering Latimer to serve the full 10-year minimum before being eligible for parole. The court said murder was not his only option. Any consideration of mercy was left up to Parliament, not the courts. Latimer will be eligible for day parole in 2007 and full parole in December 2010. | 1/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 17, 1974 - Pauline McGibbon | Ontario’s Pauline McGibbon is appointed the Commonwealth’s first woman lieutenant governor. Pauline Emily Mills was born in Sarnia, Ontario on October 20, 1910. She married her high school love, Donald McGibbon, in 1933, with whom she graduated from the University of Toronto’s Victoria College. At a time when women were just starting to break through gender barriers, McGibbon achieved many firsts. She was the first woman chancellor of the University of Guelph and the first woman chancellor of the University of Toronto. When she sat on the boards of George Weston, IBM, Imasco and Mercedes-Benz, she was the first woman to do so. On January 17, 1974, when the Canadian government announced that Mills would sit as Ontario’s lieutenant governor, she made history three times over. Not only was she the province’s and Canada’s first female to take on the vice-regal’s role, but she was the first in the entire Commonwealth. She held the position from April 10, 1974 until 1980. Before, during and after her post as the queen’s representative, McGibbon was actively involved in arts and cultural activities, chalking up yet another first in 1972 as the first woman president of the Canadian Conference of the Arts. McGibbon suffered a stroke in 1995 and died in Toronto in December 2001. | 1/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 16, 1979 - Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi | Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi flees Iran as Islamic Ayatollah takes control. In 1941, Britain and the Soviet Union invaded Iran to replace the Iranian monarch, the shah of Iran, with his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. The new shah reigned over his country with limited powers until 1953, when his supporters – helped by the British and American governments – removed the country’s prime minister in a coup. In the 1960s, the shah brought in reforms in an effort to liberalize the country. He also chose to take strong action against the growing tide of Muslim support. In 1963, the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini was imprisoned, then exiled for his opposition to the shah’s regime. For every act of opposition, the shah would bring in stronger measures, violating human rights in order to hold onto power. With the Ayatollah receiving considerable support in exile, the battle lines were drawn. Near the end of his regime, the shah imposed martial law, but it was not enough to dissuade the Ayatollah’s supporters from enacting massive strikes in the country’s lucrative oil fields. On January 16, 1979, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and his wife, Empress Farah, left Tehran for Egypt, never to return. The Ayatollah returned from exile in France, and he and his Islamic Council took control of Iran and imposed a strict state of Islamic law. The shah died in Egypt in 1980. | 1/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 15, 1973 - Richard Nixon | U.S. President Richard Nixon orders ceasefire in Vietnam. With the deaths of more than 900,000 North Vietnamese, 180,000 South Vietnamese, 5,000 foreign Allies and 45,000 Americans, President Richard Nixon called for an end of his government’s bombing of North Vietnam and adjoining countries on January 15, 1973. That ended 18 years of American involvement in Vietnam, marked by an ever escalating military presence aimed at stopping the Viet Cong from getting a country-wide communist hold. Nixon decided to cut his losses – end a losing battle – when his National Security Affairs assistant, Dr. Henry Kissinger, returned from peace negotiations in France with a draft proposal. The proposal outlined the ceasefire, withdrawal of troops within two months of signing, the simultaneous release of prisoners, plans to ensure peace between North and South Vietnam, and a U.S. pledge to contribute to their economic restructuring. Kissinger then returned to Paris to secure the ceasefire that took effect midnight of January 27. North and South became one, with all of Vietnam coming under control of the communists on April 30, 1975. Shocking tales of human rights abuses began emerging after the war from all sides. These included reports of Vietnamese who supported the Americans being subjected to horrendous treatment and death. | 1/15/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 14, 1963 - George Wallace | Segregationist George C. Wallace is sworn in as governor of Alabama. George Corley Wallace was born in Clio, Alabama in 1919 and graduated from the University of Alabama Law School in 1942. Following a brief military stint, he found his legal work taking him into politics. Initially elected to the Alabama legislature and bench as a judge, the long-time Democrat was defeated in his race for governor in 1958. His opponent had the support of the Ku Klux Klan, an endorsement Wallace refused. But Wallace was so devastated by his defeat, that he quickly adopted the racist views of the majority. In the next race for governor, he promoted segregation and small government – and was sworn in on January 14, 1963 after garnering more votes than any previous governor in Alabama. In his inaugural speech, Wallace pledged “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." Federal interference blocked Wallace from keeping the pledge, but he was elected four times as governor and ran the same number of times for U.S. president. Following an assassination attempt in 1972, he was paralyzed from the waist down. And yet, after many years in and out of politics – and after rescinding his segregationist stance with a public apology – Wallace was elected governor once again in 1982. He clinched the title thanks to majority support from the African American community. He died in September 1998. | 1/14/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 13, 1984 - Ann Cools | Ann Cools becomes Canada’s first black senator. Born in Barbados in 1943, Anne Cools moved to Montreal at the age of 13. She graduated from McGill University with a bachelor of arts and worked at various academic institutions. Early on in her career, she demonstrated a passion for advocacy, taking on issues such as domestic violence and violence against women. An active member of Canada’s Liberal Party, she ran for the House of Commons in both 1979 and 1980 in Toronto. Her work inspired Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to appoint her to the Senate on January 13, 1984. It was a proud moment for blacks to hail Canada’s first black senator. But among her fellow Liberals, Cools was controversial. They regarded her stands on family issues as anything but “liberal.” She worked against expanding the definition of family, and opposed legislation that seemed to work against fathers’ rights. She was recognized by a number of organizations, including REAL Women, (Realistic, Equal, Active, for Life) for promoting family values. On June 8, 2004, Cools joined the Opposition in the Senate by sitting as a Conservative senator. | 1/13/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 12, 1959 - Helen Vanderburg Shaw | Synchronized swimmer Helen Vanderburg Shaw is born in Calgary, Alberta. Helen Vanderburg Shaw was born in Calgary, Alberta on January 12, 1959. From an early age, she showed amazing talent as a synchronized swimmer. In 1973, Vanderburg Shaw won the Canadian Junior Championships; in 1977 she took first place at the Pan Pacific Games and earned six gold medals at the Canadian Championships. But Calgary’s phenomenal teen swimmer was just warming up. In 1978 at the World Aquatic Games in Berlin, she became the first Canadian to win the World Championships, taking gold medals in both the solo and duet events. In fact, with partner Michelle Caulkins, she was the first non-American to win both events in the same competition. She repeated her win the next year at the 1979 Pan Am Games in Puerto Rico, and at the International Swimming Federation (FINA) World Cup in Tokyo. Vanderburg Shaw was elected Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year in both 1978 and 1979. She was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, and into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1979, at the tender age of 20, Vanderburg Shaw retired from professional sport and earned a degree in physical education. She’s now a businesswoman in the physical fitness industry. | 1/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 11, 2001 - Jehovah's Witness | B.C. Human Rights Tribunal rules that a Jehovah’s Witness not required to display Christmas décor at work. Ray Jones worked for a Victoria, B.C.’s Shoppers Drug Mart store for 16 years. As a Jehovah’s Witness, he was never expected to display Christmas decorations, since his religion forbade the celebration and promotion of this Christian event. So in November 1998, when his supervisor asked him to put out six poinsettias, Jones refused. The supervisor’s reaction to his refusal led Jones to quit his job. He ended up at the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, which on January 11, 2001 ruled in his favour, confirming that his employer should have accommodated his religious beliefs. The tribunal ruled that the task of putting out the poinsettias took only 10 seconds, and the refusal of Jones to do so did not constitute “undue hardship” for the store. When Jones was awarded more than $30,000, it garnered headlines across Canada. However, the court awarded more than $27,000 of that amount for lost wages, as is the norm for long-term employees who are wrongfully, or in this case, constructively dismissed. | 1/11/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 10, 2004 - Spalding Gray | Actor, screenwriter, monologist Spalding Gray kills self during a depression. On January 10, 2004, Spalding Gray was to have flown to Aspen, Colorado from New York, but his flight was cancelled. Instead, he took his two boys, Theo and Forrest, to see the movie Big Fish, about a dying father and his relationship with his son. After the movie, he said he was going to visit friends, but never reached their home. Two months later, on March 9th, Gray’s body was pulled out of the East River. Spalding Gray was born in Barrington, Rhode Island on June 5, 1941, one of three boys to a homemaker mother and factory worker father. Gray began acting in high school and carried on in regional theatres until moving to New York where he created plays based on his childhood memories. By 1979 Gray had launched a new kind of performance art becoming known as a “monologist.” He would tell stories using minimal props, such as a desk, water and some notes. He spoke openly with darkness and humour about his life, including his infidelity and his battle with depression. His own mother, suffering from depression, had killed herself at the age of 52. Gray spoke to audiences of his deep depression as he approached the same age. He performed his craft in large theatres and on Broadway, as well as in many movies. In 2001, while on vacation in Ireland, his family and others were in a van that crashed. Gray was the only one not wearing a seatbelt. Depressed at the slow pace of his recovery, he said on a number of occasions that he would kill himself. When he finally did so on January 10, 2004, he was 62 years old. (Note: Health Canada states that approximately eight per cent of adult Canadians are affected by a major