On October 11, 1882, Oscar Wilde who was then 28 years old came to Charlottetown and spoke in the Old Market Hall, which is now occupied by the Confederation Centre for the Arts. He was on a speaking tour of North America. The local press was present and on the look out, after all Oscar Wilde had a reputation and the press where waiting for him. He also spoke in Halifax and in St-John where he had to return by popular demand to deliver another lecture on Decorative Arts. Both the Daily Examiner and the Patriot sent reporters, both papers disappeared some years ago.
In Charlottetown, the local press showed clearly a strong prejudice against him in the article about his talk. The reporter wrote only about how effeminate he was, he manner and speech were unmanly, he dressed poorly if compared to a British gentleman, the press faulted him for not wearing evening dress. His hair was long though in a sleight to French Canadians, the reporter noted that some men in Quebec wore their hair longer. According to the reporter Wilde could pass for a mannish woman. Not one word about his lecture or the topic. In other words Wilde was dismissed as of no importance and what was all the fuss about this fellow.
Wilde was described as the Apostle of the Beautiful, you can imagine that on a poor agricultural island in the midst of a grave economic crisis with the steep decline of the wood ship building industry, he did not impress the locals. The audience was described as splendid and maybe too enthusiastic given that a similar welcome is never given to local Islanders. This prejudice against anyone not from PEI is still very much in evidence today.
The Charlottetown Central Market Hall 1823-1958 destroyed by fire.
Well I had a quick appointment this morning with my dentist over some pain I had been having for about 10 days and it would not go away. It turned out to be my very back upper molar, way back there, a tricky part it is so far back. But it had to be fixed and he identified the problem in no time at all and went to work, one hour later it is fixed. If for some reason tomorrow there is pain or his intervention today did not solve the problem, then he will remove it. But he believes the molar can be saved, so there we go. I am to call him in the morning with a progress report. I simply notch this up to having to suffer to be beautiful for my public, a regular Diana, candle in the wind kind of thing.
Today Canada has a new Governor General and Commander of the Armed Forces, etc, etc, etc. Mary Mae Simon is the 30th Governor General of Canada and represent the Queen of Canada.Amongst her many duties, she ensures that we always have a functioning government, signs all Laws into force once passed by Parliament, she advises and warns the Prime Minister on any course of action. She also represents Canada at all State Functions, receives Ambassadors, performs many other diplomatic functions like State Dinners and other State functions as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, etc.
It is very irritating to hear our idiot and lazy press go over the same nonsense over and over again. They are so incompetent at the CBC and Radio-Canada that they could not even tell you who was present in the Senate Chamber. It took them no less than 2 hours to identify her husband, the guy next to her. Come on folks why are we paying you 6 figure salaries for this type of garbage on TV.
The Senate is currently sitting in the Old Train Station in Ottawa across from Parliament and the Chateau Laurier Hotel. The Parliament buildings are being completely renovated until 2030 so the old train station which looks like a Roman Temple inside and out, think roman bath house was refurbished for hundreds of millions of dollars, no expense where spared.
The Installation ceremony takes place after the Queen designates a candidate on the advice of the Prime Minister. This was done 3 weeks ago and all the Letter Patents were issued by the Privy Council and the Queen bestowed several honours of Mary Simon including her own Coat of Arms designed by the Royal Herald. They also met formally through zoom.
Because Mary Simon is the first Inuk to serve in this function, She speaks Inuktituk, part of the ceremony was in Inuktituk. She was greeted at the door by drummers of the Algonquin nation, Ottawa is located in their territory. Then a Inuk drummer escorted her into the Chamber. It is important to note that as Mary Simon did in her speech, her people the Inuk who were known formerly as Montagnais, a name given to them by the French, live in the far North of Quebec and the people of the South are the other native nations living thousands of kilometre where all Canadians live. Its a North South thing, the Inuk culture and that of the other indigenous groups is vastly different and they don’t really get along given the difference in food, culture, language, beliefs, legends and myths and traditions. Then you also have the Inuit (eskimo)who are another group living in the Canadian Polar Circle.
Mrs Commanda who is Algonquin, and the Chief of Native groups in the South welcomed Mary Simon on Algonquin territory. Mary Simon thanked her acknowledging that her people the Inuk and the people of the South can work together. Commanda would not use that expression, for her it’s Native people and the non-native people (white). Language matters in defining perspective.
