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Canadian
Orange Facts.
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There
was a parade in Toronto in 1824 by
YORK Lodge. No number for the lodge is
given, but it may have been the one
later given to Nassau L.O.L. No. 4,
the first Orange warrant to be
accorded to the city of Toronto.
Lodges
were forming and meeting in the Home
District as early as 1820. The first
definitive Orange Lodge in the Home
District was organized in 1820 in
Thomas Graham’s tavern at
Grahamshire near present day Brampton,
Ontario.
The
records for Upper Canada show that
there was an Orange Lodge in Perth in
1824; Port Hope and Cavan, 1826;
Richmond, 1828; Kingston, 1827, and a
second lodge there ["80 members,
a parade and casualties"] in
1830; Emily, Peterborough, York,
Simcoe - and a parade in Thorold in
1828.
From the
‘Cobourg Star’ of August 21, 1833,
Colonel John Covert, who led the
parade in Cobourg that year was quoted
as seeing in the Orange Association
"an anchor of loyalty". He
was further quoted as saying that
"Orange Lodges were the only
embodied loyal associations in the
province and had risen in public
esteem. In view of the attacks by the
radicals on the Constitution, the
lives and property and the religious
establishment, he had joined the Order
with other responsible magistrates and
gentlemen."
A
suggestion was made in 1836 that the
"12th be observed quietly so as
not to offend the R.C. Bishop." A
dinner was held at Henderson’s Inn
arranged by L.O.L. 137, of which
Alderman John Armstrong was the
master. L.O.L. 137 was originally
instituted in 1833 and Armstrong
[after whom the lodge was named]
received the new [1844] issue warrant.
He was also Grand Treasurer and since
Gowan was also a member of L.O.L. 137
he supported him in the 1853 - 1856
split, but opposed him when he wished
to dissolve the Order and he opposed
him on Gowan’s views on
self-government.
In May,
1836, L.O.L. 156, London, Ontario,
urged the dissolution of the Orange
Society, but Grand Lodge rejected the
proposal. Professor W. B. Kerr
referred to this episode by quoting a
letter from Richard Bulloch "to
the Orangemen of B.N.A.", July 7,
1836 which was printed in the
"Brockville Recorder" on
October 19, 1837. The article read:
"This
decision amazed and dismayed Bulloch,
who wrote a circular letter to the
lodges, recalling that the King, the
Duke and twenty-three distinguished
British subjects had urged
dissolution; that the Earl of
Winchelsea had resigned the mastership
of Winchelsea lodge; Colonel Percival
his treasureship of the Grand Lodge of
Ireland, and that the latter Grand
Lodge had resolved on dissolution
without reservation or evasion.
Accordingly he begged leave to dissent
from the decision to continue the
Canadian society and offered his
resignation of the deputy grand
mastership. This was accepted and had
no effect on the determination of the
Grand Lodge. Gowan announced,
triumphantly, that the Grand Lodge had
resolved not to act on the Duke’s
advice and had taken a determination
of ‘No Surrender’".
Gowan’s
attitude of 1836 should be viewed
alongside his actions in 1844 when he
presented to the Grand Lodge a
resolution of the "Council of
Advice" of November 30, 1843, for
the dissolution of the Order. It had
been submitted to the Governor. Grand
Lodge turned the proposition down at
its meeting in Hamilton. At this same
1844 meeting Gowan told the delegates
he also had tendered his resignation
to the Governor. He was persuaded to
continue in office as Grand Master
after the Grand Lodge had registered
disapproval of his action "by
standing vote". Forgiven but not
entirely forgotten, Gowan was rejected
when proposed as Grand Master against
Benjamin in 1852 at Port Hope.
Undoubtedly some delegates remembered
Gowan’s 1844 action. He had been out
of office since 1846.
When
Mackenzie’s rebel forces threatened
the city of Toronto in 1837, five
hundred men were sworn into the
militia by Mayor George Gurnett. He,
along with aldermen Dixon, Munro and
Armstrong, were members of the Order.
A total of between 800 and 1200 men
were sworn in with 317 of them being
members of the Orange Association.
"In
1924 - 1927 I was County Master of
Nipissing and from 1925 held Grand
Lodge office. As County Master, and
also a North Bay Alderman [all 11
members of Council were Protestant and
six were Orangemen] I welcomed the
delegates at the North Bay Grand Lodge
in 1925. I was elected Deputy Grand
Master, there being a political feud
between the Grand Master of B.A. and
the Junior Deputy Grand Master of
Ontario West." - Leslie Saunders
Editors
Comments. A visit to Alex Rough’s
Canadian Orange History Site is
recommended. Alex has done a fine
job of gathering historical facts
and articles about the Orange Order
in Canada.
