Reading For Father's Day

  Here are some suggestions for some Canadian-related nonfiction books. Given that good CANCON can be hard to find, among the dwindling number of books that are not romantasies, they may be useful. It is also the case that most books are now unreviewed, so the synopses provided will be helpful, even if they are written by those associated with the books and the prizes. That the two top books garnered a total of  $100,000 should mean that they are worth something, even if those are Canadian dollars.
   If you are looking for an escape I will say only that these works do not escape the Zeitgeist.
   If you are looking for the books in London, I note when they are found in our libraries. The London Public Library does a fine job, even though much of the acquisition budget probably has to go to the more popular works of fiction. Those in the Western Libraries perhaps have not yet had the time to order these new books, or have the funding to do so. Or, it may simply be that books are too much of a bother and that the library space is better used for other purposes. In any case, do your own searches and, of course, Amazon will probably be able to deliver the book to your door by the time I finish typing this. 

[N.B. About The Bonus at the bottom.  It is below the Sources and I have been told no one ever makes it to the "Sources." Admittedly, the bonus is often frivolous, but in this case it is about the serious issue of the potential abolition of Father's Day and even Mother's Day! Perhaps you missed the related news items, or just thought them frivolous.]

Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing 
"Rewarding the Best Political Writing"

   To learn about the Award see The Writers's Trust of Canada.

   The Wikipedia entry is also useful: Shaughnessy Cohen Prize.
 I did a post about Elizabeth Shaughnessy Cohen who was born in London and died in the House of Commons in 1998 at the age of 50. 

The Winner: 
1. Encampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community, Maggie Helwig. London Public Library has several, Western Libraries, not available.

"The housing crisis plaguing major urban centres has sent countless people into the streets. Encampment tells the story of how some of them found their way to the yard beside the Anglican church in Toronto’s Kensington Market where Maggie Helwig is the priest. An outspoken social justice activist, Helwig has spent the last three years getting to know the residents and battling various authorities that want to clear the yard and keep the results of the housing crisis out of sight and out of mind. The book also introduces readers to the Artist, to Jeff, and to Robin: their lives, their challenges, their humanity. It confronts society’s callousness in allowing so many to go unhoused and demands, by bringing their stories to the fore, that we begin to respond with compassion and grace."

The Finalists:

2. On OIL, Don Gillmor LPL has copies. WL n/a

"Don Gillmor worked as a roughneck on oil rigs during the seventies oil boom in Alberta. On Oil examines how the industry has changed over the decades and illustrates the ways our dependence on oil has led to regulatory capture, in Canada and elsewhere, and contributed to armed conflict and war across the world. Gillmor documents the many ways oil companies have misdirected environmental action and misinformed the public about climate concerns. He illuminates where we went wrong and how we might yet change course."

3. On the Ground: My Life as a Foreign Correspondent​. Brian Stewart

About the Book LPL has copies.  WL n/a

"Brian Stewart is a trusted voice who brought stories of the world home to Canadians for decades on CBC’s The National. He saw it all firsthand and bore the responsibility of shining a light on the most exciting and most horrifying moments of the late 20th century, including the Gulf War and the Ethiopian famine. He spoke with world leaders, armed militants, activists, aid workers, and more. Now, Stewart shares his experience of the cost, both personal and professional, of bringing truth home from around the world."

4. On Book Banning​: Or, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy LPL has copies. Copy at FIMS at WL

"From the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ2S+ literature, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. Using a survey of legal cases, literary controversies, and philosophical arguments, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read. He argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves."

5. Women Who Woke up the Law: Inside the Cases that Changed Women’s Rights in Canada, Karin Wells, LPL has copies. WL n/a

"Karin Wells pulls readers into the lives and legal trials of a group of women integral to the advancement of women’s rights in Canada. Eliza Campbell, Chantale Daigle, Jeannette Corbiere Lavell — these Women Who Woke Up the Law often had no idea what they were facing in the courts or the price they would have to pay. Some never saw justice themselves, but they left a legal legacy. From the award-winning author of The Abortion Caravan and More Than a Footnote, Wells’ new book chronicles the bold determination of Canadian women, which she argues is something we need now more than ever to guard the hard-won gains in women’s rights. "

The Donner

  The website is here: The Donner Prize

   "The Donner Canadian Foundation, one of Canada’s largest foundations, was established in 1950 by businessman and philanthropist William H. Donner to support projects that advance the common good in Canada by encouraging private initiative, independence and individual responsibility."

The Winner:

1. Borderline Chaos: How Canada Got Immigration Right, and Then Wrong by Tony Keller (Sutherland House Books) LPL on order - not at WL

   "How did Canada turn one of its most admired policy achievements into a source of public anger and institutional damage? Tony Keller’s Borderline Chaos answers that question with precision and force. In sharp, concise prose, it traces how a once-stable, broadly trusted, rules-based immigration system, built on skilled permanent residents and disciplined selection, was overtaken by a coalition of business interests, provincial incentives, and federal political ambition. The result is incoherence, housing strain, labour-market distortion, and eroded public confidence. Jurors celebrated the book’s clarity of thesis and its insistence on evidence-based policymaking, calling it compelling and infuriating in equal measure — essential reading for any policymaker confronting the aftermath of that period.

The Runners-Up:

2. Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson (Signal) LPL has a copy. WL does not - Ibbitson is a W. grad.