I am pretty sure that Mrs Simon will meet with criticism from the indigenous First Nations (people of the South) who view her with suspicion. The Natives in Canada are not united and there is much conflict amongst them, diverging agendas.
So once installed there was a 21 gun salute and the Flag of the Governor General was raised on the Peace Tower of Parliament replacing the Canadian Flag. The same is done at Westminster when the Queen goes to Parliament, her Personal Standard replaces the Union Jack.
Standard of the Governor General flying atop the Peace tower of Parliament.
Other differences today, only the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was present instead of the full 9 Judges, there was no Chief of the Defence Staff, the position is vacant currently. Only some Senators and a handful of Members of Parliament. Her sons and step child and the rest of her family were present. All this of course is due to Covid 19, sanitary precautions are still being enforced.
Her Excellency, The Right Honourable, The Governor General, Mary Mae Simon
was born in Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik (Quebec). She is the 30th Governor General of Canada. She lives in Ottawa at Rideau Hall, the Official Residence of the G.G.
Thing is, I have managed to stay busy in retirement and am not lounging at home in front of the TV, we don’t have one. A year ago when we last travelled to New Brunswick, I did look briefly at the television and found it so stupid it was beyond words. My dentist used to have television but now its radio music which is fine by me, not missing it.
This morning I got my second shot of Pfizer so I am now fully vaccinated and it should be fully effective by 31 July. Good feeling, no reaction and happy to have this behind me now. I wonder at the efficiency and high spirit of all the nurses at the Vaccination Centre in Charlottetown. The happy attitude certainly helps and what I saw was people coming for their shot in a good mood.
I also had to renew by Provincial Health Card in the last few weeks, it is done online and takes all of 3 minutes, got my new card in the mail. I was also asked if I wanted to donate organs to save a life. I said Yes, once you are dead you can still help so many people who are desperate for a donation. It is the right thing to do, no questions.
Today Her Majesty the Queen announced that she had approved the recommendation of the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and named Mary Ningiukadluk Simon as our new Governor General and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces in Canada. We have been without a Head of State for 5 months. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was acting G.G. as per Constitutional arrangements. In CANADA in terms of ranking, First is the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, Second, the Governor General and then the Prime Minister.
Mary Simon is the first indigenous person to occupy this High Office, She is from Nunavik in Northern Quebec and is an Inuk person. She speaks Inuktitut and English, but I know from people who worked with her when she was our Ambassador to Denmark that she understands and reads French, she has been studying French to be able to speak it. My old colleagues in the Foreign Service described her as a wonderful person of great intelligence.
Simon began her introductory remarks in Inuktitut, and went on to thank both Trudeau and the Queen for their confidence in her taking on this “very historic opportunity.”
“I believe we can build the hopeful future in a way that is respectful of what has happened in the past…If we embrace our common humanity and shared responsibility for one another, Canada’s greatest days are yet to come,” Simon said.
From Nunavik, in northern Quebec, Simon has long been an advocate for Inuit rights and culture. She has worked as a radio host with CBC North and later served as chair of national advocacy organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the National Inuit Education Committee.
She has also worked alongside the federal government on several files over many years, including on the original North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), on the Charlottetown Accord, the repatriation of the Constitution, and during the implementation of Canada’s first land claims policy.
Simon was the first Inuk to be a Canadian ambassador, representing Canada both as the ambassador of circumpolar affairs and as the ambassador to Denmark.
Mary Ningiukadluk Simon, Governor General of Canada
Gee the weather is cold at 14C and it is raining non stop, it is suppose to rain all week.
A terrible start to July, meanwhile out West it is too hot for words. We are going from a Pandemic to a climate disaster.
Will is now fully vaccinated and I will be on Wednesday and so happy for it. Some 17 months have gone by and frankly I am happy that we can see the end of this tunnel.
Here are some pictures of me at the BBQ at the Club.
With my Sweeney Todd apron. I cooked for 40 members.Mayor Philip Brown of Charlottetown, Club Patron cutting our Canada Day Cake.
We had fun and I enjoyed organizing the event. More events to come including the Golf Tournament. But in the coming days we are going fishing as they say, not in the literal sense but in the figurative sense. Looking forward to leaving town for a couple of weeks. Here is a photo of the area where we are going. Our neigbours at the cottage tonight told us that the surf was quite dangerous, high winds and driving rain and cold. But this is all changing by the time we get there. One strange thing we had to put the heat on in the house here in town today because it was a little raw. I have never done that in July. This is the New London Rear Light House on Yankee Hill Beach, it is our view and the sea is on the right.