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Visit
to the Boyne Defenders.
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Last
month I had the privilege of attending
a special meeting of the Boyne
Defenders, Detroit, LOL 434 in
Windsor, Canada.
The
occasion was held for a number of
reasons. The first was to celebrate
the work that Tom Plunkett has put
into the Loyal Orange Order and flute
bands organization throughout Canada
and America. As you know Tom is
fighting cancer. The meeting thanked
Tom for all his hard work with a
number of eloquent speeches
congratulating Tom on his efforts. In
return Tom gave a speech which not
only highlighted the dedication of
this good man but his wishes that we
all continue in his footsteps by
holding the teachings of the Orange
Institution and the Protestant faith
dear to our hearts.
The
second was to hold a first degree for
four new members of the Lodge.
Over 50 Orangemen from all over the
States and Canada attended the event.
Some travelled from as far away as Los
Angeles and Texas.
For me
the meeting was the first one I had
attended in many years. Looking around
the room I saw both young and old. I
certainly was filled with a sense of
belief that the Order is in good hands
for the future. Many of the members
were under the age 40. The master is a
young man who ably handled his first
involvement in the first degree for
the new members. Maybe the most
interesting observation was that a
number of the members were not
Scottish or from Ulster. Neither were
they second generation, Scots Irish.
There were Canadians and Americans
from differing ethnic backgrounds, who
have a strong believe in Faith Hope
and Charity and our way of life.
Two of
the new members, a father and son,
travelled all the way from Ohio to
join the Order. Only one of the new
members was Scottish by birth. There
is no doubt that through the Boyne
Defenders the Loyal Orange Institution
of the United States is alive and well
and will continue in strength. For me
I was proud to request a transfer from
my mother lodge to the Boyne
Defenders.
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America:
The Land of Freedom.
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Anyone
reading or listening to the news this
week will have concentrated on the
main headlines. The tragic events
surrounding the Space Shuttle, the
ongoing events in the Middle East and
the latest on President Bush Address
to the nation. But many will not have
heard of two stories, which have come
to my attention.
The
first is about Mary Kelly - the peace
campaigner who allegedly damaged a US
Navy aircraft at Shannon Airport
who was the absent guest of honour
last night at a dinner organised by
supporters of the Continuity IRA.
Kelly was meant to have shared a
platform with the convicted IRA
gunrunner George Harrison at a
commemoration organized by Republican
Sinn Fein in New York. But the founder
of the Shannon peace camp was unable
to attend the dinner dance: she is
being held at Limerick prison after
she allegedly attacked the aircraft
with a hatchet.
The
second was the news that Martin
McGuinness was in New York last week.
Speaking in Manhattan on Tuesday
before leaving for Albany and
Washington, D.C., McGuinness expressed
the wish that Richard Haass, the Bush
special envoy to Ireland, would stay
in office through this period before
leaving the administration, as
announced this week.
The
question needs to be asked why America
can take a hard stance on Middle
Eastern Terrorism but does nothing
about known Irish terrorists
travelling the length and breadth of
this great nation. Some might
say they have reformed but have they.
In fact McGuiness has never apologized
for his activities while a member of
the PIRA. His partner Gerry Adams
claims that he was never a member of
the PIRA, a statement that we all know
is false. As for Mary Kelly being
invited to New York after she has
attacked a US Navy aircraft leaves us
with the question of trying to
understand the double standards set by
the American Government. A greater
issue though is addressing the
allegiance of the Irish Community to
America.
Issues
like this will need to be addressed at
some point in the near future. If in
fact we are to go to war with Iraq,
young men and women will give up their
lives to keep this nation and the
world for that matter free of
terrorism. Maybe as Loyalists we need
to stand up and question why if we
support our nation and Government in
the stand against terrorism, the Irish
Community do not.
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| Ulster
Plantation. |
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The
majority of Scots who migrated to
Northern Ireland came as part of this
organized settlement scheme of
1605-1697. Plantation settlements were
confined to the Province of Old Ulster,
in the Counties of Antrim, Down, Armagh,
Tyrone, Donegal, Cavan, Fermanagh, and
Londonderry. As many as 200,000 Scots
crossed the North Channel to settle in
Ulster in this approximately 90 year
period. County Monaghan, although part
of Old Ulster was not a Plantation
county but it did receive Scots settlers
in the 17th century as witness the First
Monaghan Presbyterian Church in Monaghan
Town which celebrated its Tercentenary
in 1997. The Plantation of Ulster took
place in two stages. The first stage was
confined to the two eastern counties of
Antrim and Down. The initiative was
taken by Scottish fortune seekers.