depression at some time in their life.) | 1/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 9, 1979 - "Fetal Viability" | U.S. Supreme Court rules that doctors, not legislators, determine “fetal viability.” The heated debate in the United States regarding the rights of fetuses and pregnant women was fought on many fronts. In January 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the most debated case of all, Roe vs. Wade, declaring that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy is more important than a state’s right to restrict abortions. The same day, another court ruling brought an end to restrictions on abortion facilities. Despite that, various states attempted to prevent or restrict abortions in other ways. Pennsylvania passed a law requiring doctors to try to preserve the life of a fetus during an abortion, where feasible. However, on January 9, 1979 in a six to three ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the state in Colautti vs. Franklin. This upheld doctors’ unfettered discretion in determining "fetal viability," granting doctors and not the courts or legislatures the right to determine when a fetus is able to live outside a woman’s womb. | 1/9/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 8, 1998 - Newfoundland Public Schools | Newfoundland moves into a non-denominational public school system. For many years, Newfoundland’s public school system was controlled by religious institutions. In fact, when Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949, the schools were controlled by seven religious denominations: Catholic, Anglican, United, Moravian, Presbyterian, Salvation Army and Seventh-day Adventist. In 1987, the constitutional right to full funding under Term 17 was extended to Pentecostals as well. While there was a certain level of opposition to churches controlling the school system, and there were definite costs to having separate systems, it was sexual abuse scandals that came to light in the 1980s and 1990s that persuaded Newfoundlanders it was time for a separation of church and state when it came to education. Premier Brian Tobin called a referendum for September 2, 1997 and despite fierce opposition from some churches, 73 per cent of the public voted in favour of creating a single non-denominational public school system. While the vote was decisive, not everyone accepted it. Alice Furlong, vice chairman of St. John’s Catholic Education Association, said, "If this were done to another minority in Canada, there would be outrage." Because the new law involved a change to Canada’s constitution, any resolution needed the consent of the Newfoundland legislature, the Canadian House of Commons and the Senate. Newfoundland acted quickly, passing the resolution three days after the referendum, and the Canadian Parliament and Senate followed in December. On January 8, 1998, the governor general signed the constitutional change, bringing all public schools under the control of a non-denominational system. | 1/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 7, 1991 - Frank Iacobucci | Justice Frank Iacobucci appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Frank Iacobucci was born the son of Italian immigrants in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 29, 1937. Although he initially aspired to become a doctor, his dislike of blood led him to contemplate other options. When an elementary principal compared the talkative student to a lawyer, he never looked back. Iacobucci graduated from the University of B.C. and Cambridge University before being called to the bar in Ontario in 1970. He began teaching at the University of Toronto in 1967, gradually working his way up to dean of the law school. In 1985, Iacobucci became Canada’s deputy minister of justice and deputy attorney general. Just three years later he was appointed chief justice of the Federal Court of Canada. He achieved the apex of his career on January 7, 1991, when he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Iacobucci held that position until his retirement from the bench in 2004. Although he was honoured with numerous awards over his lifetime, Iacobucci – always proud of his Italian heritage – cherished his honorary citizenships from the Italian towns of Mongone and Abruzzo, the hometowns of his mother and father. | 1/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 6, 1936 - Barbara Hanley | Barbara Hanley becomes Canada’s first woman mayor. Barbara McCallum Smith was born in 1882 in Magnetewan, Ontario. She became a public school teacher, working in a few communities before settling in the northern Ontario town of Webbwood. There she married Joseph Hanley and they adopted a daughter. Hanley was an active member of the Webbwood community before getting into public office, first as a school trustee and then as the first woman town councillor. On January 6, 1936, she became Canada’s first woman mayor, defeating Robert E. Streich for Webbwood’s top job. Hanley served for eight terms before stepping down in 1944. However, she carried on as clerk/treasurer for Webbwood from 1946 until 1950. She died in 1959 at the age of 76. | 1/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 5, 1982 - Elizabeth Bagshaw | Elizabeth Catherine Bagshaw was born on a farm in Victoria County, Ontario in October 1881. A bright student with an excellent memory, Bagshaw decided at 16 she would be a doctor. She enrolled at the Women’s Medical College in Toronto and achieved her undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto. When her father died, she briefly returned to Victoria County and attempted to run the family farm. But she encountered so much sexism from the farm workers that she fired them all, sold the farm, moved to Toronto and graduated from medical school in 1905. Although it was tough for women to land a medical internship at the time, Bagshaw managed to intern with another woman pioneer in Canadian medicine, Dr. Emma Leila Skinner whose practice was mostly in maternity work. In 1906, Bagshaw moved to Hamilton to practice medicine, specializing in obstetrics. Between 1932 and 1966, she served as medical director of Canada’s first birth control clinic. Although birth control was illegal and faced great opposition from doctors and local churches, every Friday afternoon, Bagshaw dispensed information, jellies and condoms to women. She must have rejoiced when the clinic finally became legal in 1969. Bagshaw’s honours include the Order of Canada, Hamilton’s Citizen of the Year, an honorary doctorate of laws and many others. She closed her practice at the age of 95, and on her 99th birthday viewed a movie about her life by the National Film Board of Canada. On January 5, 1982, the esteemed doctor died at the age of 100. | 1/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 4, 1932 - Moses Alexander | Moses Alexander was born in 1853 in Bavaria, the youngest of eight children. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1867, settling in with two sisters before moving on to Missouri, where he got involved in the retail clothing business and politics. In 1891 he moved to Boise, Idaho to open a number of clothing stores. There, he was instrumental in opening Boise’s first synagogue and getting elected as mayor. After two mayoral terms and several attempts at the governorship, Alexander became governor of Idaho in 1914 – the first Jewish person to hold such a post in the United States. During his two terms as governor, he strongly supported giving women the vote and instituting prohibition. He chose not to run after his second term, focusing instead on his businesses and family. But he remained actively involved in the National Democratic Party, where he was a sought-after speaker until his death of a heart attack on January 4, 1932. | 1/3/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 3, 1992 - Miss Canada Pageant | The Miss Canada beauty pageant kicked off in 1946 with a swimsuit contest in Hamilton, Ontario. For years, the pageant featured only contestants from Ontario, but gradually it grew into a national event first televised in 1963. Women were rated on their looks, poise, body and “unique talents.” Winners of the Miss Canada title went on to compete in the Miss World pageant. Canada’s Karen Baldwin thrilled many by clinching the world title in 1982. Although the Canadian pageant scored high television ratings, the women’s movement took umbrage with the way it represented women. Judy Rebick of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women stated on a CBC newscast, "Beauty pageants are a symbol of the exploitation and oppression of women." Their groundswell of protests resulted in the production being terminated on January 3, 1992. That year, B.C.’s Nicole Dunsden became the last Miss Canada. In pulling the plug, event managers cited increased production costs and financial losses. | 1/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 2, 1938 - Norman Bethune | Born in Gravenhurst, Ontario on March 3, 1890, Norman Bethune interrupted his education when he enlisted in World War I. Following his experience there as a stretcher-bearer, he returned to complete his M.D. in 1916. As a young doctor, he became disillusioned to see patients he’d saved return to their same, filthy conditions – conditions he considered a virtual death sentence. When Bethune and colleagues pushed for socialized medicine in Canada, they were labelled radicals. That didn’t stop him from setting up a free clinic in Montreal and continuing to push for reform. In time, his work and studies took him to the Soviet Union and Spain. When he returned to Canada in 1937, Bethune embarked on a cross-country tour to raise money for humanitarian work in Spain. On January 2, 1938, Bethune left Vancouver, B.C. for China, where he set up more than 20 teaching and nursing hospitals and established the world’s first mobile medical unit. He also worked with the Red Army in their battle against Japan. Tragically, however, the great humanitarian doctor contracted blood poisoning while operating on a Chinese soldier, and died on November 12, 1939. To this day, Bethune is honoured and revered in China. In March 1990, the Canadian and Chinese governments celebrated the centenary of Bethune’s birth by jointly issuing commemorative stamps. His dream of socialized medicine for Canada came true in the 1960s. | 1/1/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 1, 1919 - Canadian Women Right to Vote | The right to vote in Canada evolved like a two-steps-forward, one-step-back dance. The government allowed, then rescinded the vote before deciding to grant it conditionally; it depended on one’s property holdings, race, ethnicity and gender. Before Confederation in 1867, women may have been allowed to vote, but in many regions, they dared not exercise it for fear of social stigma. However, in places where the vote was taken away or never granted, women in the movement for universal suffrage worked long and hard to win the rights that most men took for granted. Interestingly, in 1917, women of British descent who had close relatives fighting overseas in World War I, were able to vote on their relatives’ behalf in federal elections. It was on January 1, 1919 that all white women were finally given the right to vote in federal elections. By then, a few provinces (such as Manitoba since1916) were also allowing women to vote. The right to a provincial vote spread slowly but steadily after that – Quebec women finally clinching it in 1940. | 12/31/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 31, 2004 - "Tugboat Annie" | Lucille Johnstone, known as "Tugboat Annie," dies. Lucille Johnstone was born in 1924 in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she