Another week has zipped by and the days are filled with tasks, from shopping to appointments of all kinds. The coming week on Monday the car goes in for detailing inside and out, giving it that brand new car look. Then I will have to shop for the big bar-b-q for Friday 02 July and a cake in white and red colours. Will is also getting his second shot of Moderna. We will also have to meet with the babysitter for the 2 puppies while we are away. So nothing too onerous all around.
Our Atlantic Bubble starts today with conditions for people wanting to come to PEI from other Atlantic Provinces but still have to prove they are fully vaccinated or have at least one vaccination. The Premier released a nice promotional video of PEI welcoming people back and businesses are all re-opening, though a serious shortage of people is stopping many businesses from fully re-opening, I am not sure where this shortage comes from.
This Saturday morning I was at the Farmer’s Market which is still not as busy at is once was. One thing for sure is that the cost of many if not all food items has increased greatly, which I find hard to understand. The same can be said about sales sometime for a week what was at $7. is suddently at $3. The grocery chains also encourage wastage by offering 2 items for the price of one and if you only buy one well you are paying a very high price. So why not buy two. Same with all paper products, it is completely unexplained with you are paying 90% more for an item after a year of pandemic. It seems that if an item faced a shortage a year ago the prices increased drastically then, but now there is no shortage and the price is still high.
So the coming week is about getting ready for Canada Day.
I am the Bar-B-Q guy at the Club this year, expecting about 35 people. I ordered the cake today, White and Red Icing is the rigueur.
We do this in the garden and will have live music with a couple of well known musicians. I believe the weather should be nice. If not we have the great room so it will work out.
I know some people who will Bar-B-Q in a snow blizzard, Canadians are resourceful.
Everyone has been asked to wear White and Red at the party.
Today in the many posts that I read about Canadian Political life, I saw this piece by Professor Dr. Philippe Lagassé, who is a known expert on Canadian Parliamentarism and the Constitution, his work is always interesting to read and clear. Not one to get lost in unnecessary verbiage.
We currently have a minority government in Canada, the last election gave to the Liberals of Justin Trudeau the best chance of holding what is called the confidence of the House of Commons. No other party has enough seats or can form a coalition to govern.
It has now been 2 years + since the last election and this past session ending in two days to recess for the Summer has been marked by endless partisan games on the part of the Conservative party and personal attacks on the family of the Prime Minister. The House has not been able to do much work and many important bills are stuck in endless debates at Committee stage. Just yesterday the UNDRIP bill was passed after 3 tries and 9 years of debates. UNDRIP is the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, an important piece of Legislation which will create a more equal footing for all indigenous nations in Canada in dealing with the Federal Government. This is obviously far too much time taken for one piece of legislation. .
This coming Thursday 24 June will be the last day Parliament sits before Summer recess and this is when the Prime Minister may decide to seek to ask for Parliament to be disolved. The problem at the moment is the vacancy of the position of Head of State, since January when the Governor General Julie Payette resigned amidst a scandal involving her harrassing staff and being violent, she decided to quit instead of facing the enquiry. So in our Constitution at the moment it is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who is doing the job and he is called the Administrator. His last point #12 is important because Canada is a Monarchy and not a Republic, our system is based on the Westminster Parliamentary tradition.
So here is the text of Professor Lagassé on the finer points of our Parliamentary system.
In anticipation, here are a few fundamentals and reminders to keep in mind:
First, the Prime Minister has the authority to request a dissolution of Parliament. He does not need to wait for a vote of no confidence.
Second, the Administrator (Chief Justice Wagner) has the authority to exercise the Governor General’s power to dissolve Parliament upon the Prime Minister’s request. The absence of a Governor General does not preclude a dissolution.
Third, the Administrator would not have the discretion to refuse the Prime Minister’s request to dissolve Parliament at this stage. Not only has this Parliament been sitting for a while, but there is no viable alternative government that can hold the confidence of the Commons.
Fourth, the caretaker convention would begin with the dissolution of Parliament and would end after the election, unless the result of the election isn’t clear.
Fifth, the caretaker convention isn’t really a constitution convention, but a practice. This practice holds that the government should act according to a ‘principle of restraint’. The government remains the government and ministers still constitutionally and legally empowered to make decisions. This is particularly important given that we’re still in a pandemic and it may be necessary for the executive to act with despatch and discretion.