Although the British Crown encouraged
and co-operated with those responsible,
it was fully a private venture. The
second stage of settlement was far
broader in scope, including six counties
in Ulster. It was a project of the
state, conceived, planned, and closely
supervised by the British governments of
England and Ireland. The plantations
included settlers from England and
Scotland, although Scots outnumbered
those from England by a ratio of 20 to
1. The primary purpose of the plantation
scheme was to populate the northern
counties of Ireland with loyal British
Protestant subjects, to counterbalance
and dominate the Irish Roman Catholics.
Scotland was only too willing to
participate. It was seen as a way to
eradicate Scotland of the hordes of
lowland Scots who in poverty had turned
to a life of marauding and horse
thievery, which had become an occupation
in itself in the Scottish countryside.
Hence in the early years of the
Plantation, the majority of the settlers
were mainly Lowlanders. Indeed,
receiving landlords in Ireland
encouraged the arriving Scots to bring
as many horses and cattle as possible to
the new colony, obtained by whatever
means. Scotland found this a small price
to pay to eliminate the larger problem.
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| In
Memory of Crew STS-107 |
|
In
Memoriam
of the crew of STS-107
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of
earth
And danced the skies on
laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the
tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred
things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and
soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hovering
there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and
flung
My eager craft through footless halls of
air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with
easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've
trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of
God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
When I must leave you for a little while
Please do not grieve and shed wild tears
And hug your sorrow to you through the
years
But start out bravely with a gallant
smile;
Reach out your hand in comfort and in
cheer
And I in turn will comfort you and hold
you near;
And never, never be afraid to die,
For I am waiting for you in the sky!
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| Stop
Living the Lie |
Dear
Mr Walker
I am very surprised that the Daily
Record has not yet apologized to all the
readers for the sensationalism of your
headline. As a Rangers Supporter I find
the headline both demeaning to me as a
Rangers Supporter but also at odds with
the fact that both Celtic and Rangers
are trying to break down the barriers of
Sectarianism. Nobody can doubt the
actions that took place on the Saturday
night in Ulster. Mr Gregg lost his live
through a feud by rival
sectors of an Organisation who obviously
need to resolve their differences.
And no doubt the people of Ulster will
suffer yet again through an issue that
so clearly needs to be given the utmost
priority amongst the law enforcement
agencies and the politicians alike.
But what that has to do with Glasgow
Rangers, I honestly have no idea. Maybe
you in your wisdom could enlighten me
and other readers. Mr Gregg was no doubt
a Rangers Supporter, he was at the game,
but your headline infers issues which
have nothing to do with the good name of
Rangers Supporters
worldwide.
Mr Walker we all have a right to free
speech, but are you and your editors not
bending the rules a little. A simple
headline of your story could have been.
"Loyalist Murdered" I guess
that wouldn't have sold as many papers
but there again I think most of us are
tired of the sensationalism. I guess
that is why you Papers sales have gone
down so much in recent years.
Is it not time for your Paper amongst
others to see the good in both Glasgow
Rangers and Glasgow Celtic and enjoy the
rivalry for what it is. After all we all
have families who have Supporters from
both teams. We have no problem treating
us with respect. Maybe you could do the
same. A positive approach would do
wonders for both teams and Supporters.
Time for you to be honest
Alan Locke
Los Angeles. |
| Canadian
Soldier. |
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It
was the night before Christmas, he lived
all alone, in a one bedroom house, made
of plaster and stone. I had come
down the chimney, with presents to give,
and to see just who, in this home did
live. I looked all about, a
strange sight I did see, no tinsel, no
presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the mantle, just boots
filled with sand, on the wall hung
pictures, of far distant lands.
With medals and badges, awards of all
kinds, a sober thought, came through my
mind. For this house was
different, it was dark and dreary, I
found the home of a soldier, once I
could see clearly. The soldier lay
sleeping, silent, alone, curled up on
the floor, in this one bedroom home.
The face was so gentle, the room in such
disorder, not how I pictured, a Canadian
soldier. Was this the hero, of
whom I'd just read?, curled up on a
poncho, the floor for a bed? I realized
the families, that I saw this night,
owed their lives to these soldiers, who
were willing to fight.
Soon round the world, the children would
play, and grownups would celebrate, a
bright Christmas day. They all
enjoyed freedom, each month of the year,
because of the soldiers, like the one
lying here. I couldn't help
wonder, how many lay alone, on a cold
Christmas Eve, in a land far from home.
The very thought brought, a tear to my
eye, I dropped to my knees, and started
to cry. The soldier awakened, and
I heard a rough voice, "Santa,
don't cry, this life is my choice.
