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![]() March 12 - March 18 |
March 12 1820 |
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March 17 1900 |
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March 15 1906 |
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March 15 1912 |
A British investor warned others to stay away from investing in Canadian mining companies. Too many companies, he said, exaggerated their reports and based estimates of finds on imagination not on facts, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the entire industry. |
March 13 1919 |
Delegates at the Western Labour Conference in Calgary voted to conduct a referendum among Canadian union members. The issue was whether to secede from the American Federation of Labor and the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada and form a new industrial union, to be called the One Big Union. The motion passed, and the OBU was launched in June. The Union emphasized the importance of the general strike as a means to overthrow capitalism. At its peak in 1920, the OBU had over 40,000 members, mostly in western Canada. In 1956, with its membership dwindling, the OBU became a regional affiliate of the Canadian Labour Congress. |
March 17 1920 |
The coordinator of the education committee for Alberta's Women's Institutes suggested that rural schools would be more successful in keeping teachers if they provided adequate accommodation. In rural areas local families were expected to provide room and board, but the accommodation varied widely. The committee reported that some teachers were required to share rooms with other family members, sometimes even with the children they were expected to teach. One teacher complained that she was expected to hatch baby chickens and keep baby pigs warm in her bed. The conditions in several homes were described as "squalid." The committee recommended that a basic standard be established and that homes be checked on a regular basis to ensure the standard was maintained. |
March 18 1924 |
A local Member of Parliament announced his intentions to introduce federal legislation to ban slot machines in Alberta (the only province which permitted the machines). Police and city officials considered the slot machines a menace to the community. If the legislation failed, Calgary mayor George Webster was prepared to raise licensing fees for the machines so they would no longer be profitable. |
March 16 1939 |
Members of Calgary's Polish and Hungarian communities expressed their concern about the situation in their homelands after Hitler invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia. Hitler claimed he was simply trying to unite all German peoples who had been separated by artificial political borders. Representatives of local communities wondered just how far Hitler was prepared to go to achieve his goal. |
March 12 1952 |
Members of the Manitoba Legislature voted against the radio broadcast of their daily sittings. A bill was introduced to allow the broadcast of debates so that the public would be aware of the issues before the Legislature and how the Legislature worked. Legislators expressed concern that too many of their colleagues would grandstand because of the audience and that the stately business of the Legislature would descend into a performance. |
March 18 1953 |
As the Cold War grew colder, civil defence officials announced that Calgary would receive 13 air raid sirens to be installed throughout the city. Department officials noted that while there was no immediate cause for alarm, sirens were being placed in Canadian cities with populations of over 20,000 should the situation between Russia and the United States worsen. |
March 16 1968 |
In a speech at the University of Calgary, an American scientist expressed his concern about the “disastrous” decline of students, in both number and quality, who were studying physics at the university level. The problem began, he said, in the high schools, where teachers were poorly prepared and unable to communicate any enthusiasm for the sciences. This lack of interest was especially critical as our society increasingly depended on specialised scientists to continue to make advances in medicine and the technologies. |
March 14 1973 |
A group of Grade 4 students sent a disapproving letter to the members of the Manitoba Legislature, criticising them for their apparently juvenile behaviour during the session. The students commented that they had been instructed to be quiet and well-behaved during their tour, but that they were shocked by the rude behaviour of their elected representatives as they interrupted each other and held private conversations during question period. One 9-year old questioned the salary that the members received, wondering why when “all they do is argue ... they don’t deserve the money they’re getting”. |
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