lived her whole life. She became a certified general accountant at a time when few women attained professional education, and launched into a 45-year career with RivTow, a male-dominated group of companies that towed barges and boats on the waterways of British Columbia. As she rose through the ranks to president, she gained the nickname “Tugboat Annie.” Her business career also extended to serving on the boards of Expo ’86, Grace Hospital, Vancouver International Airport and the Vancouver Board of Trade. Johnstone was also admired for her community work. She served as chair of the Kwantlen College fund drive and of the Sexual Assault Recovery Anonymous Society. At one time, she also served as executive director and CEO of St. John’s Ambulance. Her business and community work earned Johnstone an honorary doctorate from the University of B.C., the Order of B.C., the YWCA Woman of the Year and in 2003, the Order of Canada. Johnstone died on December 31, 2004. | 12/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 30, 1994 - Israel & the Vatican | The Vatican and Israel worked out a 15-point agreement in which the Holy See established full diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. | 12/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 29, 1977 - Sandra Lovelace Nicholas | Sandra Lovelace Nicholas takes First Nations women’s injustice to the United Nations. Sandra Lovelace Nicholas was born on April 15, 1948, a Maliseet from the Tobique Nation in New Brunswick. When she married a white man, she lost her Indian status in the eyes of Canadian law, as per the Indian Act. That meant she and her children were denied housing, education and other benefits from her own band. Worse, even after she was divorced, she was not able to regain her Indian status. Two other women, Yvonne Bedard and Jeannette Lavell, had previously fought this unjust law and lost at the Supreme Court of Canada, so Lovelace Nicholas avoided that route. Instead, she took her case directly to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. There, on December 29, 1977, she declared that the Indian Act was violating women aboriginals’ rights under the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Four years later, the UN agreed, but it took several more years of debate and lobbying before the persistence of Lovelace Nicholas and other First Nations women paid off. In 1985, the federal government reinstated the rights of First Nations women and their children. For her work, Lovelace Nicholas was awarded the Order of Canada, then appointed to the Senate on September 21, 2005 by Prime Minister Paul Martin. | 12/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 28, 1967 - Muriel Siebert | Muriel Siebert breaks the gender barrier at the New York Stock Exchange. When Muriel Siebert opened her firm Muriel Siebert & Co. on December 28, 1967, she became the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange – and the only woman among 1,365 men. Siebert began her career in the finance world as an analyst in 1954. A few years later, while looking to work with another firm, she was told she would have to wear white gloves and a hat in the elevator, just like the secretaries did. That likely explains why she created her own firm. In 1975, Siebert’s company became the first American brokerage house to offer discount services, something that remains a staple today. Two years later, she became New York’s superintendent of banks, with responsibility for regulating $500 billion in the banking system. During her tenure, not one bank failed in New York while others went broke in different states. Siebert carried on her work by educating women (and men) of the importance of financial independence. | 12/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 27, 1972 - Lester B. Pearson | Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Prime Minster Lester B. Pearson dies. When Lester B. Pearson died on December 27, 1972, he left his mark on Canada and the world. Born in Ontario in 1897 and schooled throughout the province, Pearson graduated from the University of Toronto in 1919, after enlisting for combat during World War II. He went to Oxford University on a scholarship and upon his return, joined the Department of External Affairs. Through hard work and a pleasant demeanor, Pearson worked his way up the ranks, becoming Canada’s ambassador to Washington, DC and then deputy minister. He moved into politics and sat in the cabinet of Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent at a time when Canada’s international influence was at its peak. Pearson became president of the UN in 1952 and was the architect behind the peace-keeping strategy that prevented war during the Suez crisis of 1956. For his efforts, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. After a time in Opposition, Pearson became leader of Canada’s Liberal Party and prime minister between 1963 and 1968 – all with minority governments. During his years in office, Canada acquired a new flag, the Canada Pension Plan, Medicare and many other progressive initiatives. He also opened up Canada’s immigration process to people of all nationalities. He retired from politics in 1968 at the age of 71. | 12/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 26, 1990 - Nancy Cruzan | Nancy Cruzan dies after a long legal battle for the right to die. On January 11, 1983, Nancy Cruzan, aged 25, was thrown from her car in a collision. When paramedics found her, she had stopped breathing for 15 minutes, yet they were able to revive her breathing but not her consciousness. After five years of watching over their unconscious daughter, Joyce and Lester Cruzan wanted Nancy’s feeding tube removed so that she could die a natural death. That meant wading into the legal and moral issue of a person’s right to die. The family’s long legal battle was with the state of Missouri, which argued that its interest in preserving life was worth more than the family’s desire to remove treatment. In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the interests of the Cruzans in a five-to-four decision, stating there was no “clear and convincing evidence” to prove that Nancy would have wanted the tube feeding stopped. Less than six months later, the Cruzans presented Judge Charles Teel Jr. the “clear and convincing” evidence he required, and he ruled that Nancy’s feeding tubes could be withdrawn. On December 26, 1990, she died. Her grave marker has three dates on it: “Born July 20, 1957. Departed January 11, 1983. At Peace December 26, 1990.” | 12/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 25, 1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev | Soviet Union’s leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, resigns. Mikhail Gorbachev rose through the ranks of the communist Soviet Union to become its leader in March of 1985, following the death of Konstantin Chernenko. At 54, he was the youngest person to become the general secretary of the Communist Party, which also made him the head of the superpower. However, faced with a crumbling infrastructure and corrupt state, he wanted to bring radical change to the dictatorial regime. He worked at bringing democratic reforms to the Soviet republic with policies such as perestroika, or restructuring, and glasnost, or openness; none of the Soviet countries had even the basics of these at the time. Observers expected human rights, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, free enterprise and a multi-party political system to follow. But too much upheaval ensued. After seven challenging years at the helm, Gorbachev announced his resignation on December 25, 1991. Soon after that, the Soviet Union disintegrated amid much turbulence, and most of the countries threw off Moscow’s control to become true independent states. Although Gorbachev changed the world, the former Soviet Union’s transition to a state with full freedoms and basic human rights remains elusive. | 12/24/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 24, 1900 - Joey Smallwood | Canada’s last father of Confederation, “Joey” Smallwood, is born. Joseph Roberts “Joey” Smallwood was born on December 24, 1900 just outside Gambo, Newfoundland. Because his family was poor, he left school at the age of 15 to work in the newspaper business. After a number of years writing for Newfoundland newspapers and doing one stint with a socialist paper in New York City, he gained prominence through a column in Saint John’s Daily News. This, combined with his radio show on the Voice of Newfoundland, eased his entry into Liberal politics. In 1946, he was sent to Ottawa as a delegate to kick-start Newfoundland’s admission into Canada as a province. A strong supporter of uniting with Canada, he used his column and radio show to promote these aims every chance he had. In a referendum that revealed 52.3% in favour and 47.7% against, Newfoundland joined Canada as its 10th province on March 31, 1949. In 1949, as leader of the Liberal Party, Smallwood became the province’s first premier, and hence Canada’s last “father of Confederation.” The latter is a term often given to men in government who created Canada in 1867, or were involved with subsequent provinces joining the Confederation. He stayed in the job until he was defeated in 1971, then ventured back once more before retiring to write the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland. He died on December 18, 1991. | 12/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 23, 1983 - Jeanne Sauve | Jeanne Sauvé is appointed Canada’s first woman Governor General. Jeanne Mathilde Benoît was born in Prud'homme, Saskatchewan in 1922, and educated in part in an Ottawa convent. She attained a degree from the University of Ottawa, then traveled throughout North America, becoming involved with many youth movements. After marrying Maurice Sauvé, she traveled with him to Europe before settling back in Canada in 1952. Sauvé worked for years as a journalist before entering politics as one of the first female members of Parliament from Quebec. She entered politics in 1972 and left it in 1984. During her time in Parliament, she served in many cabinet portfolios, at one point as the first woman speaker in the House of Commons. On December 23, 1983, Sauvé was appointed Canada’s first woman governor general. She took up the post in May of the following year and stayed as the queen’s representative until 1990. She died on January 26, 1993. | 12/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 22, 2006 - Thomas Shoyama | Top Saskatchewan and Canadian bureaucrat Thomas Shoyama dies. Thomas Shoyama was born in Kamloops, British Columbia on September 24, 1916. Shoyama graduated from the University of B.C. with economics and accounting degrees. However, the racist climate prevented him from working in his profession. For example, the 1935 decree of the B.C. legislature read, “Be it resolved that this house go on record as being utterly opposed to further influx of Orientals into this province.” Instead, he worked for the Japanese newspaper New Canadian. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour in 1941, Shoyama and the newspaper were relocated to the deserted town of Kaslo, B.C., one of five towns used as internment camps for Japanese Canadians. Shoyama joined the Canadian Intelligence Corps near the end of the war and left in 1946 as a sergeant. While visiting Saskatchewan, he heard CCF Premier Tommy Douglas speak. With Shoyana’s education and smarts, the Saskatchewan government was happy to hire him and by 1950 Shoyama had moved up the ranks to be one of the top bureaucrats in the province. When the province became the first to create Medicare, Shoyama and colleagues drafted the appropriate legislation. When Ross Thatcher’s Liberals took power in 1964, Shoyama was one of 70 Saskatchewan bureaucrats to take top jobs in Ottawa. Between 1974 and 1979, Shoyama rose to the top as Canada’s deputy finance minister. In 1980, he made his way back to B.C. to teach at the University of Victoria. In addition to many awards, Shoyama became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1978 and received Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure for his contributions to the Japanese Canadian community in 1992. Shoyama died on December 22, 2006 in Victoria. | 12/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 21, 2004 - Newfoundland - Same-Sex Marriage | Newfoundland court brings province in line with others on same-sex marriage. As Canadian politicians debated the merits of same-sex marriage, Canada’s judges were holding up existing laws to the equality provision in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Sexual orientation was not one of the listed protected grounds, but in 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada “read in” sexual orientation as a protected ground. While most Canadians agreed that gay and lesbians should be protected from discrimination in jobs and housing for example, a certain number felt very strongly that “marriage” was going too far. However, in the sober climate of the court room, the arguments against gay marriage, such as it being an institution for raising children, did not stand up to a charter challenge since there were many examples of gay and lesbian couples having children and many examples of heterosexual couples not. In 2003, parliamentarians voted to keep the definition of marriage between a man and a woman, but on June 10, 2003, Ontario’s Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that defining marriage exclusively between a man and a woman contravened the rights of gay men and lesbians. As other court cases were heard in other provinces, the result was the same. On December 21, 2004, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador came to the same conclusion, one of the last provinces to do so. On July 20, 2005, the Parliament of Canada caught up to the court decisions, passing the Civil Marriages Act, legalizing same-sex marriage. That made Canada the fourth country to do so. On December 6, 2006, the new Conservative government brought forward a motion to re-open the debate; it was defeated by a wider margin than the vote to allow same-sex marriage. | 12/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 20, 1924 - Judy LaMarsh | Canadian lawyer, politician and broadcaster Judy LaMarsh is born in Chatham, Ontario. Judy Verlyn LaMarsh was born on December 20, 1924 in Chatham, Ontario and was brought up in Niagara Falls. Between 1943 and 1946 she joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corp and travelled from Halifax to Vancouver, obtaining the rank of sergeant. After the war LaMarsh earned her law degree from Osgoode Hall and joined her father’s law firm in Niagara Falls conducting criminal law. She won a seat in the House of Commons as a Liberal during a by-election in 1960 and when Lester Pearson became prime minister in 1963, LaMarsh became the second woman and the first Liberal woman to hold a federal cabinet post. As minister of National Health and Welfare, she began drafting Canada’s cherished Medicare system and the Canada Pension Plan came into being. Between 1965 and 1968 she became secretary of state during Canada’s centennial celebrations, and she established the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. In 1968, during the leadership convention to replace Pearson, LaMarsh made one of Canada’s most famous political faux pas. When it was clear her candidate Paul Hellyer would not win, she tried to stop Pierre Trudeau from getting the top job. Unbeknownst to her, with CBC cameras rolling and microphones on, all of Canada heard her say, "Paul, you've got to go to Winters. Don't let that bastard win it, Paul - he isn't even a Liberal.” Trudeau won the leadership and became prime minister, and LaMarsh retired from politics. She wrote her autobiography Memoirs of a Bird in a Gilded Cage and worked as a broadcaster. In 1980 she became an Officer of the Order of Canada. On October 27, 1980 LaMarsh died at age 55. | 12/19/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 19, 1984 - Margaret Thatcher & Hong Kong | Margaret Thatcher hands Hong Kong back to China, effective 1997. Fearing an end to their freedoms and capitalist way of life, the six million residents of Hong Kong were hoping the British would leave them some protections when their lease for controlling the region expired in 1997. However, with few options available to her, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher signed the joint Sino-British declaration with China’s Zhao Ziyang during a ceremony on December 19, 1984. China agreed that for the next 50 years, it would give Hong Kong “a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs.” The two governments established a principle of "one country, two systems" through which communist China would allow Hong Kong to continue its capitalist ways, also granting it a certain number of rights and freedoms. Already, Hong Kong residents had been flocking to other countries or securing foreign passports enabling them to leave if they later chose; that greatly increased after the declaration was signed. Even though the British had never given Hong Kong full democracy before the declaration, they introduced democratic reforms after the signing that rubbed the Chinese government the wrong way. Nevertheless, Hong Kong citizens celebrated the July 1, 1997 handover with huge fanfare as communist Chinese took control. | 12/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 18, 1988 - Quebec Protects French Language | Quebec invokes the “notwithstanding clause” to protect French language on outdoor signs. In response to Quebecers’ concerns about the erosion of the French language in Quebec, the province introduced Bill 101, designed to enhance the use of French by requiring its use on all public signs and in commercial advertising. On December 15, 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that this infringed on the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as by the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. That only prompted Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa to introduce legislation three days later – on December 18 – allowing him to override the Canadian Charter of Rights through what is commonly referred to as the notwithstanding clause. His Bill 178 nullified the Supreme Court’s ruling, required the exclusive use of French on outdoor signs, and allowed for bilingual indoor signs only as long as French predominated. In 1993, the government replaced Bill 178 with another bill that allowed bilingual signs outside, as long as French predominated. Language issues continue to be contentious in Quebec. | 12/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 17, 1985 - Theresa O'Malley | Seventh Day Adventist Theresa O'Malley wins the right to take Saturdays off. Theresa O’Malley worked in ladies’ wear for the Simpsons-Sears department stores in Kingston, Ontario for a number of years. In October 1978, she joined the Seventh Day Adventist church, which requires strict observance of their Sabbath from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. In 1978, retailers made most of their money between Thursday and Saturday nights, so O’Malley was told she would lose her full-time status and most of her benefits if she insisted on not working Saturdays. She complained to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, and after years of litigation, on December 17, 1985, the Supreme Court of Canada sided with her, stating that Simpsons-Sears had discriminated against her based on her creed (belief, faith). The retailer’s policy that employees work most Friday nights and Saturdays applied equally to everyone, but even so, its effect was discriminatory on O’Malley, the court ruled. The impact or effect is more important that the intention, the justices further explained, when it comes to protecting human rights. The retailer would not have suffered “undue hardship” in giving her different shifts or finding her a different role, the court added. This decision overturned the rulings of two other Ontario courts. | 12/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 16, 2000 - Colin Powell | Colin Powell becomes first African American U.S. Secretary of State. Born in New York City, Colin Powell graduated from City College of New York in 1958 before receiving a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He later received his MBA from George Washington University in 1971 and served in the military. He was the White House’s national security advisor from 1987 to 1989 before becoming the first black chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. He held this top military job under Presidents Bush and Clinton before retiring in 1993. He chose not to run for president of the United States, but on December 16, 2000, President-elect George W. Bush named Powell to his cabinet’s top job of Secretary of State. That made Powell the first African American to hold the post. Considered a moderate who would exert a moderating force on Bush’s administration, he won unanimous consent in the Senate in early 2001. But Powell’s moderate approach was often rebuffed by the president and his cabinet, which likely influenced Powell’s decision to resign after Bush’s re-election in November 2004. Bush’s National Security Advisor, at the time Condoleeza Rice, stepped into the Secretary of State position in 2005 after Powell, becoming the second woman and first African American woman to do so. | 12/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 15, 1973 - American Psychiatric Association | American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from mental disorders list. Only after a literature review and consultation process did the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA’s) board of trustees pass a resolution that removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders on December 15, 1973. “Homosexuality by itself does not necessarily constitute a psychiatric disorder,” the APA explained. A number of psychoanalysts petitioned for a referendum to overturn the board’s decision, but 58 per cent supported the change. While the board’s decision was unanimous (two members abstained), board members rejected a task force’s recommendation to declare homosexuality "a normal variant of human sexuality." The board also passed a resolution that called for an end to "cruel" discrimination and a repeal of "irrational" laws that discriminated against homosexuals. The APA was not the first medical or psychological body to make such a change, but it was likely the most significant body to do so at the time. | 12/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 14, 1995 - Dayton Accord | Former Yugoslavia leaders sign Dayton Peace Accord. After Yugoslavia’s communist dictator Marshal Tito died in 1980, ethnic differences generated chaos. Ethnic and religious factions pitted Albanians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Muslims against each other, resulting in three and a half years of civil war marked by ethnic cleansing and 200,000 deaths. Eventually, the leaders of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia initiated a peace process named after talks that took place in Dayton, Ohio. On December 14, 1995 in Paris, the three leaders signed the Dayton Accord, which