   "Canada is not collapsing — but it is bending. Breaking Point makes a compelling case that the pressures accumulating around housing, productivity, regional grievance, immigration mismanagement, and generational inequality are converging in ways that threaten national cohesion. Bricker and Ibbitson’s great strength is synthesis: they pull together disparate anxieties into a single, coherent story about national fragility. Grounded in polling data, demographic trends, and economic indicators, including long-term survey data showing declining national pride, the book offers decision-makers both a lens on public mood and a strategic overview of the risks Canada faces if current trends continue. Jurors praised it as a timely and accessible contribution that translates complex policy debates in a way everyday Canadians can appreciate."

3. 21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation About Dismantling the Indian Act by Bob Joseph (Page Two) LPL - several at WL. One copy at FIMS in WL.

   "One of the central unresolved questions in Canadian public life is how to move beyond the Indian Act. Bob Joseph’s focused volume takes that question seriously and answers it with clarity, conviction, and practical grounding. Structured around 21 short chapters, it demystifies the core concepts of jurisdiction, inherent rights, fiscal arrangements, and treaty relationships, without the use of legal jargon or rhetorical excess. Drawing on real policy mechanisms and case studies such as the Nisga’a and Westbank agreements, Joseph frames self-government not as a grievance-based claim but as a governance reality already in motion. Jurors praised its plain-language accessibility as making it a uniquely effective public education tool and noted that it lays out the issues and possible solutions more clearly and accessibly than any comparable work for Canadian readers."

4.  A New Blueprint for Government: Reshaping Power, The PMO, and the Public Service by Kevin G. Lynch and James R. Mitchell (University of Regina Press)

LPL n/a  WL n/a

   "Canada’s policy underperformance is not simply a matter of ideology or bad luck, rather it is a structural problem, rooted in how the federal government is designed, managed, and held to account. Drawing on decades of senior public service experience, Lynch and Mitchell make a rigorous, evidence-based case that power has drifted dangerously from Cabinet to the PMO, that ministerial accountability has eroded, and that bureaucratic risk aversion has hollowed out execution capacity. In under 200 pages, they connect governance architecture to tangible failures — procurement delays, productivity stagnation, service breakdowns — and propose concrete reforms. Jurors described it as an elegantly argued agenda for change and the most focused, actionable detailing of possible Canada-focused policy reforms to emerge in recent years."

5. The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity by Tim Wu (Alfred A. Knopf) LPL has copies, none at WL.

   "The promise of the digital economy was transformative — open, democratic, and generative of shared prosperity. Tim Wu’s The Age of Extraction is a bracing account of how that promise curdled. Drawing on a historically informed arc from oil trusts and railroad monopolies to Google, Amazon, and Meta, Wu argues that dominant platforms have stopped enabling markets and started extracting from them, harvesting data, imposing fees, manipulating algorithms, and eliminating competition. His central concept of “extraction” gives policymakers a disciplined framework for understanding digital concentration not as a technology story but as a story about power. Jurors found the book timely, intellectually rigorous, accessible, and strategically important. While its policy prescriptions are anchored in the U.S. context, its framework speaks directly to the platform challenges facing Canadian competition policy, digital regulation, and the future of work."

Sources:
   One will find articles when the winner of the prize is announced. 
   For example for the Cohen prize:

"Maggie Helwig’s Encampment Wins 2026 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing," Ian Bailey, G&M, April 29, 2026.

"Helwig’s win was announced Wednesday night at a gala in Ottawa, and the honour comes with a $40,000 prize. Meanwhile, four shortlisted finalists will each receive $5,000.
   For the Donner:

"Donner Prize Nominees Break Down Their Big Ideas, from AI to Immigration,

Brad Wheeler, G&M, May 13, 2026.

“On May 14, the annual $60,000 Donner Prize for the best public policy book by a    "Canadian will be awarded at a gala dinner in Toronto. The shortlisted authors, including Globe and Mail columnists John Ibbitson and Tony Keller, were asked to identify a misunderstood issue or misguided policy related to their books and explain the importance of getting it right.”

The Bonus: 
   The good news, such as it is, is that you should be able to celebrate Father's Day, which was under threat of being cancelled in some parts of Canada. For that matter, so was Mother's Day since, I guess, many children do not have regular moms and dads. One related headline, for example is: "Canadian Schools Ditch Mother's and Father's Day Celebrations in the Name of Diversity." But recently it appears there have been second thoughts: "Manitoba School Scraps Plan to Move Away From Mother's Day, Father's Day Celebrations." 
   There should be room for all, in that there are days, weeks, months and even years dedicated to just about any entity you can think of. June 8 was "National Best Friends Day" and on the second Sunday in August there is "Gay Uncle Day." Even the lonely have a week - "Loneliness Awareness Week" and in China, the horse has a whole year. Hallmark, at least, has reason to celebrate all of the time.

London's Bicentennial (Snippet 20)

 London Flog

Source:
  This item is found in The Sun, (New York, NY), Sept. 7, 1879. It is among the general news items with no title. Justice was a little rougher in London in olden times. That was still true in 1924, when two men were hanged in London on the same day. See, Snippet 13. 

London's Bicentennial (Snippet 19)

 A Scandalous Affair?

Source: Cincinnati Daily Star, Oct 11, 1879.
 One wonders what damage was done to Miss Woodman and if she could have been from Goderich, since errors often occur along with digitization. Although papers "borrowed" frequently from other papers and this piece was syndicated, I found no other examples. More can probably be found on microform or up in the London Room at the London Public Library.