Sixth, the Prime Minister’s appointee to the Supreme Court is in no way affected by a dissolution of Parliament, and given the he’s already been named, his appointment would not engage the ‘principle of restraint’ under the caretaker convention.
Seventh, Trudeau remains Prime Minister until he resigns or is dismissed, even if his party wins fewer seats than another party on election day.
Eighth, if the Liberals remain in power following the election, it will still be the same Trudeau government as before. Trudeau will not be Prime Minister elect. Trudeau will not be Prime Minister designate. He simply remains the Prime Minister.
Ninth, if Trudeau resigns on election night or afterwards, his replacement will be the Prime Minister designate until their ministry is formally sworn in.
Tenth, if we do not have a new Governor General by the time the election is held, the Administrator has the authority to do everything a Governor General could do with respect to government formation.
Eleventh, the Governor General’s role in government formation is actually quite constrained by the codified rules of the constitution, except if there an vote of no confidence early in the life of the new Parliament.
Twelveth, Canadian election night coverage is unduly influenced by American concepts and language. This can be problematic when the election produces a minority parliament.
This week has been strange in some ways and worrisome. On one hand we have the media in Canada going into overdrive with negativity and what is presented as fact then becomes muddled and is no longer clear.
A story that made headlines around the world that of the discovery of the remains (bones) of what is believed to be 215 indigenous children who died at a Residential School run by the Catholic Church. At first it was reported as small bones, then as bodies, then as remains and no one appears to know if it is 215 or 250. However this was enough for activists to turn this matter into a highly emotional question.
Politicians in the House of Commons made some very controversial statements all trying to look more concerned than the next guy or girl. The gist of it, Canada as we know it today and all non-native people are squatters and they stole everything from the Indigenous people. Some Cities in Canada have cancelled National Day 1 July celebrations because nothing good has come from this project called Canada and 38 million people living here today should just pack up and go back where they came from. Victoria the Capital of British Columbia has announced such plans.
If you go to any show which receives funding from the Canadian Government you will hear the message that whatever building you are in and the land on which it stands belongs to Native groups and you must atone for your past wrongs. A silly message given that no one has any intentions of giving anything back to indigenous groups.
So this message you hear each day has a corrosive effect, and it is not about to stop. The idea of the Prime Minister is to force change upon society through a social engineering. The belief is that we will achieve reconciliation. The problem is after 500 years of European building a country and 45 Canadian Parliaments and 8 Sovereigns, it is not going to happen.
So statues of people long dead have been attacked and defaced as if they and they alone are responsible for what happened while society at large appears to suffer from amnesia.
Now we are finally getting to the short list of who will be the next Governor General and the Government and the Prime Minister are making noises that it will be an Indigenous person. I wonder how that will work out if that rumour proves true.
What is interesting is the push back by people who immigrated to Canada and who are non-white. The attack on Canada, a country they chose for their future life is not acceptable to them. They found acceptance here and prosperity something they did not have in the country of their birth.
Not all indigenous groups accept the current approach, many prefer a pragmatic approach of teaching history correctly and fully and let’s all move along. Unfortunately our Prime Minister is Mr WOKE but it remains to be seen if he can be re-elected serving that line to Canadians daily.
I am a tad tired of Justin T. and his attitude, he lacks judgement and he is dividing the country dangerously. He truly opened the Box of Pandora and this is not going to end well.
I have been inspired by fellow blogger living in Fuengirola, Spain with the beautiful pictures of flowers, sea, food and fashion. I had mentioned recently that as part of our Spring ritual we had to go to the Garden Centre for flowers, we did yesterday. There is a garden centre just outside of Charlottetown in York. It is a family run place, lots of choices of flowers, some we had never heard of, like Goldalia which is of the Dahlia family.
I love garden centres, so many flowers to look at displayed on mass, riots of colours, it is soothing for the brain, it is simply beautiful. A handful of people, it was quiet.
They also had begonias with candy bright colours to the point of looking good enough to eat.
We did buy for our 2 flower boxes a mix of geraniums and something called
Pechoa, the leaves are beautiful and come in a variety of colours.
Then this past weekend, it was the first long weekend of Summer, Queen’s Birthday or Pentecost, every year we use to go to Salzburg for the music festival. This year with the Pandemic we are at home and invited friends for lunch.
