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Editorial: How the “Canadianized” Community of Newfoundland Joined Canada
Editorial

Editorial: How the “Canadianized” Community of Newfoundland Joined Canada

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

When the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa were repaired after a fire during the First World War, stone plaques were erected over the entrance to the Peace Tower. There were ten of them — nine bearing the coats of arms of the provinces and one left bare, to await the day when Newfoundlandjoined Canada.

Habitants and French-Speaking Quebec
Editorial

Habitants and French-Speaking Quebec

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

Habitants were once a symbol of French-speaking Quebec, in much the same way that cowboys became an iconic image of the American West and gauchos a symbol of Argentina. In the word’s most familiar meaning, going back to the late 17th century, a habitant was a farmer who worked and lived on a plot of land granted him by a wealthy seigneur (see Seigneurial System). Although the system of land tenure in Quebec changed in the wake of the British Conquest, for many decades afterwards the notion of a habitant remained crucial to the perceived identity of the province.

Vancouver Feature: “Babes in the Woods” Discovered
Article

Vancouver Feature: “Babes in the Woods” Discovered

The following article is a feature from our Vancouver Feature series. Past features are not updated.

A Parks Board gardener, clearing leaves near Beaver Lake, came across a cheap fur coat. Lifting it up, he made a grisly discovery — the skeletal remains of two young children. Dubbed the Babes in the Woods by the press, the sensational, unsolved case remains a haunting piece of Vancouver lore.

Vancouver Feature: BC Electric Building Opens
Article

Vancouver Feature: BC Electric Building Opens

The following article is a feature from our Vancouver Feature series. Past features are not updated.


When BC Electric chairman Dal Grauer decided to move to new headquarters south of Georgia Street, he wanted a building that would symbolize optimism and progress. What he got was a gleaming 21-storey modernist structure that glowed with electric light 24 hours a day.

Vancouver Feature: “China-town” Develops on Old Dupont
Editorial

Vancouver Feature: “China-town” Develops on Old Dupont

The following article is a feature from our Vancouver Feature series. Past features are not updated.


In 1887, a Vancouver newsman noted the concentration of Chinese residences and businesses at the south end of Carrall Street at Dupont — now Pender Street — near the edge of False Creek. The development of “China-town,” as he called it, was recent, but Chinese had been Vancouver pioneers from the start.

Vancouver Feature: Birks Building Demolished
Article

Vancouver Feature: Birks Building Demolished

The following article is a feature from our Vancouver Feature series. Past features are not updated.


The sparkling white terra cotta tiles of the Birks building lit the southeast corner of Granville and Georgia from 1913. Inside, sparkling jewelry, silver and fine china attracted the most demanding, and wealthy, clientele. It was a shock to the city when the Birks family decided to tear the impressive grand dame down in 1975.

Vancouver Feature: Birks Clock Moves Downtown
Article

Vancouver Feature: Birks Clock Moves Downtown

The following article is a feature from our Vancouver Feature series. Past features are not updated.


“Meet me at the Birks clock” was the standard Vancouver rendezvous plan in the pre-cell phone era of 1913 to 1974. But the Birks clock itself has been a wandering timepiece. It started at Granville and Hastings, moved to Granville and Georgia, and returned to its original intersection — but across the street!