London's Bicentennial (Snippet 18)

  I searched for additional stories related to this one and found none. Although it is rather vague, one would think that such a large number ($$$) would have attracted a lot of attention and more articles. My search strategy may have been faulty and a local historian may be able to find additional details, or already know them.

 This is found in The Milan Exchange, Oct. 16, 1879. The Milan Exchange was published in the Milan in Tennessee, not the one in Italy. It is in Western Tennessee and is pronounced, "MY-lunn", as you would have expected.

London's Bicentennial (Snippet 17)

 The Loyal Parishioner

That is from the Kenosha Telegraph, Aug. 21,1879. I am not sure whether it appears around that date in the London paper, but assume it did. The adjective, "Primitive", apparently refers to a more evangelical branch of Methodism. We can assume the robin made it up to Heaven.

The Bicentennial Website for London: Celebrating 200 Years. 

ODDMENTS (3)

    My life is not generating much in the way of interesting material, so I will offer some bits about others who have far more to offer.

Xan Fielding

   I know about Fielding because he was a good friend of Patrick Fermor, of whom I am a big fan. Now that I am telling you about him, I will confess that I wondered how "Xan" was pronounced and learned that apparently Fermor would have called him "Zan." That Fielding is rather more adventurous and accomplished than I, is easily revealed in this personal ad he placed when in need of money:
It is found in The Times on July 31, 1950:

   Tough but sensitive ex-classical scholar, ex-secret agent, ex-guerrilla leader, 31, recently reduced to penury through incompatibility with the post-war world: Mediterranean lover, gambler, and general dabbler: fluent French and Greek speaker, some German, inevitable Italian: would do anything unreasonable and unexpected if sufficiently rewarding and legitimate. 

  He was among other things, a newspaper editor in Cyprus and ran a bar. He first met Fermor in "1942 as members of the Special Operations Executive, they were introduced in a vintner's hut in Yerakari in the Amari Valley in Crete. Over three years they developed a guerrilla force among the native Cretans and helped build an intelligence network on the island." 

Wait, there is more exciting stuff.

   "The theatre of war moved away from Crete towards the West. Believing he could do no more, Fielding applied for a transfer to the French section of the SOE. He was sent to an airfield camp twenty miles outside Algiers....
   Fielding parachuted into the Vercors in the South of France. However, in the guise of a clerk in the Electric Company of Nîmes, he was quickly arrested and imprisoned and was saved from the firing squad by a member of the Resistance in a remarkable rescue. At the end of the war he returned for two months to Crete and was then sent to Indo-China."

  For additional interesting material, read more about Fielding, or these books by him:
Hide and Seek (1954, wartime memoirs)
Corsair Country (1959, a history of the pirates of the Barbary Coast)
Money Spinner: Monte Carlo and Its Fabled Casino (1977)
Aeolus Displayed (1991)
Images of Spain (1991)
Hideous Disguise (1994)
  His name is also found in relation to these books (as translator): The Bridge Over the River Kwai and The Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation. 

Somerset Maugham

   Fielding is often encountered in the writing produced by Fermor. That is also where I ran across this next bit which allows me to balance out this post during what is known as "Gay Pride Month".  Admittedly, the Maugham material is less flattering then the Fielding offering, but that is not my fault. When Maugham's wife died, he reportedly sang "Tra-la-la, no more alimony, tra-la-la," which makes some sense I suppose since he was queer. Rebecca West called him "an obscene little toad."

   Fermor walked across Europe as a young man and later travelled extensively before settling in Greece. On this occasion he thought he might be able to mingle a bit in Maugham's circle on Cap Ferret. His stay was shorter than he thought, but from it, one does get a description of Maugham.

   ‘Paddy[Fermor] was invited [to Somerset Maugham’s house in the South of France] for lunch and arrived with five cabin trunks, parcels of books and the manuscript of his unfinished work on Greece strapped in a bursting attaché case,’ she writes. ‘Despite this inauspicious start, luncheon went like a marriage bell... so when coffee was finished I was not entirely surprised to hear Willie [Maugham] invite Paddy to stay and the minions carried in the trunks to a magnificent suite..." 

  But, Fermor did not charm Maugham, who characterized Fermor as "a middle-class gigolo for upper-crust women." You might want to tuck away this strategy if you tire of your house guests.

   ‘But, alas, that evening Mr and Mrs Frere of Heinemann came to dinner and Paddy, who never travels without a bottle of calvados, appeared more exuberant than one small martini could explain. The Freres left at ten o’clock. Willie saw them to the door, returned to the living room and said to Paddy, “Goodbye. You will have left before I am up in the morning.”

Admittedly this description is harsh, but it is at least a parenthetical one found in a private letter. 

(Do you know Somerset Maugham? He is 84, and his face is the wickedest tangle of cruel wrinkles I have ever seen and so discoloured and green that it looks as though he has been rotting in the Bastille, or chained to the bench of a galley or inside an iron mask for half a century. Alligator's eyes peer from folds of pleated hide and below them an agonzing snarl is beset with discoloured and truncated fangs, but the thing to remember is that he has a very pronounced and noticeable stutter that can seize up a sentence for 30 seconds on end.")
From: In Tearing Haste" Letters Between Deborah Devonshire & Patrick Leigh Fermor, ed. by Charlotte Mosley, pp.20-21.