I bought lobster and made a Lobster salad with asparagus. Then since we had lots leftover Will made a Quiche with lobster & Asparagus, there is no cheese in this recipe.
The lobster salad was a big hit with our guests.
Finally the Barman at the Dukes Hotel in London is famous for his Martini and other cocktails, his name Alessandro Palazzi. He makes a martini that is not shaken nor stirred. A cold martini glass, a tumble of Vermouth, slosh it around then simply pour it out. Fill the glass with good quality vodka and top with a twist of lemon.
“For me, a Martini is a drink which has to be strong and three ingredients,” he said. “An Espresso Martini is not really a Martini. A Martini is supposed to be all alcohol. It’s the most simple cocktail to make: it’s the temperature, the quality ingredients, the lemon. There’s the vermouth, gin or vodka, and the oil. That’s what a Martini is.”
Duke’s certainly isn’t cheap, at £22 for a Martini. But Palazzi defends the prices: “You get five shots of premium gin, Amalfi lemon, Sicilian olives, snacks, and if you want you can buy one drink and have the table all night.” Now this is a place I will want to visit once we are allowed again to travel. As for the Amalfi Lemons, they are wonderful, too bad we cannot get them here.
Here are some pictures of the Lobster boats leaving yesterday morning to set their lobster traps, it was a beautiful day, really nice weather and low winds. Returning home with the first catch of the new year. Now the price today at the start of the Season is $8.50 per pound for 2021 and I read that restaurants charge $35 per pound for a lobster dinner which can include mussels and or a chowder, usually by the end of the Season the price tends to be lower. Of course you can always buy direct from the fishers at the dock and you will get a good deal. This means you will cook them at home which requires a big pot of boiling Sea Water, NOT tap water.
Personally I prefer the broiling or bar-b-q method in terms of flavour. By the way, the wood cages stacked on the boats are heavy and the fisher has to haul them overboard and then haul them out, this is really hard work and on a moving boat can be tricky.
Love this photo, at North Rustico, a Silver Fox is sniffing around for lobster. The smell of the catch will bring them out. They are friendly and not dangerous at all and quite beautiful to look at.Wishing the fishers, a happy harvest and stay safe at sea.
I got this message from the Royal Canadian Mint, which makes the Canadian Currency we use everyday, for those who still use cash. All coins and paper money is made in Canada under the authority of the Crown in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Mint also makes commemorative coins and medals.
They have a shop and you can buy special coins minted for an Anniversary, like the Queen’s Jubilee or a National Anniversary or Commemoration.
This year 2021 marks the Centennial of the Canadian Coat of Arms given to Canada by the King Emperor George V, the grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II. This coat of Arms appears on all Official documents and Federal Government Buildings.
So the mint is making 3000 coins, which is a low mintage for this anniversary. This solid gold coin sells for $500. CDN. The Coat of Arms was modified again about 30 years ago by adding another Motto reflecting the beliefs of the Order of Canada. So we have the one Motto that appears on this coin A Mari usque ad Mare, the other motto which is not shown here is desiderantes meliorem patriam.
And Cinco de Mayo, which is the Birthday of the invention of Mayonnaise in Mexico, I really don’t know why they made it into a holiday. Ok I am kidding.
It is also the bicentennial anniversary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte who died on this day in 1821 on the Island of St-Helena. The Bonaparte Family and the Bourbon Family with the President of France and the Head of the French Army were present at the tomb of the Emperor and the Requiem Mass at the Invalides in Paris. It’s a big deal in France but in our Woke World, Napoleon’s stock has taken a big hit and he is seen more now as a tyrant, misogynist, he overturned the 1794 decree abolishing slavery in French colonies, but don’t tell the French.
Napoleon’s red porphyry sarcophagus in the chapel of Les Invalides in Paris on May 5, 2021 during the commemoration ceremonies.
Jerry and I get around. In 2011, we moved from the USA to Spain. We now live near Málaga. Jerry y yo nos movemos. En 2011, nos mudamos de EEUU a España. Ahora vivimos cerca de Málaga.
Tutto iniziò con Memorie di Adriano, sulle strade dell'Impero Romano tra foto, storia e mito - It all began with Memoirs of Hadrian, on the roads of the Roman Empire among photos, history and myth!
Telling the stories of the history of the port of Charlottetown and the marine heritage of Northumberland Strait on Canada's East Coast. Winner of the Heritage Award from the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and a Heritage Preservation Award from the City of Charlottetown