pledged thousands of United Nations Peacekeepers to the region to keep Bosnia together, yet with divided federations. The Croat federation held most of the country’s 51 per cent Muslims, while the Serb republic held the remainder of the population. The peace process was paved with conflict and mistrust and complicated by Serbia’s leader, Slobodan Milosevic, attempting to control as much of the former Yugoslavia as possible; he was later prosecuted for war crimes and died in his prison cell in March, 2006. But by 2003, the UN succeeded in transferring powers to local police and military. | 12/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 13, "Unknown" - Gerrie Hammond | Manitoba politician and feminist Gerrie Hammond is born. Born Geraldine Rose McLean, Gerrie Hammond began her public service career as a member of the Manitoba Police Commission. She later served as a school trustee in Winnipeg before being elected to the Manitoba legislature as the MLA for Kirkfield Park in 1981. Hammond served three terms in the legislature – seven years in Opposition and two in the government of the Progressive Conservative Party. Always a champion of women’s rights, Hammond put her passion to work in 1988 as chair of the Manitoba Women’s Initiative, a task force that traveled Manitoba to make recommendations to enhance the lives of women and children. Her highly praised report propelled her into cabinet, where she served as the minister of labour and the status of women. In 1990, Hammond was awarded the province’s Women of Distinction Award for outstanding service to women. She died on November 1, 1992 of cancer, but her legacy lives on. The Gerrie Hammond Bursary is awarded each year to a single mother who attends the University of Manitoba. As well, each year the Gerrie Hammond Memorial Award of Promise is given to a promising young woman during the Women of Distinction Awards. In one of Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods, the Winnipeg North End Women’s Shelter library is dedicated to Gerrie Hammond in honour of her many contributions to improving the lives of women. Even with her feminist beliefs, Hammond said her mother taught her, “You never ask a woman her age.” Hammond’s age in life and death remains a mystery. | 12/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 12, 1996 - Lise Thibault | Lise Thibault becomes Quebec’s first woman lieutenant governor, and first ever in a wheelchair. In 1996, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was faced with a dilemma when his recently appointed Quebec lieutenant governor, Jean-Louis Roux, resigned amidst protest over the fact he’d worn a swastika during a student protest at the age of 19. Roux had been a strong federalist, and the prime minister was looking for a problem-free appointment. On December 12, 1996, Chretien announced the appointment of Lise Thibault as the first woman lieutenant governor for the province of Quebec. Thibault was also the first person to take the post while in a wheelchair. A toboggan accident at the age of 13 had left her with pain and mobility problems that had led to paralysis from the waist down following the birth of her second child (against doctors’ advice) in 1964. Although Thibault had been a former Liberal campaigner, her work as an advocate for the rights of the disabled influenced Chrétien to consider her a good fit. Her appointment generated no significant opposition, as she pledged to keep away from partisan politics. However, a week after Thibault retired as lieutenant governor in June, 2007, she was met with banner headlines due to an audit of her finances which suggested she had mis-spent almost $700,000. She suggested that some of that money was used to show that persons with a disability could ski and golf. | 12/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 11, 1994 - Russian Troops in Chechnya | Russian troops invade Chechnya, sparking years of terrorism and unrest. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, many states declared independence from Russia, including Chechnya. Only three years later, however, on December 11, 1994, Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered troops to take control of the region. Tanks rolled into the streets of the capital, Grozny, with many Russian soldiers being killed. After a massive public outcry, Yeltsin withdrew the troops and signed a peace accord that gave Chechnya more autonomy than it had held under Soviet rule, but stopped short of granting it independence. Battles and guerrilla warfare went on for years in this Muslim-dominated, oil-rich region. When President Vladimir Putin took power in Russia, he tried to end the rebellion with force. The fighting continued until the Russian Federal forces were able to take control of Grozny and most of the regions by February 2000, installing a pro-Moscow government. Since that time, Russians have endured occasional acts of terrorism as some Chechnyans attempt to procure full independence. | 12/10/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 10, 1948 - Universal Declaration of Human Rights | UN adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights has been a vital part of the United Nations’ work from the moment its charter was signed in San Francisco in 1945. Knowing what took place under the Nazis in World War II, nation states decided to put into a document the need for human rights to be respected and upheld. The United Nations Secretary General Trygve Lie called upon Canadian lawyer John Humphrey to write this document. With the assistance of Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacques Maritain, René Cassin, Charles Malik and P.C. Chang, and after numerous re-writes and resolutions, the document made its way to the General Assembly. On December 10, 1948, the UN’s General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – 30 articles that began with the statement, “The General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.” Some 48 countries voted in favour of the declaration with no country opposing. However, eight members, including all Soviet Union bloc countries, South Africa and Saudi Arabia, abstained. Canada found itself in this company when it originally abstained in earlier drafts, but in the end, voted in favour. While the declaration is seen as a set of objectives, it is used as a powerful legal and political tool for countries to follow. In 1950, all nations were asked to join in the celebrations of this historic anniversary and most do, celebrating December 10th as International Human Rights Day. | 12/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 9 - 1992 - Marg Schott | Cincinnati Reds’ CEO apologizes for racist comments. Marg Schott was one of baseball’s most outspoken and outrageous owners when she bought the Cincinnati Reds and became president and CEO of the team in 1985. Doing so, she became the first woman to buy a baseball team as opposed to inheriting it. During legal proceedings over the firing of the team’s controller, Schott made positive comments about Adolf Hitler and many racist slurs that leaked to the public. Although she claimed some of the comments were made in jest, and none were meant to offend, she was pressured into apologizing on December 9, 1992 during meetings between major league owners in Louisville. She was also given a year’s suspension from day-to-day operations with the Reds, fined $25,000, and later slapped with a second suspension for yet another set of derogatory comments. In 1999, she sold her shares in the Reds to avoid another suspension. Schott died on March 2, 2004 in Cincinnati. | 12/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 8, 1941 - Japanese Canadians Rights Denied | Japanese Canadians rights denied in declaration of war. Immediately following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Canada declared war against Japan, having earlier declared war on Hungary, Finland and Romania due to their alliance with Nazi Germany. Fearing that Canadians of Japanese descent would assist Japan’s war efforts, the federal government seized more than 1,200 Canadian fishing boats owned by Japanese Canadians. The Canadian Pacific Railway fired all its Japanese employees, and many other companies followed their lead. After the Japanese attacked Hong Kong and killed or captured more than 2,000 Canadian troops, the pressure on Japanese Canadians intensified. In January 1942, the government created a 100-mile zone on the west coast from which Japanese Canadians were forcibly removed. Thousands were sent to internment camps and their property sold off. Not until 1949 were they allowed to return to the coast. | 12/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 7, 1975 - Indonesia Invades East Timor | Indonesia invades East Timor. Portugal settled East Timor in the 1500s and eventually took control of the eastern end of the island in a treaty with the Dutch in 1859. During World War II, about 60,000 East Timorese died helping Australian troops fight thousands of Japanese soldiers. After Portugal became a democracy in 1974, the East Timorese assumed they would soon attain independence, but when internal disputes arose the Indonesian government stepped in. On December 7, 1975, Indonesia invaded East Timor with unexpected brutality, declaring it their 27th province seven months later. The UN and the world (with the exception of Australia) condemned this illegal occupation, and refused to recognize Indonesia’s claim. Many years later, Indonesia finally relented and, with the UN’s help, handed East Timor its independence. The handover, sadly, sparked bloody internal struggles. In April 2002, the country held its first presidential elections and began to restore order, leading the UN to substantially reduce its peacekeeping presence. | 12/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 6, 1989 - Montreal Massacre | Fourteen women murdered at Montreal’s l’École Polytechnique in Montréal. On December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine burst into an engineering class at École Polytechnique, an engineering school affiliated with the University of Montreal. Wielding a gun, he forced all the men to leave the room. He then proceeded to kill 14 women: Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Maria Klucznik, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte. The brutality of the cold-blooded murders captured media attention worldwide, and focused attention on violence against women more generally. Some of the families of the murdered women became involved in lobbying the Canadian government to create much stronger gun controls. The end result was a gun registry program supported by police and the majority of the public, but plagued with political and financial problems. In 1991, the Parliament of Canada established December 6th as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. Every year on this day, Canadians remember the incident by holding vigils in memory of these women – and other women who have died violently. | 12/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 5, 2002 - Trent Lott Racist Comments | U.S. Senate majority leader makes racist comments, leading to resignation. At a time when Republicans controlled the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, it seemed that Senate majority leader Trent Lott was as close to the top of his game as most people could get. However, on December 5, 2002, while celebrating the 100th birthday of his fellow-Senator Strom Thurmond, Lott made comments that would force him to resign. Thurmond had run for president in 1948 on a segregationist ticket – indicating his desire to keep blacks and whites separate and certainly not equal. At the birthday