The Bonus: Peter Fleming
   Xan Fielding placed the ad in The Times. Peter Fleming answered one found in The Times and it is also a source for additional interesting reading.

    Exploring and sporting expedition, under experienced guidance, leaving England June, to explore rivers Central Brazil, if possible ascertain fate Colonel Fawcett; abundance game, big and small; exceptional fishing: ROOM TWO MORE GUNS: highest references expected and given - Write Box S.1150
14 and 15 April 1932.

   Peter Fleming, the brother of Ian, is more interesting than James Bond. He supplies one of the guns and goes on the journey as a correspondent for The Times. The book, Brazilian Adventure, is the result and it is far better than the newer one about the search for Colonel Fawcett, The Lost City of Z by David Grann. If you would rather read about other places on the globe, Fleming can supply you with more books. See the Wikipedia entry, the source of the photo.

It is also the case that Fleming was the anonymous author of many "Fourth Leaders" for The Times. I also can be considered an anonymous author of "Fourth Leaders", in the sense that no one has ever read what I wrote about them almost ten years ago.
   Although there are books consisting of compilations of "Fourth Leaders", there has not been much written about them and, as a subject, information was difficult to research. There is still no Wikipedia entry and apparently AI doesn't troll deep enough to uncover MM. If you happen to work for The Times, or are a journalist looking for a topic, here is a good place to start for Fourth Leaders. 

Alberta and Secession

 Careful What You Wish For

   I generally try to avoid "BREAKING NEWS", about which there is too much, and most of it is bad. The topic for today is at least not about the bad news which is always breaking south of here.
  The issue for this post relates to one of the consequences for Albertans, if they choose to become tourists and, when visiting Canada, happen to get sick. Health care costs for Canadians travelling in Canada are generally covered and having a heart attack in Vancouver will cost much less for them than one experienced in Orlando. Thinking about that is enough to give you one.
  Although there are reasons to complain about "long waits" for procedures such as knee replacements, there are also reasons to feel grateful when we are asked for our health card rather than our cash, lots of it.

Health Care Costs
   We rarely think about them unless we are leaving Canada and wondering about how much travel insurance we need to purchase. Recently some dollar figures were attached to typical health care costs, along with the suggestion that Albertans might want to consider them. The retired doctor who provided them will probably not mind that I share them since he has published them in a few different articles which will be sourced below. 
   This article is from the Vancouver Sun, June 5, 2026:

"Independence From Canada Means a loss of Portable Health Benefits; Getting Sick While Visiting Home After Separation Would Prove Very Costly, Writes Dr. Charles S. Shaver."
    "Citizens of an independent province would no longer be under the Canada Health Act. 
   They would be by definition "non-residents of Canada" when seeking urgent hospital or medical/surgical care in a Canadian province..."

   Consider the following examples of rates set by health ministries for non-residents of Canada: St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver charges $1,355 for an emergency department visit, $4,690 daily for a standard room and $13,110 for an ICU bed. Vancouver General has a rate of $18,105 daily for the ICU.

   An urgent care visit at Victoria Hospital in Winnipeg is $1,452; a stay in a standard four bed room costs $3,066 per day.

   At Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, a standard room is $4,100 to $4,400 and an ICU bed is $6,400 to $6,600 per day.

   The Ottawa Hospital charges $1,249 for an emergency visit. A standard room is $4,323; an ICU bed is $9,594 daily. The Queensway-Carleton Hospital, also in Ottawa, bills $1,242 for an emergency or outpatient clinic visit, $4,005 for a standard room and $15,642 for the ICU...."

   After pointing out how difficult to get, and costly travel health insurance is, Dr. Shaver indicates that those from Alberta who need visit to a doctor in the province next door should note that:
   "B.C. physicians frequently charge foreigners 11/2 to two times the B.C. Medical Services Plan rates. Alberta doctors often charge foreigners two to five times the provincial schedule of benefits fee. MDs in other provinces do much the same."

    As I mentioned, variations of this article are found in some other papers and there may be one nearer to you that does not have a paywall. For example:

"Opinion: Provincial Independence and the Loss of Portable Health Benefits," Dr. Charles Shaver, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, June 6, 2026.
  "Separatists Risk the Loss of Portable Health Benefits," Dr. Charles Shaver, Hamilton Spectator, June 6, 2026

The Bonus:
  Curious about Dr. Shaver, I searched for more and found this piece which does not appear to be behind a paywall. It is an interesting one and he earlier provided some figures for the Quebec separatists to consider: "Dr. Charles Shaver: My Journey From U.S. Race Riots to a Fraught Quebec Referendum," The Chronicle Herald, June 9, 2020.

  The picture is from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. It is of Tommy Douglas who was campaigning here in London in 1965. "In October 1966, Tommy Douglas defined portability of health benefits across Canada as one of four major principles. These were enshrined in the Canada Health Act of 1984." 

Biking & Blogging

   It has been far too nice to be blogging, so again I went out biking. Along the way, I figured I could combine the two AND provide a public service.
    At this time, getting around London is problematic, particularly by car. There are people who have not left their neighbourhood in months. For them I present some new developments.

Towers of Spite
  Even on a bike, construction was an issue as I headed north. My efforts paid off since I was able to spot the "Towers of Spite", which are undergoing expansion near the University. The spiteful erections were erected around 2006/07 and they have now been altered to provide additional satisfaction and profits for the owner. 

