Photos of Quebec City on a June afternoon

             Quebec City: Saturday, June 7, 2014

Last week I visited beautiful and historic Quebec City.  As I strolled around the Old Town and the Quartier Petit Champlain, I took some photos that I would like to share with you.  Note; The Historic District of Old Quebec is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Porte Saint-Jean (Saint John's Gate) can be seen in the background in the photo above.

Above is a photo of Le Carbaet du Capitole

The windows of Le Cabaret du Capitole

Above is a photo of the Palais Montcalm.  This concert hall is located in the place D'Youville, the heart of Quebec City's cultural life.

Caps and sweaters of the Montreal Expos and Quebec Nordiques are still popular around the city.

Street musicians and all manner of buskers are popular in Quebec City.

The Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec. located on this site in Old Quebec since 1647, has been destroyed by fires twice.  It is the primate church of Canada and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec.  It is the parish church of the oldest parish in North America outside of Mexico and it is a National Historic Site of Canada.

Above is Quebec City's greatest landmark, the Chateau Frontenac.  This grand hotel was originally built in 1893 and was named after Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac, governor of the colony of New France  from 1672 to 1682 and 1689 to 1698.



Down the steps to the Lower Town . . .

Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec

The Old Quebec Funicular links the Hute-Ville (Upper Town) to the Basse-Ville (Lower Town).

Parc Félix-Leclerc (Félix Leclerc Park)

This park was named after Quebec singer, songwriter and poet, Félix Leclerc, who died on August 8, 1988.

Quartier Petit Champlain

Le Pape Georges is one of my favourite places in Quebec City.  It's a great wine and cheese bar.

Gare du Palais

Gare du Palais (Palace Station) is Quebec City's train and bus station.  It was built in 1915 by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP).

Above is the fountain in front of Gare du Palais.



If you've never visited Quebec City, I trust these photos illustrate why it is one of Canada's crown jewels. Quebec is a North American city with a distinctly European flavour.


- Joanne

Who's right about climate change - Stephen Harper or Barack Obama?

U.S. President Barack Obama has just put forth a plan that cuts carbon pollution from existing power plants in the United States by 30 per cent by 2030. In an email from Organizing for Action, a grassroots organization that advocates for the president's agenda , Obama made the following statement:

Climate change is happening, and it's happening now. As a president and as a father, I feel a moral responsibility to do something about it. The world our children grow up in depends on what we do today.

Carbon pollution is threatening our health right now. Over half of all Americans already live in areas where air pollution too often makes it unhealthy to breathe - it's time to cut carbon pollution the same way we already regulate toxic chemicals in our air.

Modernizing our power plants so they pollute less will also spark homegrown clean energy innovation, creating jobs and growing our economy.

I'm not going to wait to take action on this.

Right now, big polluters are going to do everything they can to derail this momentum.  They've been fighting these EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) standards since before they were even announced.

The EPA's plan would impose new regulations on existing coal-fired electricity plant beginning in 2020, allowing the United States to leap ahead of Canada in achieving its greenhouse gas emissions targets for that year.

While Obama is trying to take action, Prime Minister Harper's record on the environment is absolutely disgraceful and utterly abysmal.  I will not mince words.  I think Canadians deserve better. Harper's Conservative government should be voted out of office for many reasons and its attitude toward climate change is a major one. President Barack Obama differs with our prime minister on the issue. Harper continues to push for the Keystone XL pipeline, while Obama chooses to questions it.  Stephen Harper continues to sully both Canada's reputation and its environment.

In December of 2011, the Harper government pulled Canada from the Kyoto climate agreement requiring major industrial countries to reduce their annual carbon dioxide emissions to below 1990 levels.  This is a fact of which the majority of Canadians don't seem to be aware.  The results of a 2013 survey sponsored by the Ottawa-based think tank, Canada 2020 and the University of Montreal, showed that 59 per cent of Canadians did not realize that Canada has been the only country to withdraw from the legally-binding international accord.  When questioned as to whether Canada remained a part of the Kyota Protocol, 41 per cent responded "no." However, 33 per cent responded "yes" and 26 per cent were unsure.

At the time, Canada's then-Environment Minister, Peter Kent, claimed that withdrawing from the accord would spare the government an estimated $14 billion in penalties for not achieving its Kyoto targets.. Never mind that Kyoto is the world's only binding climate treaty.  Never mind that the dollar figure was disputed. As the New Deomocratic Party's environment critic, Megan Leslie, put it, withdrawing from Kyoto saved the Conservatives from having to admit that Canada had fallen short of it Kyoto goals, like "the kid in school who knows they're going to fail the class, so we have to drop it before that actually happens."