I fight for freedom, I don't ask for
more, my life is my god, my country, my
corps. "The soldier rolled
over, and drifted to sleep, I couldn't
control it, I continued to weep. I
kept watch for hours, so silent and
still, and we both shivered, from the
cold night's chill.
I didn't want to leave, on that cold,
dark night, this guardian of honour, so
willing to fight. Then the soldier
rolled over, with a voice, soft and
pure, whispered, "carry on Santa,
it's Christmas day, all is secure.
"One look at my watch, and I knew
he was right, "Merry Christmas my
friend, and to all a good night."
This poem was written by a peace keeping
soldier stationed overseas. The
following is his request. I think
it is reasonable. Please. would
you do me the kind favour of sending
this to as many people as you can?
Christmas will be coming soon and some
credit is due to our Canadian service
men and women for our being able to
celebrate these festivities. Let's try
in this small way to pay a tiny bit of
what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and
dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.
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| Editorial |
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Canadian
Orange Facts, fairly impressive
don't you think? The Order has a
rich history here in the former
former Upper Canada, now known as
Ontario.
It makes me proud to see mentioned
LOL 137 in such old documents. The
quotation, at the bottom, by
Leslie Saunders, is of particular
interest as
the great grandson of Leslie is
the current WM of Victory LOL 137.
To keep
the continuity within our Order,
strong family ties are definetly
an asset.
The OO, not only having a history
north of the 49th pararell,
apparently is
experiencing a growth in the
Detroit Mi. area.
Would you believe 4 first degrees
performed in Boyne Defenders LOL
434, Detroit, last month at a
special meeting in Windsor On.
Unbelievable! This special meeting
was during the celebration of Bro
Tom Plunkett's dedication and
devotion to the Order. Bro
Plunkett, May God Bless You.
You might all wonder why we call
ourselves the North American
Loyalist.
Well did the USA not win a war
against the Loyalists? Did Canada
not demand
a release from the rule of the
British Government to become an
independent
Nation? Who are we loyal to,
our adopted countries or to the
British Crown.
It does make us stand up and
think.
The issue that we have to decide
on, like anything in life, if that
if we
want to be armchair Protestants
then we will all give up our right
to
freedom. That is all of our
choices in this free world of ours
but in time we will all begin to
realize what we have given up. Not
for us but for our
children.
It is time for the Orange Order in
the USA and Canada to rise up
again. They should do so in the
acts of denouncing terrorism,
racism and also bigotry.
Those acts are well beneath an
order, whose only aim is the
better good of
the people who fought and died for
the freedom of these two great
nations.
You don't need to argue the point.
The history books highlight the
facts.
Remember always what you were
taught as kids. And if you weren't
the
password to being great is
"FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY'
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A
Little thought
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How
is Canada distinct? How
does this country’s existence
make a difference in the world?
The problem with this
fundamental question (really a
new version of the old search
for the Canadian identity) is
that Canada and visions of
Canada have been changing
constantly.
The country has evolved from the
still very British nation that
influenced my generation,
through dalliances with
northern, socialist and
bicultural identities, to emerge
as the multicultural hotel in
the American suburbs that we are
today. While this has been a
coherent, probably inevitable
and not necessarily unwelcome
development, it may not leave us
with a particularly coherent,
distinct, or important country.
One wonders if the next
generation of Canadians will
debate the possibility of moving
on to create a greater North
America.
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Canada
Identity
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Canada
became Americanized in the 20th
century. The process was not
merely the effect of penetration
by American popular culture,
significant and complete as that
has been. “Americanization”
went directly to the core of
how Canadians wanted their own
society to evolve.
Drifting away from failed identity
experiments (anglophilism,
northernness,
socialism, biculturalism),
Canadians opted to mirror the
United States as
another pluralistic, human
rights-based North American
democracy. They also
decided to complete the
integration of their economy on a
continental basis.
The Canada-U.S. border became not
so much a fence as a lawn marker.
The
difference was no longer between
“us” and “them,” but
rather between “us”
and “us” -- except on the
issue of global military
responsibility.
The Trudeau years were pivotal.
Patriation of Canada's
Constitution in 1982 included a
revolutionary change in our
approach to human rights and
political power. The advent of the
Charter of Fundamental Rights and
Freedoms meant that Canada had
replaced its British tradition of
parliamentary sovereignty with a
constitutionals list of human
rights to
be interpreted by the courts --
almost exactly as in the United
States. At
the same time, the Trudeau
commitment to cultural pluralism
-- real
multiculturalism rather than the
biculturalism his opponents
advocated --
ushered in an era of officially
sanctioned diversity.