   Those in the area who objected originally and provided the label, "Towers of Spite", are probably irritated again, but the winds have changed, as has the neighbourhood.

Towers of Hope

   If you have not travelled north on Richmond lately, you will be surprised to see that the dorms now stretch from the gates of Western to the river Thames. The new eight story building will house almost 800 students and include a dining hall, as well as a 4,500 square-foot fitness centre. Even better, it is closer to Broughdale Ave than the stadium, which means the students will not even have to cross the Thames to enjoy homecoming. Incoming students hope to get into this facility and Western hopes to be able to pay for it.

The Towers of SOHO
   Those who have not journeyed into the southern interior of London (this London, not the SOHO in the other one), will find that the old hospital buildings have mostly been removed and a new high-rise has risen along with some other attractive buildings along Hill Street. 

   The bridge across the Thames nearby is almost completed, but it may still be a while before you attempt a trip down Wellington Road.

Horizontal Towers of Rolling Stock

  Apart from the infrastructure construction that makes travel in London difficult, there are also the trains. I had to wait for this one for a very long time. It was also very long and consisted mainly of cars carrying what I assumed were various petroleum products which are in high demand right now because of events far from SOHO.

Sources:

  My photos are of the same quality as my prose. Good ones for the SOHO area are easily found. For a better one about the new dorms see: "University Drive Residence to Open Fall 2027," Finn Toporowski, Western Gazette, Jan. 7, 2026.

  The Towers of Spite are just off Richmond along Huron. Stories about them have been carried by the LFP over the years. For example, "More Units Proposed for Spite Site," Norman De Bono, Sept. 10, 2024.

The Bonus: 
  Just advice. Philip Aziz Avenue on the other side of Western is closed. It is wise to avoid going anywhere in London by car.

London's Bicentennial (Snippet 16)

 Prince Arthur's Tour -  He Visits London in 1869
   Apparently the "Blue Noses" were a bit rambunctious at this reception.

From: 

A Bonus:
   Also in 1869 one finds this Personal Ad in the New York Herald from a gentleman who wishes to resume a conversation. For another example of a personal ad placed by a Londoner see: "Lonely in London c. 1920."

Source: For more details see this book, Home to Canada: Royal Tours 1786-2010, by Arthur Bousfield & Gary Toffoli.

University of Ottawa Press

 Les Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa
   Although this is the eleventh post about university presses, nine of them were about those located south of our border. The tenth was about Wilfred Laurier Press (the links to the others are provided there). Readers should not overlook these book outlets since they often publish works of interest for those who are not members of any academy. 
   The UOP/PUO has been around since the early 1930s and has published hundreds of books in both English and French. Their mission " is to enrich intellectual and cultural life through the publication and dissemination of award-winning high-end trade and scholarly works in the humanities and social sciences..."
  As well, works of fiction are published as are biographies and autobiographies. In the latter categories, one finds a biography of the journalist Fulgence Charpentier. But, to illustrate that university presses can be surprising book stores, they also have published one about Bob Sliverman.

   "Few unknown figures have left such a lasting mark on the world as Robert "Bicycle Bob" Silverman.

   A true nonconformist, this tireless advocate for urban cycling lived an extraordinary life. Poet, bookseller, restaurateur, traveler, educator, gallery owner—but above all, a passionate cycling activist—Bob led his vélorution (a term he was the first to popularize in Canada) with authenticity, ingenuity, and boundless creativity.

  With his small but dedicated group, Le Monde à Bicyclette (MàB), and a handful of allies, Bob Silverman achieved the impossible. Over three decades, Montreal transformed from one of the least bike-friendly cities in North America into its cycling capital—thanks in part to MàB’s colorful cyclodramas, street theatre protests where members donned costumes to make their point.

  Silverman’s story reads like a film script. A poet and independent bookseller in the 1960s, he drew in a vibrant circle of artists, intellectuals, and musicians, including Leonard Cohen and Armand Vaillancourt. In 1962, he traveled to Cuba to join Fidel Castro’s revolution, meeting none other than Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Later, he worked on an Israeli kibbutz, becoming one of the rare Jewish activists to shake hands with Yasser Arafat. He studied in France and Spain, pioneered outdoor volleyball, and never shied away from challenging the status quo."

   Books about nature are not excluded, nor are sports.

  

   Another imprint from UOP/PUO - The Mercury Series - contains over 500 titles:

      "Strikingly Canadian and highly specialized, the Mercury Series presents works in the research domain of the Canadian Museum of History and benefits from the publishing expertise of the University of Ottawa Press. Created in 1972, the series is in line with the Canadian Museum of History’s strategic directions. The Mercury Series consists of peer-reviewed academic research, and includes numerous landmark contributions in the disciplines of Canadian history, archaeology, culture and ethnology. Books in the series are published in at least one of Canada’s official languages, and may appear in other languages.

The best resource on the history, archaeology, and culture of Canada is proudly published by the Canadian Museum of History and the University of Ottawa Press."

   The first publication produced by UOP/PUO was a journal and they still publish a few. One example will demonstrate again that interesting reading can be found at university presses.

For more information and to shop or donate go to their website: UOP/PUO. 
The Bonus: Those playing sports at the University of Ottawa are known as the "Gee-Gees."

Olde Posts Addenda (8)

  Since all of the news is "breaking" these days, here are some more stories which have broken and are related to older news items in MM.