In 2012, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act was repealed and replaced by a weaker version.  A 2013 report by Environment Canada found that the federal government won't even come close to achieving its international commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020.

The Harper government has steadily removed environmental safeguards and has shown little regard for science.  Here are some glaring examples.  In March of 2012, Environment Canada declared the jobs of 60 scientists and other researchers to be surplus.  They were given their walking papers.  Funding for climate research has been reduced and the government has closed institutions such as the Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy.  Due to budget cuts, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council was forced to end grants to numerous organizations doing research in northern Canada on climate change and other scientific areas in biology, hydrology, and zoology.

The government has also allegedly attempted to muzzle scientists through federal policies that restrict what they can disclose publicly about their research.  Last year, the Federal Information Commissioner, Susan Legault, agreed to investigate a complaint from the Environmental Law Centre at the University of Victoria and Democracy Watch, an ethics advocacy organization.  Legault received a detailed report, Muzzling Civil Servants: A Threat to Democracy, that provided examples of how accesses to taxpayer-funded science has been suppressed by government restrictions on scientists speaking to the media and the public.

On February 19, 2014, President Obama, Prime Minister Harper and Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto met in Toluca, Mexico for the annual North American Leaders' Summit.  At the "Three Amigos" Summit, Obama declared that "severe weather patterns" have "consequences for our businesses, for our jobs, for our families, for safety and security."  He warned that climate change "has the potential of displacing people in ways that we cannot currently fully anticipate and will be extraordinarily costly."

President Obama also made the following remarks about the Keystone XL pipeline: "I said previously that how Keystone impacted greenhouse gas emissions would affect our decision.  But frankly, it has to affect all of our decisions at this stage because the science is irrefutable."  The American president reminded the other leaders that we only have one planet: and that we do have to influence big greenhouse gas emitters such as China and India.

Obama also stressed that although he wishes to stimulate economic development, such growth must be weighed against moving away from the use of fossil fuels.  Not surprisingly, Stephen Harper strongly promoted the development of the Alberta oilsands.  He argued that the most recent U.S. State Department report gave the oilsands a favourable review with regard to environmental impact.

On March 31, 2014, the United Nations's intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) released a voluminous report warning that climate change is already threatening life on the planet - from melting ice in the Arctic to heat waves, heavy rains and natural disasters.  Food stocks and human security are in dire jeopardy.  Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the IPCC, stated that "Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change."

Last month, a landmark U.S. report, declared that climate change is a clear and present danger. The National Climate Assessment, the collaborative work of 300 prominent scientists and experts, concluded that the effects of climate change are now being felt.  According to the report, this is no longer a faraway threat and its impact will be felt by every American.

In the face of mounting evidence, climate change deniers, especially right-wing conservatives, continue their denial.  They stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the sobering scientific evidence before them.  Like the Emperor Nero, they fiddle while Rome burns.  Only this time it isn't just Rome that's burning.  It's the planet Earth.

- Joanne

Tim Hudak's "job creation" plan doesn't add up

Let me get this straight.  According to Progressive Conservative Leader, Tim Hudak,  Premier Kathleen Wynne "is not focused on the most important thing and that's creating jobs."  So what will Hudak to solve the unemployment problem should he become premier of the province of Ontario? Well, he will cut 100,000 public sector jobs.  That's right, thousands of people with families and mortgages will be laid off if Hudak has his way.  If his party attains power after the June 12th election, he will cut a whopping 10 per cent of the province's civil service, excluding nurses, doctors and police.

However, Hudak will have no problem targeting teachers and teaching assistants.  In a speech in Barrie, Ontario, he stated unequivocally that if his party were to assume power that there would be "fewer teachers and their assistants."  He didn't mention that the result would be a lower standard of education in Ontario and larger classroom sizes.  This province's education system has had to recover from all the damage inflicted by former premier Mike Harris.  Our children can't afford anymore setbacks and they can't afford to lose good teachers.

How does Tim Hudak justify eliminating 100,000 jobs and putting so many people out of work?

