What’s Happening
Getting a National Unemployment Insurance System was not an Easy Fight
With no unemployment insurance during the 1930s depression, workers only got support if they worked on public projects run by National Defence like this road construction in Rockcliffe. For those without a job and struggling to survive on Unemployment Insurance, it will come as no surprise that since the start[...]
Celebrate Colonel By Day with the Workers’ History Museum
The Workers’ History Museum will be at the Rideau Canal Locks for Colonel By Day (Monday, August 5th). Join us for a day of fun-filled family activities as we celebrate Ottawa’s past. • See our brand new exhibit about Britannia-on-the-Bay. • Try out a 1960s-style typewriter from the now-demolished Percy[...]
Sad News: Burnley Allan Jones Dies in Halifax
Burnley Allan "Rocky" Jones, labour/human rights lawyer and internationally acclaimed human and civil rights activist, suffered a heart attack and passed away in Halifax on Monday, July 29th.Project Coordinator and Workers' History Museum Board member Arthur Carkner said, “We have seen the passing of a great man, one who stood[...]
Worth Preserving: The Family Leave Exhibit Online
Buttons. Posters. News clippings and photographs. These items will help make the Workers' History Museum's online Family Leave exhibit every bit as compelling as our existing physical exhibit. And we need your help. "We have just a few different types of artifacts," says Geneviève Burley, who is heading the WHM's[...]
The Almonte Train Wreck: A Story of People (New DVD)
On a snowy December night in 1942, the town of Almonte, Ontario's Christmas celebrations were cut short when a train transporting Canadian troops rear-ended an Ottawa-bound passenger train that was waiting at the station platform. It is considered one of the worst train wrecks in Canadian history. At the Canadian[...]
Chance or Commitment: Canada’s Family Leave Campaign
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22688596 Source: https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield, 7 July 2013 On the one hand, Commander Hadfield's observation is bang on. The availability of guaranteed benefits such as paid leave for parents is a crucial indicator of how we choose to treat each other. In Canada, family leave has had a major, positive effect[...]
Workers’ history commemorated in Rideau Canal plaque
On Thursday, 20 June, 2013, President Bob Hatfield represented the Workers’ History Museum as Peter Kent, Minister of Environment and Parks Canada, unveiled a plaque commemorating the national historic significance of the contributions of the Rideau Canal workers. Hatfield remarked that it was a "moving ceremony," especially noting the speech[...]
CEP National Women’s Conference
The Workers’ History Museum attended the 10th Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) National Women’s Conference from 20 to 22 June, 2013, at the Delta Ottawa City Centre Hotel. Our exhibit on the Struggle for Family Leave, represented by Barb Stewart and Arthur Carkner, was well received by[...]
May 8th: History of the lumber and forestry industry in the Ottawa Valley
We have a new office and to celebrate, the Workers" History Museum along with guest speaker Michel Martin will be holding a free reception followed by a lecture on the Ottawa Valley Forestry Industry Workers in the 19th and Early 20th Century. Join Us. Date: May 8th 2013 Time: 6pm[...]
Letter to Rona Ambrose Re: Macdonald Building
According to a front page article in the Ottawa Citizen published on Thursday, February 28, 2013, US stone is going to be used for the extension that is being made to the Macdonald building (former Bank of Montreal building), rather than stone from Canada. On March 8th, the Workers' History[...]
Family Leave Exhibit: NOW ON TOUR!
Family leave has had a major, positive effect on the economic stability of families, on the emotional stability of children and parents, on the ability of workers, especially women, to advance their careers and still bring up a family, on the work life / family life balance of workers and[...]
Historic Canals in Jeopardy
Winterlude is in full swing here in the National Capital Region as thousands of people flock to the Rideau Canal, the world's longest outdoor skating rink and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Interest in the ongoing preservation and celebration of the Rideau Canal clearly falls within the mandate of[...]