party, Lott boasted that his state, Mississippi, had voted for Lott back in ’48. “We’re proud of it, and if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over the years,” he said, clearly referring to problems that arose from integration. While it was not the first time Lott had made racist comments, this time the outrage came fast and furiously – and it stuck. For two weeks, Lott went on every television and radio show that would have him, apologizing and trying to explain. However, even President George W. Bush had harsh words for the senator, and his colleagues were not willing to back him this time. On December 20, 2002, Lott announced he was stepping down from the majority leader’s chair, although he stayed on as senator. | 12/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 4, 1961 - Britain funds birth control pill | Britain’s national health plan to fund birth control pill. British Health Minister Enoch Powell announced in the House of Commons on December 4, 1961 that the birth control pill would be made widely available to women and be paid for by the country’s national health care program. That was nine years before the Canadian government legalized birth control and counselling on the topic. Why was Canada so slow to promote birth control? Perhaps because in the 1960s, the birth control pill had many negative side effects, and its long-term effects were unknown. Even so, more and more women were opting for this oral form of contraception. In Canada in the 1960s, it was illegal to counsel people about birth control, even though it was available and widely used. No one had been prosecuted for giving out birth control advice since 1937, yet information was still being offered discreetly. That changed in June of 1969 when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his Liberal government legalized all forms of contraception. The criminal code was just catching up with the practices of many Canadians. To this day, “the pill” remains the most popular form of reversible contraceptive in the Western world. Considered one of the most significant changes in medicine, it has had a profound effect on daily life, especially for women. | 12/4/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 3, 1992 - UN Disabled Persons Day | UN declares International Day of Disabled Persons. More than a half billion people worldwide have some form of disability, and the greatest barriers they face are typically created unintentionally by those persons without disabilities. That’s what inspired the UN’s General Assembly to declare 1981 the International Year of Disabled Persons, later expanded into a decade: from 1983 to 1992. The purpose was to promote "equality and full participation" for persons with a disability – to explore ways to help persons with disabilities to function in all aspects of society, and to promote greater understanding of the challenges they face. At the end of the decade, the UN decided to keep the momentum going by declaring December 3rd the International Day for Disabled Persons, to be recognized annually henceforth. | 12/3/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 2, 1989 - Audrey McLaughlin | Audrey McLaughlin becomes Canada’s first woman to lead a national political party. Audrey McLaughlin was born in Dutton, Ontario on November 7, 1936. The first in her family to earn a university degree, she took a varied career path from there. McLaughlin served as the executive director of the Metro Toronto Canadian Mental Health Association, taught in Ghana and, in 1979, opened up her own consulting firm in Whitehorse of the Yukon Territory. In 1987, a by-election put her into the House of Commons, making her the first New Democratic party (NDP) member to represent the Yukon. She was re-elected in 1988, and when party leader Ed Broadbent stepped down, she stepped up to the plate. On December 2, 1989, she became the leader of the federal NDP and the first woman in Canada to lead a national political party. She presided over a tumultuous time in Canadian politics, marked by the formation of the Free Trade Agreement and attempts by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to change the constitution. In 1993, when the country threw out the Progressive Conservative party, the NDP also took a hit. Although McLaughlin retained her seat, her party elected only nine MPs, three less than allowed for official party status. The following year, she stepped down as party leader and did not seek re-election in 1997. | 12/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 1, 1988 - World Aids Day | World AIDS Day begins. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. Every year, millions of people acquire HIV, and thousands die from it daily. In January of 1988, health ministers from 140 countries who were attending a world summit came up with the idea of designating a day to draw attention to HIV and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). They voted unanimously to do so. Later that year the UN and World Health Organization declared December 1, 1988 to be World AIDS Day. The day’s goal is to draw attention to this preventable disease, which is ravaging some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world. Initially, world leaders and organizations were slow to respond to the issue, because HIV and AIDS were thought to affect only gay men in Western countries. While some people still have their heads in the sand, most have woken up to the disease’s devastation. Now that research has shown that girls and women are at greater risk to contract HIV and AIDS, even the Girl Scouts of Canada has gotten involved, educating girls about the dangers of unprotected sex and other high risk activities. | 12/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 30, 1952 - Jackie Robinson | Jackie Robinson charges New York Yankees with racism. U.S. baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis opposed integration of black and white players. But after his death in 1944, Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey decided to desegregate the major leagues. He wanted to sign more than one black player, but was concerned that would be moving too fast. So he signed Jackie Robinson from the Negro League into the minor leagues in 1946. On April 15, 1947, Robinson became the first African American to play baseball in the major leagues when he was called up to play second base with the Dodgers. He stayed for 10 years, during which he scored many firsts, including the first ever National League Rookie of the Year in 1947 and the first Black National League Most Valuable Player in 1949. Although he was the first to break the race barrier, it wasn’t without opposition. He endured taunts by racist fans and fellow players, but he never took the bait. On November 30, 1952, however, Robinson spoke up on a local TV show, saying that the rival New York Yankees’ management was racist for not hiring black players from the minor leagues. The Yankees denied it, but took until the spring of 1955 to bring their first black player on board: Elston Howard. Robinson died on October 24, 1972 at the age of 53 from heart disease. In March 2004, the commissioner of major league baseball, Bud Selig, proclaimed April 15 “Jackie Robinson Day” throughout the league. | 11/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 29, 1977 - Palestinian Solidarity | UN creates the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that partitioned Palestine to create an independent Jewish and Arab state. Israel was born, however, before anyone had resolved “the Palestinian question”: Palestinian people’s hopes for an independent state of their own. So, responsibility for forging a solution amidst Jewish and Palestinian contention fell squarely on the UN’s shoulders. Finally, in 1977, the UN called for annual observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29. Since then, neither conflict, war, terrorism nor years of negotiations have taken Palestinians any closer to their dream. The death of Palestinian President Yasser Arrafat in November 2004 raised hopes for the talks’ change in direction, but until the issue is resolved, the UN continues raising possibilities for a resolution on this day each year. | 11/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 28, 1909 - Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova | Canadian humanitarian Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova is born. Many Canadians remember the voice of Lotta Hitschmanova on television commercials as she appealed for donations on behalf of the Canadian Unitarian Service Committee. The USC had taken on the task of feeding and supporting needy children worldwide. Hitschmanova was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on November 28, 1909. The multilingual young woman studied political science and journalism throughout Europe. As the second world war approached, she moved a number of times, keeping just ahead of the Nazis. In 1942, she ended up in France working for an immigration service. After the war, she came to Canada and continued her humanitarian work through the USC, which was focusing on children in post-war Europe. For 40 years, she traveled around the world for USC, establishing 150 programs in 20 countries. She may or may not have been aware that the RCMP was spying on her at the time, looking for possible communist sympathies or infiltration. They did the same with many church organizations during the cold war period. Her work led to numerous awards, including Canada’s most prestigious, Companion of the Order of Canada. Dr. Lotta, as she was known to many, died of cancer in July 1990 in Ottawa. | 11/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 27, 1952 - Sheila Copps | Sheila Copps, Canada’s first female deputy prime minister, is born. Sheila Copps was born in Hamilton, Ontario on November 27, 1952. A year after her father completed 14 years as the city’s mayor, Copps ran for provincial office as a Liberal. She lost that election, but won on her next attempt in 1981. By 1984, she’d moved to federal politics just in time to see her Liberal Party take one of its worst beatings at the hand of Progressive Conservative Brian Mulroney. Even so, Copps made her mark as one of the tenacious “rat pack,” taking on difficult issues and Opposition portfolios. In 1990, she made a bid for the leadership of her party. Even though she lost to Jean Chrétien, her strong showing enticed Chrétien to appoint her deputy leader. In 1993, the Liberal Party handed the PC Party its worst defeat in history while Copps ended up close to the top. Besides her cabinet post as environment minister, Copps became the first woman in Canada to hold the post of deputy prime minister. Years later, she ran a second time for the leadership of her party, but this time lost to Paul Martin, who ended her many years at the cabinet table. She didn’t get to run in the 2004 federal election, as she lost her party’s nomination during a bitter battle for a newly created riding. | 11/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 26, 1968 - Race Relations Legislation | Britain improves race relations legislation. Up until the 1960s, Britain – like so many Western countries – was known for its practice of banning non-white people from public places. That changed in 1965 when the country passed its first race relations act. It made race discrimination in such public places as hotels and movie theatres an illegal offence. Three years later, on November 26, 1968, that ruling was superseded by the Race Relations Act, which made discrimination based on ethnicity illegal in housing, employment and public services, as well. The law soon drew fire for not applying to government services such as the police. The government had just passed tougher immigration laws with the new Immigration Act, hence it felt that between the two pieces of legislation, life was now “fair but tough” on immigrants. Still, legislators did strengthen the laws in 1976, improving protections and founding the Commission for Racial Equality. After a sensationalized death and inquiry involving racial discrimination, the act was amended in 2000 to ensure that discriminatory police action, too, was illegal. | 11/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 25, 1999 - Elimination of Violence Against Women | UN declares International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. On November 25, 1960, Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo had three political activists brutally murdered. These three sisters, Patria, Maria and Antonia Mirabel, known as “The Butterflies” were part of a resistance movement to oppose the President’s rule. The outrage that followed their murder turned the spotlight on violence against women (and contributed to Trujillo’s assassination six months later). According to the World Bank, domestic violence is the most common form of violence against women, and a shocking 80 per cent of women sufferers say they know the men who attack them. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said, “Rape, domestic assault, forced prostitution, sexual abuse of children, harassment in the workplace … these are the many forms of violence against women that cut across cultural, religious and regional boundaries. We must uphold the right of all women to lives free of violence, lives of equality, development and peace.” Hence, in 1999, the UN General Assembly designated November 25th as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Organizations and governments worldwide join together to educate people about these forms of violence. | 11/24/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 24, 1947 - Hollywood 10 | The Hollywood 10 jailed for contempt during the Red scare. As a U.S. Congress committee sought out “un-American activities” in the late 1940s and early 1950s, even Hollywood unions came under scrutiny for signs of a communist influence. A number of Hollywood screen writers and directors refused to answer questions this committee asked of them. This prompted officials to cite 10 of them (soon to be known as the “Hollywood 10”) for contempt on November 24, 1947. The next day, the Association of Motion Picture Producers fired the Hollywood 10 and voiced support for the committee. These 10 Americans invoked their 1st amendment’s right to free speech and peaceable assembly as their defence, but the courts ignored that and sentenced them for up to a year in prison. All spent time in jail in 1950, only to find themselves blacklisted as “communist sympathizers” when they had done their time. They were unable to work in their field for more than a decade. | 11/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 23, 1959 - "Father of Rock and Roll" | “Father of rock and roll” fired in payola scandal while promoting black musicians. At a time when racial segregation was the norm in America, Alan Freed was promoting the music of black singers like Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Freed, born on December 15, 1921, called himself the “father of rock and roll.” After leaving one radio station in Akron, Freed moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1949, where he worked as an afternoon TV movie host as well as started a late night radio show called “The Moondog Rock Roll House Party.” He was one of the organizers of the first rock and roll concert on March 21, 1952, a show called the Moondog Coronation Ball. Freed moved to New York City and in addition to radio, in 1956 he created and starred in rock movies such as Rock Around the Clock. And before Dick Clark created American Bandstand, Freed started the television dance show Alan Freed’s Big Beat on ABC TV. In late 1959, when artists and producers were paying radio and television stations to play their music – known as payola – Freed found himself in the middle of the controversy. On November 23, 1959, WNEW TV informed Freed that his services would no longer be required. Under this common practice, some survived; others didn’t. Some felt the firing of Freed was due to southern affiliates offended at seeing Frankie Lymon of Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers dance with a white girl. In 1962, Freed pled guilty to two counts of commercial bribery and received a fine and suspended sentence. With his reputation ruined, Freed eventually moved to Palm Springs, California, where he died on January 20, 1965 at the age of 43. His ashes rest in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. | 11/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 22, 1963 - John F. Kennedy | President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas. On November 22, 1963, United States President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Texas Governor John Connally, riding in the same open car, was also struck by one of the bullets, but he survived. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for killing Kennedy, but two days later, on live television, Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald. There have been many theories, conspiracy and otherwise, about the reason for Kennedy’s assassination. Ruby’s links to organized crime and the difficulty believing Oswald could be the sole shooter added to various theories. Another premise is that certain people wanted Kennedy killed due to his support of civil rights legislation. At the time of his death, Kennedy was trying to pass the Civil Rights Act, but it took a conservative Democrat – Lyndon B. Johnson – to stickhandle its passage through Congress. Vice President Johnson, who was in the Dallas procession but riding in a different car, was sworn in as president moments after Kennedy’s death was confirmed. Shortly after Kennedy’s death, Johnson encouraged Congress to pass the act as a monument to Kennedy. | 11/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 21, 1988 - Svend Robinson | Canada’s first openly gay MP, Svend Robinson, re-elected in B.C. Svend Robinson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 4, 1952, but grew up in Burnaby, B.C. before studying science and law at the University of British Columbia. A long-time social democrat concerned about human rights and social issues, Robinson joined the New Democratic Party in 1966. In 1979, at the age of 27, he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Burnaby, a city bordering Vancouver. The strong constituency MP never shied away from controversial issues related to human rights and dignity, so it surprised few in 1988 when Robinson became the first Canadian MP to publicly announce he was gay. Uncertain how his constituents would receive this news, Robinson feared losing the next election, but he needn’t have worried. Not only was he re-elected on November 21, 1988, but proceeded to get the nod seven times from Burnaby constituents pleased with how he was representing them in Ottawa. Robinson continued his push for social justice matters, often speaking personally about the issues affecting gay and lesbian Canadians. His popularity suffered a setback when, on April 15, 2004, he admitted to stealing an expensive ring during a time of stress, and announced that he was taking medical leave from his duties as an MP. He chose to not seek re-election in the 2004 federal election but tried to make a political comeback by running in the riding of Vancouver Centre. Robinson was easily defeated by long-time Liberal MP Hedy Fry. | 11/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 20, 1959 - Universal Children's Day | UN proclaims Universal Children’s Day. In 1954, the United Nations General Assembly encouraged all countries to create a Universal Children’s Day to celebrate children and promote their welfare. On November 20, 1959, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, stating, “He may have a happy childhood and enjoy for his own good and for the good of society, the rights and freedoms herein set forth…” The 10 principles included protecting children from neglect, cruelty, discrimination and exploitation. Thirty years to that day, the UN proposed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted the following year. As a result, every November 20th is now Universal Children’s Day. | 11/19/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 19, 1977 - Anwar Sadat | Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visits Israel. Anwar al-Sadat rose from humble beginnings to the presidency of his country, Egypt. When Egypt was locked in battle with Israel over Suez Canal rights, President Sadat risked much by telling the Egyptian Parliament that he would go to great lengths to negotiate peace with Israel. Israeli officials responded quickly by inviting Sadat to visit their country. So it was that on November 19, 1977, with the world watching, Sadat landed in Tel Aviv. The next day, he spoke to Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset, delivering a message of peace. This eventually led to the Camp David Accord in 1978 and a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. For these efforts, Sadat and Israel’s prime minister, Menachem Begin, jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. Sadly, Sadat was killed by a fundamentalist Muslim in Cairo in 1981 during a military review. | 11/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 18, 1797 - Sojourner Truth | Preacher Sojourner Truth is born. Isabella Baumfree was born into slavery on November 18, 1797 in New York state, one of 13 children. She was first sold for $100 and subsequently sold other times before getting freedom about the time slavery was abolished in New York in 1827. One of her children had been illegally sold to an owner in Alabama and with the help of a Quaker activist, she successfully sued for his return. In 1843, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth, saying, “The Spirit calls me, and I must go.” She joined abolitionist groups and began her travels, preaching for the end of slavery. In 1850 Truth’s friend Olive Gilbert secretly published the book The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave from the memoirs she had dictated to him. Truth also became a passionate advocate for the rights of women and blacks; audiences remembered the six-foot-tall woman’s strong voice, great intelligence and quick wit. On November 19, 1851, at the Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, she heard male ministers asserting men’s superiority over women. She walked to the front of the room and waited for some in the audience to stop hissing. When she spoke she commanded the attention of the whole room. She pointed out that as a black woman she couldn’t be equal if no one ever offered to lift her over ditches or help her from a carriage. “Ain’t I a woman?” she demanded – a phrase that gained instant fame. She was also quoted as saying, “If women want any rights more than they’s got, why don’t they just take them, and not be talking about it?” She continued to influence Americans until her death on November 26, 1883. | 11/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 17, 1994 - Somalia Public Inquiry | Defence Minister announces a public inquiry into Somalia Peacekeepers. The Canadian Airborne Regiment was modeled after the American Green Berets – an elite fighting force, ready for deployment during a time of war. In December 1992, Canada sent the Airborne Regiment and other soldiers to help the United States and