"I take no joy in this, but it has to be done if we want job creators to put more people on the payroll in our province," he told supporters at the Barrie County Club on May 9th.   It's all part Hudak's dubious plan to create one million private sector jobs over eight years.  The Tory leader is ready, willing and able to sacrifice existing government jobs for the sake of some imagined future jobs in the private sector.  He would not hesitate to do so, he declared in Barrie.  "That's a trade-off I would do any second," he said.

Hudak maintains that the public sector job cuts alone would save $2 billion.  He didn't provide any figures as to the amount those public servants contribute to the economy through their taxes and their spending on goods and services.  He didn't say anything about the human cost of putting thousands of people out of work, a cost that can't be measured in dollars and cents.

Hudak's proposal was quickly denounced by Premier Wynne and Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.  "Today we learned that Tim Hudak's jobs plan is to turn paycheques into pink slips for 100,000 people," Wynne.proclaimed.  "How does it make sense, when you have an economy that is struggling, when you have a lot of families already out of work, to say you are going to throw a whole bunch more families out of work," Horwath pointed out.  

It certainly doesn't make sense.  How does one create jobs by eliminating them?  That sounds positively Orwellian.  I don't see the logic. Those 100,000 civil servants pay taxes and spend money. They fill Ontario's coffers.  If they are out of work, they won't be spending and they won't be paying as much in taxes.  How, prey tell, will that spur Ontario's sluggish economy?

Tim Hudak is willing to sacrifice the well being of thousands of Ontario government employees and their families at the altar of the deficit.  There is no guarantee that his plan will induce job creation in the private sector.  He is offering the people of Ontario a pie in the sky solution to unemployment.  There is no way he can make such an enormous cut in the pubic service without a drastic decline  in vital government services   His plan is a travesty that would create hardship and deprivation for Ontarians. It is bound to have detrimental effects on health, education and safety.

When will conservatives learn that imposing severe austerity measures and sharply lowering taxes do not automatically result in job creation and overall prosperity?  When will they realize that these policies lead to suffering, further unemployment, a greater gap between the haves and have-nots and painful economic recession?  Just ask some Europeans what years of austerity have done for them.


- Joanne

Death of Leopold, Son of of Queen Victoria

Prince Leopold, the Duke of Albany, fourth and youngest son of Queen Victoria, died suddenly in a fit at 2 o'clock this morning at Cannes. He had gone to Cannes only a few days ago for the sake of his health. Nothing serious, however, had been anticipated. He was looking fairly well, and had been taking part in the festivities of the place. 

- The New York Times
March 28, 1884

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert raised a family of nine children.  Leopold, pictured above, was the couple's eighth child.  He was also the youngest of their four male offspring.  Born at Buckingham Palace on April 7, 1853, the young prince was named after his grand-uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium.  On May 24, 1881 (Queen Victoria's birthday), he was given the titles of Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow.

Leopold was considered to be a delicate child and he suffered from hemophilia, a bleeding disorder, which he inherited from his mother.  This genetic mutation manifests almost exclusively in males.  Unfortunately, through two of her daughters (Alice and Beatrice), Queen Victoria passed the disorder to members of royal families across the European continent.

Due to his hemophilia, Leopold was physically weak and he bruised easily.  As if that weren't enough, he also experienced epileptic seizures.  Nevertheless, he managed to lead a very productive and successful life. He also did very well academically.

Beginning in 1872, Leopold spent four years studying at Christ Church, Oxford University, where he served as president of university's chess club and received an honorary doctorate in civil law. While at Oxford, the prince became acquainted with Alice Liddell, the daughter of Henry Liddell, the Dean of Christ Church. Alice is thought to be the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's classic tale, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, although Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, later denied this to be so.  Dodgson was a close friend of the Liddell family and he occupied the position of mathematics lecturer at Christ Church.

There has been speculation about a romance between Prince Leopold and Alice Liddell, whom Leopold met when he was an undergraduate at Oxford.  According to a biography of Liddell by Jane Curran on the BBC website, "they fell in love" but a marriage did not take place because Queen Victoria "insisted that he must marry a princess."  Alice eventually married Reginald Hargreaves, a cricketer, on September 15, 1880 at Westminster Abbey. They had three sons: Alan Knyveton Hargreaves. Leopold Reginald "Rex" Hargreaves and Caryl Liddell Hargreaves.  Their second son, Leopold "Rex," was the prince's namesake and godson. Both he and his older brother Alan were killed in World War I.

