Early Spring

Tags

art work, Canada 150, Monkman, natives, Spring, Storms

Tonight we are on our fifth storm that was not, all Winter we had alerts for disruptive snow storms etc. One after the other did not materialize, because of the position of the Island Province winds have a great impact on the trajectory of storms, what is coming at you one moment suddenly moves into another direction and misses us completely. I am not  complaining but here the impact is serious, often because many small communities are isolated and some roads are not paved, schools will close for the day, in some cases government services will also be shut early. If the storm does not come or is 12 hours late and passes over us in the dead of night, it causes a lot of disruption in daily lives. Today the storm did not materialize and is 6 hours late, giving us light snow which melts on contact.

I was at the Art Gallery of the Confederation Centre this week and spoke with the Director about the Summer Exhibit and my availability as guide. I am very much looking forward to the new Summer show. It will be on the Canada 150, though the celebration of 2017 are over, this travelling exhibit criss-crossed Canada and is now coming here in a few weeks. The main artist is well known, Kent Monkman, a Cree native whose reputation is well established. His large canvasses will be accompanied and displayed with art pieces from the Glenbow Museum as reference to his own interpretation to the history of the last 150 years in Canada.

One piece is entitled the Scream and refers to the policy of the National Government to kidnap native children from their parents in order to civilize them in the notorious Residential Schools.

The Scream, Kent Monkman.

I know that this exhibit will be very controversial and many may not like it at all. A difficult topic on the abuse of the authorities against natives in Canada. As a guide I am not tasked with explaining national history nor taking sides or defending the actions of the national government at the time but to present the point of view of the artist, letting the public decide for themselves about the art work on show.

In the 19th century, the Canadian government believed it was responsible for educating and caring for aboriginal people in Canada. It thought their best chance for success was to learn English and adopt Christianity and Canadian customs. Ideally, they would pass their adopted lifestyle on to their children, and native traditions would diminish, or be completely abolished in a few generations.

The Canadian government developed a policy called “aggressive assimilation” to be taught at church-run, government-funded industrial schools, later called residential schools. The government felt children were easier to mold than adults, and the concept of a boarding school was the best way to prepare them for life in mainstream society.

Residential schools were federally run, under the Department of Indian Affairs. Attendance was mandatory for children in the many communities that didn’t have day schools. Agents were employed by the government to ensure all native children attended school.

The last school closed in 1996, there were 80 such schools in Canada operated by Churches both Protestant and Catholic. Some 150,000 children passed through the system in 110 years with devastating effects.

 

Storm Chips

Tags

LAY'S, Maritimes, PEI, roast chicken, Sea, Storms, winter

In Winter on the Atlantic storms can be ferocious, living in the Maritimes you learn that high winds in the 80 to 100km range are common. If you are not use to it and can be a little disconcerting.  We get storm warnings about 72 hours ahead of time, which is a long time weather wise and sometimes the announced storm fails to materialize. Tomorrow Thursday 4 and Friday 5 January we are told there will be a big storm affecting the Maritime provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI. Here on the Island we will get apparently mostly icy rain, the temperature will be too warm for snow.  The problem will be the high wind which can cause trees to topple and power lines to break, meaning power outages. We live in the centre of the Capital with modern infrastructure, hopefully we will be spared the worse.

Islanders are use to this type of weather and people are prepared. Today I went to the grocery store to get supplies for a party we are giving on Saturday, I did get extra candles. I did notice a big display of chips, apparently an absolute essential during a storm is storm chips made by LAY’S, you probably wonder why this would be the chip of choice.

It turns out that LAY’S buys all its potatoes here in PEI to make their chips. Well when you are in the dark, the wind is howling outside and the sea waves are crashing causing surges there is nothing like a bag of LAY’S chips to soothe the nerves, who knew!

In the store by one chip bag display a lady said to her friend, I have to get some chips and I told her it was important not to forget the chips given the storm coming, we all laughed.

A whole roast chicken is another commodity a lot of older people will buy, it is known as storm chicken, grocery stores stock up on it knowing people will come in to buy one, they have them in the deli section.

So you stay at home, everything will be closed anyway, no school, nor business will open, everyone knows better than to go out and the local radio will advise people to stay put. That is what we plan to do.

As of 3 January 2018 from Environment Canada

Things you learn

Tags

Canada., Charlottetown, Nova Scotia, PEI, snow, Storms, winter

Learning the Island life is interesting, per example Islanders will shop in droves the day before a big storm is forecasted. Last week we were told 48 hours ahead that a big storm was coming, result the next day the grocery stores were full of people, it was a sunny bright day and it was hard to believe that a storm was coming. During the night it started to snow and then the high wind which put traffic restrictions on the Sea Bridge to the mainland. In Charlottetown where we had green grass and some snow on the ground we now have more than 2 feet of snow or 60 cm, blowing snow made it deeper in some areas.

Huge mounds of snow in our parking lot next to our house must be at least 2 meters high if not more.

The traffic restriction on the Sea Bridge which is 12Km long means that only single family cars can cross and all trucks are stopped and must wait often up to 12 hours before they are allowed to cross. There is a very good warning system and a APP to warn you well ahead that there might be restrictions. Groceries stores will run short or out of certain food items. Though this has never affected us so far, we tend to buy from local farmers on the Island. Most deliveries are made by truck across the bridge and in Winter there are at least 2 days a week when restrictions apply due to very high winds. This means that the SuperStores run short of grocery items. Store managers were interviewed on this situation. We use to have ice breakers years ago crossing from the mainland to the Island but that is no longer the case.

Confederation Sea Bridge above the Straits of Northumberland, in the distance the mainland of Nova Scotia.

So the tradition on the island is to constitute in Winter a pantry reserve of food so that if you cannot get out due to the winds or amount of snow, then you are snug as a bug in your house. Our car was buried in snow up to the roof, there really was nothing I could do to get it out until the big snow removal tractor came and in 5 minutes I was completely clear. The streets are deserted, no cars can be seen. Some brave souls still have to walk their dog, we do but it is quick, they do not want to go out anyway.

What I find impressive almost in a Chicago style of street cleaning is how the City of Charlottetown sends out the snow plows the minute is starts to snow, my street is cleaned and clear in no time at all.

I believe the City is building an Ice Rink for skaters across from our house.