United Nations keep the peace in Somalia after warlords ousted former President Mohamed Siad Barre from his East African country in 1991. However, in March of 1993, a 16-year-old Somali was beaten to death while attempting to steal supplies from the military. News of this death led to information about other killings, and exposed questionable military leadership and racism within the ranks. On November 17, 1994, Defense Minister David Collenette announced a public inquiry into Somalia incidents, aimed at determining whether there was a cover-up. The inquiry revealed a profound failure of leadership with “scandalously deficient” accountability. Investigators found that the chain of command had “failed utterly,” and discipline had been “alarmingly substandard.” The government completely disbanded the Airborne Regiment, believing the force was so tainted that it couldn’t be salvaged. | 11/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 16, 1916 - Margaret Sanger | Authorities shut down Margaret Sanger’s birth control clinic permanently. As a midwife, Margaret Sanger witnessed too much mutilation and death amongst poor New York women trying to administer their own abortions. So in 1913, she became an activist set on promoting birth control for women. Birth control, she felt, would keep many from sinking into poverty, and keep them out of harm’s way. After several arrests and much media attention, Sanger and others opened a birth control clinic in New York. Church and state opposition to the facility led to all the members of the clinic being arrested a number of times. Yet after each set of arrests, they just bravely re-opened the clinic. That ended on November 16, 1916, when police forced the clinic’s landlord to evict Sanger and the clinic for good. Undiscouraged, Sanger continued her decades-long fight for birth control rights, eventually founding the American Birth Control League and the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau, which later became Planned Parenthood. In 1965, one year before Sanger died, the American Supreme Court ruled that the constitution protected one’s right to use birth control. | 11/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 15, 1955 - Religious Freedom | Supreme Court of Canada upholds religious freedom. One Sunday afternoon in 1949, approximately 30 Jehovah’s Witnesses took part in a religious service at the house of Esymier Chaput in Chapeau, Quebec. Suddenly, three provincial police officers entered the house, broke up the service and confiscated a Bible, hymn books, a number of religious pamphlets and the collection box. The officers then dispersed the group and escorted the minister out of town. Chaput took the police to court, only to lose at both the trial division and the Quebec Court of Appeal. However, on November 15, 1955, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the police had acted illegally and criminally – and awarded Chaput $2,000. Justice Taschereau wrote, “In our country, there does not exist a state religion. No one is required to follow someone else’s belief. All religions are on the same footing, and all Catholics, as well as others such as Protestants, Jews or other adherents of different religious faiths, have complete freedom to believe as they wish. The conscience of everyone is a personal affair and not that of anyone else. It would be terrible to think that a majority could impose their religious views on a minority.” | 11/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 14, 1935 - New Nuremberg Laws | New Nuremberg laws set forth severe restrictions of the rights of Jews. At a Nazi Party convention in Nuremberg, Germany on September 15, 1935, participants adopted The Nuremberg Laws of Citizenship and Race. “A citizen of the Reich may be only one who is of German or kindred blood, and who, through his behaviour, shows that he is both desirous and personally fit to serve loyally the German people and the Reich.” The purpose was to set out who did not fit “citizenship.” On November 14, 1935, the First Supplementary Decree stated, “A Jew cannot be a Reich citizen.” The laws required a social separation of Jews and non-Jews, and the immediate firing of all Jews who held civil service jobs. Next came “the law for the protection of German blood and German honour.” This forbade Jews from marrying outside their religion, and spelled out elaborate classifications for “Jewishness” – such as “full Jew” or “considered Jewish” – to help government officials determine who got what privileges and punishments. German authorities declared that “German blood” must be protected and not tainted by mixed races or religions. Jews were also prohibited from acquiring, possessing or carrying firearms, ammunition or weapons capable of cutting or stabbing. On November 23, 1939 it was announced that as of December 1st, all Jews 10 years and older would have to wear a Star of David at least 10 centimetres wide on their right sleeve. Later, authorities forced German and Polish Jews to have the word Jude inscribed on yellow versions of these badges. It was an ominous step leading up to the Nazis carrying out their “final solution,” in which they would attempt to exterminate all Jews across Europe. | 11/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 13, 1956 - Rosa Parks | U.S. Supreme Court declares segregation on buses unconstitutional. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus run by the Montgomery Bus Company in Alabama. Asked later how she had the nerve to take such a stand, she replied, “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” A few days later, a court found her guilty of disobeying the segregation laws. This so outraged blacks that on December 5th, the Montgomery Improvement Association urged blacks to boycott the bus system. Authorities expected the protest to last a few days, but it ran for more than a year. Meanwhile, Parks’s case wound its way through the court system until on November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation on public buses was unconstitutional in nine states. Even then, despite their tired feet, blacks maintained their resolve and refused to end the boycott until December 21st, when the Supreme Court’s paperwork on the case was complete. Thus, a single act of defiance by one woman led to a legal victory that in turn was a catalyst for the civil rights movement and the hard fought gains that would follow. | 11/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 12, 1974 - UN Suspends South Africa | UN suspends South Africa from General Assembly. After years of resolutions, restrictions and embargoes against South Africa and its state-sanctioned racist system of apartheid, the United Nations went one step further by suspending the country from the UN General Assembly on November 12, 1974. South Africa retaliated by retaining its overall membership without paying its dues. But this only racked up a $100 million US debt for the eventual post-apartheid government. Meanwhile, black South Africans spent years in their struggle for basic human rights. They requested and accepted the short-term pain of international boycotts and embargoes levied against the country for the potential long-term gains that freedom would bring. When South Africa finally granted its black majority the right to vote, the UN lifted the last of its sanctions against the country on May 25, 1994. In 1995 $95 million of South Africa’s arrears was paid when a surplus from other member countries came into the U.N. coffers. Nearly $30 million of that surplus came from the United States alone. | 11/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 11, 1919 - Remembrance Day | Remembrance Day established the year after first world war’s end. On Monday, November 11, 1918 at 11:00 a.m., the fist world war came to an official end. The following year, the Commonwealth established Armistice Day, later to be known as Remembrance Day – a day for remembering the men and women who died during battles. During the first world war, of the 619,636 Canadian men and women who served, 66,655 died and another 172,950 were wounded. The second world war - with 1,081,865 Canadians in service - took the lives of 46,777 Canadian men and women with another 53,145 wounded. Some 516 Canadian soldiers also died during the Korean War. The poppy, a symbol of remembrance in many countries, has special significance for Canadians. In 1915, Canadian Lt.-Col. John McCrae wrote the poem, In Flanders Fields, when he saw poppies growing beside a grave of a close friend who had died in battle. | 11/10/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 10, 1995 - Ken Saro-Wiwa | Nigeria hangs human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. Kenule “Ken” Saro-Wiwa was born on October 10, 1941 in Bori, Nigeria, a member of the Ogoni ethnic minority. The homelands of the Ogoni are in the Niger Delta, where oil extraction has negatively impacted the environment. As an adult, Saro-Wiwa became a successful businessman who in time turned his attention to writing novels and producing television programs – both to high acclaim. However, his political and environmental involvement caught the attention of Nigeria’s military government. In 1990, Saro-Wiwa founded MOSOP, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, through which he and other supporters pressed the government to address the environmental damage from oil companies Shell and British Petroleum. In May 1994, the government arrested Saro-Wiwa, later sentencing him to death for the alleged murders of four Ogoni elders. Leaders from around the globe urged Nigeria’s government to grant clemency for what everyone knew to be trumped-up convictions. Despite world attention, however, Saro-Wiwa and eight other dissidents were executed on November 10, 1995. International response was swift; the Commonwealth suspended Nigeria and the European Union imposed sanctions. Despite UN resolutions to revisit the trial, the Nigerian government has not budged and Saro-Wiwa is still a convicted murderer. On the tenth anniversary of his hanging, at least 28 countries took place in commemorating Saro-Wiwa and the other eight victims. A year later a Living Memorial was unveiled by Saro-Wiwa’s son in London, England. Nigerian artist Sokari Douglas Camp sculpted an enormous silver steel bus which toured England in 2006. Douglas Camp said she was “trying to convey a bit of Nigerian spirit which laughs at itself all the time.” | 11/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 9, 1989 - Berlin Wall Comes Down | Berlin Wall comes crashing down. When Mikhail Gorbachev took control of the Soviet Union in 1985, he brought about change well beyond his own borders. In East Germany, the Berlin Wall symbolized the divide between East and West, freedom and oppression. The East German government had put up barriers in 1961 to prevent the flow of millions of East Germans to the West. Once completed, the wall stood 12 feet high and 96 miles long. Thousands tried to make it across. Many made it, but 246 were killed trying. Even when the cold war officially ended and countries like Hungary and Czechoslovakia eased up travel restrictions, the flow continued. Finally, a change of leadership in East Germany led to liberalization. The East German government announced that as of November 9, 1989, travel restrictions would be lifted and the gates of the Berlin Wall would open. Thousands of people took to the streets with picks and axes to tear down the wall and East and West Germany were soon unified as they had been before the second world war. | 11/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 94 Episodes |
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