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WEEKS TO GO
Canadian treasures CANADA: NATURAL SOURCE OF PRIDE SINCE 1867
Quiz TEST YOUR CANADIAN KNOWLEDGE
A life of firsts in flying colour
QUESTION 1: Which Canadian painter died under mysterious circumstances in a boating accident in 1917?
Born in Vancouver in 1905, Elizabeth Muriel Gregory MacGill, known as Elsie, was the youngest child of a well-known family. Her father was an acclaimed lawyer, and her mother, Helen Gregory MacGill, was Brit- ish Columbia’s first female judge. However, when Elsie was twelve, her family fell upon hard financial times that would last through the war years. The young girl’s exceptional knack for fixing things played a large role in keeping the MacGills afloat, and led her parents to encourage her to pursue a career in the male-dominated field of engineering. From 1923 to 1927, MacGill studied applied science in engineering at the University of Toronto. When she graduated, she became the first Canadian woman to earn a degree in electrical engineering. She went on to enrol in the University of Michigan’s Masters of Science in engi- neering program, specializing in aeronautical engineering. It was dur- ing her time in Michigan that she first worked on the design, research and development of aircraft. In 1929, she made history by becoming the first woman in North America—and likely the world—to receive a Masters in aeronautical engineering. In 1934, Elsie MacGill started work at Fairchild Aircraft in Montreal, where she stood out not only because of her gender, but also her excep- tional talent. This reputation led her to be elected to the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1938—another first for a woman. After nearly a decade at Fairchild, she was named chief aeronautical engineer at Canadian Car & Foundry (CanCar) in Fort William. Holding such a posi- tion was unheard of for a woman at the time, but MacGill didn’t let the
pressure of being the first get in the way of her performance. During her time at CanCar she designed a new training aircraft, the Maple Leaf Trainer II, before being put in charge of a large-scale project for the Royal Air Force: the production of the Hawker Hurricane. Her work on this fighter craft nearly single-handedly built Canada’s reputation as an aircraft construction powerhouse during the SecondWorldWar, earning her the nickname of Queen of the Hurricanes. In 1943, MacGill left CanCar to open an aeronautics consulting busi- ness in Toronto. A few years later, she became the first woman to serve as technical advisor for the International Civil Aviation Organization, for which she helped draft the International Air Worthiness regulations for the design and production of commercial aircraft. Later, she was named Chairman of the United Nations Stress Analysis Committee, and was—you guessed it—the first woman ever to chair a UN committee. In the following years, inspired by the life of her mother, MacGill devoted most of her time to women’s rights advocacy, eventually be- coming a member of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. Elsie MacGill died in 1980 after dedicating her life to engineering and activism. The long list of honours and awards she received includes the Order of Canada and the Amelia Earhart Medal; she became a member of the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 1983 and was one of the found- ing inductees in the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame. But above all, she showedmillions of girls in Canada and the world that they could accomplish just as much as their male counterparts—if not more.
QUESTION 2: Where in Canada would you go to cross the world’s longest covered bridge?
QUESTION 3: Manitoba’s Narcisse Wildlife Management Area is home to the world’s largest concentration of what animal?
QUESTION 4: What Canadian city hosts an annual international bathtub race?
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ART, LITERATURE AND ENTERTAINMENT
Where are we from? THE 52 LARGEST GROUPS IN CANADA’S MULTICULTURAL MOSAIC
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
SPORTS AND LEISURE
infO Canada THE STORIES BEHIND OUR SYMBOLS
Canada’s Japanese community It’s commonly agreed upon by historians that the first Japanese settler in Canada was Manzo Nagano, who moved from Japan to Victoria, British Columbia, in 1877. Following Nagano’s arrival, a steady flow of Japanese people immigrated to Canada until the 1920s. However, the early history of Japanese immigrants in Canada is clouded by racism and marginalization up until the late 1940s. The political and social climate of the era was heav- ily influenced by wartime rivalries, and the Japanese community was one of themost stigmatized groups as a result. Tension between Canada and its residents of Japanese heritage peaked during the Second World War when
YUKON
Flower: fireweed
Yukon chose themagenta hued fireweed (Chamer- ion angustifolium) as its territorial emblem in 1957. It blooms abundantly from July to September in clearings and along roadsides. It’s often the first plant to germinate after a forest fire, making it a pioneer species. Seeds can remain dormant for years before sprouting.
the entire community was branded as a security threat. This led to human rights violations, including forced intern- ment in camps. In 1993, the federal government issued compensation and reparations to the Japanese community, and formally apologized for the injustices it carried out in the past. Despite their tumultuous history, today’s Japanese Canadians form a strong, vibrant community that’s well estab- lished throughout the country. Many illustrious Canadian figures have Japanese roots, including world-renowned en- vironmentalist David Suzuki, authors Ken Adachi and Hiromi Goto, Olympic gold medalist Vicky Sunohara (women’s hockey) and retired politician Bev Oda, who was the first-ever Japanese-Canadian MP and cabinet minister.
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T H E N EWS
The Journal Cornwall
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Wednesday, September 21, 2016
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