Muffle the Mufflers
  In a recent post I mentioned that drivers of very noisy vehicles were, in some places, being fined (see: "Traffic Cameras"). I recall that many years ago, some of my buddies would install an extra tailpipe on their cars and on each of them, place glasspack mufflers which were very loud. More recently, a very loud car passed by me and, as it slowed, issued what sounded-like gunshots. It turns out that the noise-making technology these days is much more advanced. If you use it in London, you could be fined.

"Custom Car Owners Can Turn a Switch on Loud Exhausts, Police Say it's Still Illegal: Systems Allow Driver to Adjust Much-hated Loud Muffler Noise, and Avoid Police Attention," CBC NEWS, May 21, 2026.

  "In a video shared on the London Police Service's social media channels, Const. Greg Pearson gets down on his hands and knees and shines a flashlight into the exhaust pipe of an Audi he's pulled over.

  After his inspection, Pearson, who works in the London police's road safety section, gives the owner some bad news and two tickets, totalling fines of $220.

 "The sound emanating from this vehicle is excessive and unusual," he says on the video, using almost the exact wording from the section of Ontario's Highway Traffic Act that covers illegal equipment.

The fine isn't just for the noise.

  During his inspection, Pearson also zeroes in on an electronic device attached to the exhaust pipe. In one setting, the exhaust flows through the muffler and sounds like a normal car. When the driver flips a switch, the muffler is bypassed, and the car suddenly becomes very loud.

   "That's illegal," Pearson tells the driver. "You can't have that on the roadway...."

   Many car hobbyists like to hear the roar of a high-performance engine. Those trying to enjoy a quiet summer evening, however, often complain about excessive noise."

The Great Wine Burglary

   Large quantities of things are often stolen these days and MM  has covered some of the crimes under the heading, "Large Larcenies." My favourite thefts are still, "The Great Huron County Chicken Heist(s)", which have finally been solved. 
  Also ranked very high among my favourites is the theft of just a few bottles of wine, which can hardly be characterized as a "misdemeanour", since one of the bottles cost $24,000. Those are American dollars.
   This great story was probably missed by you since it was buried in this post, "Factlets (21 & 22)", where you will also find some photos of wine lists from restaurants where the corkage fees alone are far more than you would ever pay for a bottle. Go back and have a look at it.

   Last November a couple showed up at  L’Auberge Provençale Inn & Restaurant, which is in Virginia, not France. The woman indicated that she was working on behalf of a wealthy Canadian client who would perhaps book the restaurant. She asked to see the wine cellar. Her accomplice was wearing an unusual overcoat with deep pockets, in which he stashed a few bottles. As they were leaving, the crime was discovered and the couple chased. A few bottles and the woman were caught, but the fellow was last seen at an airport heading for Eastern Europe.
   The fellow may still be in Eastern Europe, but the wines have found their way back to Virginia.  The woman, Natali Ray, pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to 12 months in jail. The missing bottles had been delivered to Ray's lawyer's office. The owners of the wine think the $24,000 bottle of pinot noir is now likely worthless since it was probably improperly stored during the 145 days it was missing. 
"Nobody is going to pay $24,000 not knowing how the wine was kept," Alain Borel said."
    The male suspect is likely somewhere in Eastern Europe.

Sources:
  The return of the wine and the recent sentencing were reported in The Washington Post: "A $24,000 Bottle of Wine Was Stolen Then Returned," Dan Morse, May 18, 2026.

A Bonus Source:

   This story was also picked up by the reporters in the Kent seaside town where Ms. Ray resided, before her great American misadventure. Details about the crime are provided as well as some interesting items about Ms. Ray. The piece by Gerry Warren was found in the Herne Bay Gazette, May 21, 2026.

   "A former Herne Bay guest house owner has been jailed over an audacious fine wine heist at a luxury American restaurant.

   Natali Ray, 57, was sentenced to a year in prison after admitting her role in the distraction theft in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, according to The Washington Post.

   The creative writing graduate, who previously lived with her family in a property she had operated as the Bay View Guest House in Herne Bay, admitted grand larceny, possession of burglary tools and defrauding a restaurant or inn.

   The court heard how Ray and alleged accomplice Nikola Krndija posed as representatives of a wealthy Canadian businesswoman interested in booking a lavish dinner at the upmarket L'Auberge Provençale Inn & Restaurant.

   Using the fake name “Stephanie Baker” and wearing a disguise, Ray reportedly distracted sommelier Christian Borel with questions about the wine cellar while Krndija swapped rare bottles with cheaper substitutes, prosecutors said.

   The stolen wines, from the prestigious Domaine de la Romanée-Conti estate in Burgundy, France, were valued at about £30,000.

   Prosecutors said the pair had carefully planned the raid, parking away from the restaurant, using disguises and specially adapted clothing to conceal the bottles.

   Krndija fled and remains wanted, with authorities believing he boarded a flight from New York to Vienna the day after the theft. Ray, however, was apprehended in the restaurant car park.

   Judge Alexander R. Iden sentenced her to a year behind bars, although she is expected to receive credit for about six months already served in custody. Prosecutors had sought a three-year sentence, arguing the theft had involved extensive planning.

   The case took another bizarre twist earlier this year when two of the missing bottles resurfaced after being delivered to Ray’s lawyer’s office by an unidentified man, said to have an Eastern European accent.