When Leopold left Oxford University in 1876, he travelled in Europe.  In 1880, he toured Canada and the United States along with his sister, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, whose husband, John Campbell, Marquis of Lorne, was then the 4th Governor General of Canada.

Prince Leopold's ill health prevented him from pursing active military service.  He was, however, an ardent supporter of  the arts and literature.  He was also a prominent chess patron and an active Freemason.  His life was full expect for one thing - the lack of a wife.

The prince was rejected by aristocratic women such as Princess Victoria of Baden and Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonerburg-Augustenberg.  Queen Victoria then stepped in to prevent her son from marrying someone whom she considered unsuitable.  She preferred her son to wed the daughter of a reigning Protestant royal family and she suggested that he meet Princess Helena Friederike, daughter of Gregor, reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pymont (regions now in Germany).

Leopold married Princess Helena on April 27, 1882.  The wedding ceremony took place at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.  In 1883, a few weeks after the birth of Alice Liddell's son, Leopold "Rex," Helena game birth to the couple's first child, a daughter named Alice.

Princess Helena

In early 1884, Prince Leopold's doctors advised that he spend the winter in Cannes, France, as he had done previously.  Helena was pregnant with the couple's second child at the time.  On March 27, 1884, Leopold slipped and fell on the staircase at Villa Nevada, the private residence where he was staying in Cannes, injuring his knee and hitting his head.  His hemophilia. only exacerbated the situation.  At the time of his accident, the 30-year-old Leopold was planning to attend the wedding of his niece, Princess Victoria of Hesse.

After his fall, Prince Leopold was examined by a physician and sent home to rest.  He died the next morning.of a cerebral hemorrhage.  According to the report in  The New York Times at the time, "the cause of the Duke's death was effusion of blood into the stomach and lungs.  There were no unusual premonitions, but the symptoms had long been threatening. He was subject to occasional attacks of internal hemorrhage. He had arranged to leave Cannes on Monday next as his health seemed to restored."

Prince Leopold's funeral took place on April 12, 1884 at St. George's Chapel in Windsor and the Seaforth Highlanders marched at the ceremony.  From 1881 until his death, Leopold served at the Highlanders' first Colonel-in Chief.

The Scottish poet, William McGonagall, wrote a poem lamenting Leopold's demise.  It is titled "The Death of Prince Leopold."  Here is the poem.in which Leopold's funeral is described.

ALAS! noble Prince Leopold, he is dead! 
Who often has his lustre shed:
Especially by singing for the benefit of Esher School, 
Which proves he was a wise prince. and no conceited fool. 
Methinks I see him on the platform singing the Sands o’ Dee,
The generous-hearted Leopold, the good and the free, 
Who was manly in his actions, and beloved by his mother; 
And in all the family she hasn’t got such another. 
He was of a delicate constitution all his life, 
And he was his mother’s favourite, and very kind to his wife, 
And he had also a particular liking for his child, 
And in his behaviour he was very mild. 
Oh! noble-hearted Leopold, most beautiful to see, 
Who was wont to fill your audience’s hearts with glee, 
With your charming songs, and lectures against strong drink: 
Britain had nothing else to fear, as far as you could think 
A wise prince you were, and well worthy of the name, 
And to write in praise of thee I cannot refrain; 
Because you were ever ready to defend that which is right, 
Both pleasing and righteous in God’s eye-sight. 
And for the loss of such a prince the people will mourn, 
But, alas! unto them he can never more return, 
Because sorrow never could revive the dead again, 
Therefore to weep for him is all in vain. 
’Twas on Saturday the 12th of April, in the year 1884, 
He was buried in the royal vault, never to rise more 
Until the great and fearful judgment-day, 
When the last trump shall sound to summon him away. 
When the Duchess of Albany arrived she drove through the Royal Arch,– 
A little before the Seaforth Highlanders set out on the funeral march; 
And she was received with every sympathetic respect, 
Which none of the people present seem’d to neglect. 
Then she entered the memorial chapel and stayed a short time, 
And as she viewed her husband’s remains it was really sublime, 
While her tears fell fast on the coffin lid without delay, 
Then she took one last fond look, and hurried away. 
At half-past ten o’clock the Seaforth Highlanders did appear, 
And every man in the detachment his medals did wear; 
And they carried their side-arms by their side, 
With mournful looks, but full of love and pride. 
Then came the Coldstream Guards headed by their band, 
Which made the scene appear imposing and grand; 
Then the musicians drew up in front of the guardroom 
And waited patiently to see the prince laid in the royal tomb. 
First in the procession were the servants of His late Royal Highness, 
And next came the servants of the Queen in deep mourning dress, 
And the gentlemen of his household in deep distress, 
Also General Du Pla, who accompanied the remains from Cannes. 
The coffin was borne by eight Highlanders of his own regiment, 
And the fellows seemed to be rather discontent 
For the loss of the prince they loved most dear, 
While adown their cheeks stole many a silent tear 
Then behind the corpse came the Prince of Wales in field marshal uniform, 
Looking very pale, dejected, careworn, and forlorn; 
Then followed great magnates, all dressed in uniform, 
And last, but not least, the noble Marquis of Lorne. 
The scene in George’s Chapel was most magnificent to behold, 
The banners of the knights of the garter embroidered with gold; 
Then again it was most touching and lovely to see 
The Seaforth Highlanders’ inscription to the Prince’s memory: 
It was wrought in violets, upon a background of white flowers, 
And as they gazed upon it their tears fell in showers; 
But the whole assembly were hushed when Her Majesty did appear, 
Attired in her deepest mourning, and from her eye there fell a tear. 
Her Majesty was unable to stand long, she was overcome with grief, 
And when the Highlanders lowered the coffin into the tomb she felt relief; 
Then the ceremony closed with singing “Lead, kindly light,” 
Then the Queen withdrew in haste from the mournful sight. 
Then the Seaforth Highlanders’ band played “Lochaber no more,” 
While the brave soldiers’ hearts felt depressed and sore; 
And as homeward they marched they let fall many a tear 
For the loss of the virtuous Prince Leopold they loved so dear.