A diverse people, celebrating
their constitutional right to be
different from one another, would
obviously not have much of an
identity. Canada was on its way to
becoming almost as multi-ethnic,
multicultural, and diverse a
country as the United States,
though without the glue of that
intense sense
of patriotism called
“Americanism.” Immigrants
continued to be welcome and to
enrich the mix. In 2002 Booker
Prize-winning novelist Yann Martel
defined
the new Canada in a one-word
image, fraught with many
connotations, when he
said that it is the greatest
“hotel” on Earth.
At the end of the Trudeau years
Canada had also decided that the
north-south
economic flows were too strong to
be resisted. The old preferential
trading
system of the British Empire had
long since disappeared. England
herself had
turned her back on Canada by
entering the Common Market. With
nowhere else
to turn and too small a population
to be economically
self-sufficient,
Canada accepted its North American
economic destiny. Canadian
politics,
higher education, and high culture
had also become North
Americanized.
The public values of Canada and
the United States are now very
similar.
Health care is the exception that
proves the rule (no service in the
U.S.
when you can't pay; no service in
Canada when there is no doctor).
What the Liberal establishment
tells us is a very “Canadian”
idea of being receptive
to the world's tired and hungry
and poor is the same attitude that
many
years ago inspired the French to
give a certain famous statue to
the United
States. The idea of creating a
kinder and gentler society was
first enunciated by President Bush
Sr. Canada and the United States
are virtually at one in trying to
export democracy and their
concerns for human rights
around the world. In foreign
affairs, when the chips are down,
Canada and
the United States play mostly the
same cards.
Pearson, Diefenbaker and Trudeau
all had visions of Canadian
distinctiveness. These have faded.
From Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney
through Jean Chrétien and Paul
Martin, Canadian politicians and
their handlers have been devoid of
visionary possibilities in the
past 20 years. “Community of
communities?” We are not
significantly British, not
significantly northern,
not significantly socialist, not
significantly bicultural to be
significantly different from the
United States. At best, maybe,
we're a little of all of those --
small differences that do not add
up to a distinction. As I've
argued in other essays, Canada has
become in many ways
a suburb of the American
megalopolis. A multicultural
suburb, a great hotel.
Foreign policy does continue to
divide the two countries. As the
Americans prepare for war in the
Middle East, Canada hangs back, at
least on the odd-numbered days of
the month. We pretend to be
engaged, lacing our
rhetoric with platitudinous
internationalism, but our extreme
military weakness is a dead
giveaway. Starting in the Trudeau
era, we actually succumbed to
old-fashioned North American
isolationism, like the U.S.A. in
1914 and 1939, like the old Quebec
that produced Pierre Trudeau and
Jean
Chrétien.
This was a tradition that the
Canadian mainstream used to hold
in contempt.
We had a proud record of fighting
fascism, but we largely opted out
of the
Cold War. Now, in sharp contrast
to Britain and our
sister-dominion, Australia, we
would like to sit out the hard
parts of the war against
terrorism. We have become too
diverse, too self-satisfied, too
parochial to
take the idea of defending
ourselves seriously, or even to
care very much any more about the
realities of national sovereignty.
The fundamental phoniness of much
Canadian discourse about world
issues lies
in our belief the Americans, or
anyone else, take us seriously. As
things stand now, we don't make a
difference. If we were Americans,
if we did have
votes for Congress and did pay
taxes to Washington, then perhaps
our voices
might really count, perhaps even
in debates about softwood lumber.
If we
were inside the tent and did not
have to worry about the effect
along the border of offending the
Americans, we might feel more
freedom to dissent, as U.S.
citizens themselves do with great
vigour.
Polls show that Canadians do not
want to join the United States. I
think the
idea of Canadian-American union is
currently wildly impractical -- it
would
certainly be political suicide to
advocate in Canada. Sometimes,
though, I
wonder if this will continue to be
the case. Would attitudes change
if there were a truly serious war
or some other crisis that pulled
us together? Would attitudes
change if global issues receded
and we began to ask why we bother
to stay separate? Would attitudes
change if we thought more about
how the
Scots have dominated the United
Kingdom?
In 2003, Canadians are less
different from Americans in their
fundamental values and
orientations than Maritimers were
from Canadians in 1867. Staying
separate is pleasant and easy so
long as the economic gap doesn't
widen too alarmingly. Still: If it
was a good thing 135 years ago to
break down social
and cultural and economic barriers
and create a great nation
stretching over
half of North America, why would
it not be a good thing in the next
few years to at least wonder about
a vision of the ultimate North
American confederation?
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