   But the restaurant’s owners said the wines had effectively lost much of their value because there was no way to prove they had been stored correctly during the 145 days they were missing.

  Before moving to Kent, Ray had been raised in Leicester and later started a charity for orphans while living in an area affected by the Balkan refugee crisis, court filings stated.

   The filings also stated she enrolled in higher education aged 45, earning a first-class degree in creative writing at Canterbury Christ Church University and a master’s at the University of Kent in 2019.

   Her defence lawyer told the court Ray had no previous convictions and had spent the past decade battling a rare blood cancer while continuing chemotherapy treatment during her time in jail."

London's Bicentennial (Snippet 15)

 Guy Lombardo

   It is a cold and rainy day in London, but that was not the case forty-two years ago when The New York Times published a story about the Guy Lombardo Ball at Wonderland Gardens on the eve of the opening of the Guy Lombardo Museum. The title of the article may not be accurate and the Museum did not last, but it is worth remembering sunnier days on this gloomy one. Here is a portion from: "IN HOMETOWN, GUY LOMBARDO WON'T BE FORGOT," By Douglas Martin, The New York Times, May 21, 1984.

LONDON, Ontario, May 20 -- It had been a day of warm breezes and spring blossoms. But Saturday night at Wonderland Gardens, where thousands of colored lights twinkled and three shimmering silver balls hung from the ceiling, it was New Year's Eve.

 ''I want you to imagine it's winter out there and the snow is blowing and it's Dec. 31,'' the master of ceremonies said. Then, precisely at midnight, the dance band struck up ''Auld Lang Syne,'' couples kissed and everyone said happy new year.

  It was the first annual Guy Lombardo Ball at Wonderland Gardens, the now-fading dance palace where the bandleader and His Royal Canadians first played over a half-century ago. And even if London's most illustrious native son was only on stage as a cardboard cutout with a balloon taped to its hand, Mr. Lombardo was on hand in such tunes as ''A Sailboat in the Moonlight,'' ''Boo Hoo'' and ''My Gal Sal,' all made famous by the band.

   London, a town of 270,000 about 125 miles west of Toronto, was honoring ''The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven'' with the ball, a reunion of people including Mr. Lombardo's first piano player and his drummer for 56 years, and, most important, the opening of the new Guy Lombardo Museum next door to the dance hall.

   Indeed, the residents were doing the somewhat un-Canadian thing of crowning a hero. Unlike the United States, where heroes' faces are carved on mountainsides and Babe Ruth became a candy bar, Canada seems a bit suspicious of the heroic. Perhaps only Terry Fox, the young cancer victim whose 4,305-mile run across Canada on a route directly passing the new museum here, has been accorded unabashed hero status in recent years.

  Mr. Lombardo is made more difficult to categorize because it is tough to decide whether his success is Canadian or American. In his autobiography he said that he and his original nine Canadians were like ''characters out of Horatio Alger, seeking our fortune.'' All became American citizens.

  A sort of cultural schizophrenia was apparent in a short sketch prepared for the museum's opening. At one point it says Mr. Lombardo is ''the American Dream personified,'' while later it calls the Royal Canadians ''true Canadian heroes.''

  It is nonetheless a truism that many ambitious Canadians are naturally going to follow their dreams to a richer next-door neighbor 10 times larger in population. America's sweetheart, Mary Pickford, was Canadian. So was Raymond Massey, everyone's vision of Abraham Lincoln.

   And today, restless (or maybe just cold) citizens of this northern nation have made Los Angeles the third biggest Canadian city, behind Toronto and Montreal. From the television anchorman Peter Jennings to the singer Neal Young, Canadians are peppered through American life. A Part of New Year's Eve By any definition, however, Mr. Lombardo's success was huge. His was one of the the most famous big bands from 1930 to 1950; no one else came close to selling 300 million records, as did the Royal Canadians. The band played every Presidential inaugural from Roosevelt's in 1933 to Jimmy Carter's in 1976.

   Most important, from the time they began their New Year's Eve broadcasts from New York's Roosevelt Hotel in 1929 until Mr. Lombardo's death in 1977, they were as much the world's New Year's Eve as Times Square, funny hats and too much champagne....
   The 1,400-square-foot museum, built at a cost of about $100,000, is dominated by Mr. Lombardo's last big boat, Tempo VII, winner of a number of big races. Other exhibits are more meager, with Mr. Lombardo's violin, a trumpet and original Royal Canadian red jacket arriving only the morning of the opening. Most of the items are posters, photographs and press clippings, with an antique radio playing any of some 600 Guy Lombardo tunes. The museum's sponsor, the London Rowing Club, is still eagerly seeking contributions of more objects to display.

   But on opening day everyone's main object seemed to be to have a good time. The crowd was colorful, like a big party.

  Members of the rowing club favored tuxedos with different colored cummerbunds and ties; as the night air chilled a scattering of minks provided matronly warmth, and one local politician strutted about in a bright yellow suit with matching shoes. Col. Tom Lawson of the locally based Royal Canadian Regiment graced the occasion with his dress reds. All Want to Remember

   And everybody seemed to want to remember, particularly about Mr. Lombardo's generosity to the town even after he had traveled far enough not to have to look back. There was the 1937 benefit concert for flood victims here and a special concert at London's 1955 centennial.

  Students from Catholic Central High School played ''Powder Your Face With Sunshine'' on instruments given to the school by Mr. Lombardo. Most years, folks said, the Canadians were able to make it back for one concert.