On July 19, 1884, about four months after her husband's passing, Helena gave birth to a son named Charles Edward.


END NOTES

* If you are interested in learning more about the life of Leopold, I suggest that you read Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son, by Charlotte Zeepvat.  According to Zeepvat, Leopold was first diagnosed with hemophilia in 1858 or 1859.

*  At birth, Leopold's son, Charles Edward, inherited his father's title and became the Duke of Albany.  In 1900, he became Sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg a small German principality  On October 11, 1905, he married Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein, Kaiser Wilhelm II's niece-by-marriage.

During World War I, Charles Edward was regarded as a traitor in Britain.  Despite conflicted loyalties, he decided to support Germany in the conflict and held a commission as a general in the German Army.  As a result, he became persona non grata in his own country.  When the war ended in November of 1918, Charles Edward was forced to abdicate as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  In 1919, he was divested of his British peerages, his title of Royal Highness and his British honours (including his status as Duke of Albany).

Below is a postcard of Charles Edward in a German uniform.

Charles Edward

In 1935, this grandson of Queen Victoria became a member of the German Nazi Party.  He joined the SA (also known as the Brownshirts), the paramilitary wing of the Nazis.  During the 1930s and 1940s, he held many different positions in the Third Reich, including President of the German Red Cross.  In 1936, Adolf Hitler sent Charles Edward to Britain as the president of the Anglo-German Friendship Society.  His mission was to help improve relations between the two countries.

Charles Edward with Hitler

Charles Edward was too old for active service in World War II.  However, at the end of the war, due to his Nazi sympathies, he was placed under house arrest by the American Military Government in Bavaria.  He was later incarcerated with other Nazi officials.

Charles Edward died at his home in Coburg,West Germany on March 6, 1954 at the age of 69.

- Joanne

Photos of High Park on a spring afternoon

 

High Park, located west of downtown Toronto, is one of my favourite places in the city.  It is the largest park solely within Toronto, spanning 161 hectares (398 acres).  It was bequeathed to the people of the city by architect and land surveyor John George Howard (1803-1890).  In 1832, Howard and his wife, Jemimah left their native England and immigrated to the little town of York (now Toronto).

High Park is both a recreational and natural park.  It contains sporting facilities, a zoo, cultural and educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a pond named Grenadier Pond.  According to High Park News, one third of the area has been preserved in a its natural state.

I visited the park yesterday, on a cool but sunny Sunday afternoon.  Here are some pictures of a spring day in High Park.  I couldn't resist photographing the little girl in the tree above.

Above is a photo of The Portuguese Monument, originally erected in High Park in 1978 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Portuguese community in Toronto.

There is a restaurant in High Park called the Grenadier Café and Teahouse.  It is located just south of The Portuguese Monument and can be seen in the photo above with the train going by.

- Joanne