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Not long ago I read Julie Gilmour's fine book, Trouble on Main Street, about the 1907 race riots in Vancouver and their aftermath.

The riots are well known to those of us who live in Vancouver as an embarrassing episode in our city's history. They were spearheaded by something called the Asiatic Exclusion League (AEL), lasted two or three days, and involved the destruction of many properties...

Next Sunday (January 11) is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Canada's first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, and the festivities have commenced.

First out of the gate is journalist Stephen Marche who has written a rather incoherent assault on Macdonald's memory for the most recent issue of The Walrus. I say incoherent because, firstly, Marche claims he is going to avoid the kind of historical revisionism that criticizes...

In the commemorations of the centennial of the Great War we have now reached the Christmas when everyone expected it to be over by. 

Much is being made of the 1914 Christmas Truce and the famous soccer game. The British grocery chain Sainsbury's has even produced this video which has been viewed by sixteen million people as of this morning. That's a lot of tea and marmite. (For a less sentimental account of the Truce,...

A few days ago the news carried a story about a small First Nation from the Gulf Islands of British Columbia appearing out of the past to claim large chunks of coastal territory, including Stanley Park in Vancouver. Few people will have heard of the Hwlitsum people, including the government apparently since the band is not officially recognized as even existing. In fact, their story includes one of the most brutal examples of "gunboat diplomacy" to occur on the coast.

Most British...