   Elaine Gardner, Mr. Lombardo's sister and Mr. Gardner's wife, remembered that the name Royal Canadians resulted from the prodding of a Cleveland promoter. Lebert Lombardo, Guy's brother and the band's trumpeter, recalled that the band picked up ''Auld Lang Syne'' as a theme song when they were doing the Robert Burns Panatella radio show. (Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, wrote the song.) Stories were also told about Mr. Lombardo's legendary sense of discipline and decorum. Trousers had to have knife creases; drinking before or during a show was taboo, and a fresh carnation was expected to adorn the lapel of each red jacket.....
   At the dance, more than 1,000 guests, paying $10 each, glided across the floor like the old days. To at least one observer, the collective impression was that of a gracefulness such that everyone seemed at times to be gliding on wheels."

   On this bleak day, during a rather bad time, it is worth revisiting such an event and to remember that forty years ago Guy Lombardo was probably more popular than  the Canadian singer, Aubrey Graham, is today.

Sources: 
   The Wikipedia entry is a solid one and it even has a section related to the "Guy Lombardo Museum".
   "London, Ont., To Vote on Closing Guy Lombardo Museum," CBC Arts, Jan. 14, 2008:

   " It could be the swan song for a London, Ont., museum dedicated to native son and musical legend Guy Lombardo.

   London's city councillors will vote Monday on a staff recommendation to close the 1,000-square-foot museum.

   Called the Guy Lombardo Music Centre, it has been dogged by poor attendance, with only 400 visitors in 2007.Lombardo, a violinist and bandleader of The Royal Canadians famous throughout the world, was born in the city. The Royal Canadians were noted for playing the traditional Auld Lang Syne as part of New Year's celebrations in New York.

   Local heritage advocates said they're ready to fight the recommendation to close the museum.

   The closure would be a "slap in the face to Lombardo's legacy," said Barry Wells, an advocate for heritage preservation.

  The recommendation to close has not received public input or scrutiny, he told CBC News.

  The current facility needs to be expanded, run professionally and better marketed, rather than shut down, he said.

  The museum opened in 1983 and displays photographs, posters, video recordings, song sheets and the Tempo VII, an award-winning racing boat owned by Lombardo, who was a racing enthusiast.

   The museum was run by a volunteer board until 2001, when the city took over after infighting and resignations at the board.

   However, it costs taxpayers $27,500 annually to run the museum, according to Ross Fair, general manager of community services in London.

A city report recommends closing the museum permanently and turning artifacts over to Museum London.

  It says Lombardo's birthplace should be marked by naming a pavilion and walking trail in a London park after him."

   "A Bright Note: Guy Lombardo - A Series on Forgotten Canadian Legends, Patrick Maloney, The London Free Press, Oct. 2013.

   "Talk about an old acquaintance who's been forgot and never brought to mind.

   Those are essentially the lyrics immortalized by Guy Lombardo, who may be the most commercially successful musician in Canadian history -- and they serve as a mournful tune for his frayed legacy, a long note, fading into silence.

  "He represents music and the fulfillment of dreams," Nick Panaseiko of the Royal Canadian Big Band Music Festival, said a decade ago. "He is an all-around icon."

   Or, at least, he was.

   Born Gaetano Lombardo Jr in London, Ontario in 1902, Guy Lombardo and some of his brothers formed a big band that drifted from their Canadian roots to U.S. stages -- sparking a stunning run of success that's arguably unmatched among other Canadian performers (take that Celine Dion and Justin Bieber).

   It's believed Lombardo and The Royal Canadians sold at least 100 million records, though the group's boosters will argue sales were three times that.

   Whatever the exact figure, the dance band's popularity was stunning: From 1929 to 1952, there wasn't a single year the band didn't produce a record that hit the charts, many of them going to No. 1.

   But rock 'n' roll took root in the mid- 1950s, and a 1954 single that hit No. 24 on the pop charts was the last time Lombardo and his band enjoyed such a level of chart success.

   That, though, didn't spell the end of Lombardo's fame. He's perhaps most famous for having performed for nearly 50 years on New Year's Eve broadcasts enjoyed by millions across North America -- first on radio, then on television, until the tradition ended in 1976.

   They made the performance of the song Auld Lang Syne a New Year's tradition that still stands.

   Alas, more than 35 years after Lombardo's death at age 75, his name likely draws little recognition from Canadians.

   Even in his hometown of London, legal wrangling marred a 2002 attempt to mark the centennial of his birth, and poor attendance led to the shuttering of the city's Guy Lombardo Museum."

Traffic Cameras

Photos Are Not On Ontario's Radar 

   I was in Vancouver last month and noticed an article that contained this map which showed some of the more "popular" cameras in that city.

   Here is the reference to the article which indicates that the introduction of traffic cameras is a positive thing to do if one is interested in promoting public safety.

   "These Metro Vancouver Intersections Caught the Most Speeders, Red Light Violators, Last Year," Nathan Griffiths, Vancouver Sun, April 23, 2026.
   "More than 128,000 B.C. drivers were ticketed for speeding or running red lights last year under a traffic camera program that a local medical health officer says should be expanded because it saves lives.

   Research from Canada, the U.S., Australia and Europe all show that traffic camera programs reduce crashes that result in injuries and fatalities, according to Brandon Yau, a medical health officer at Vancouver Coastal Health.

   "They've been pretty well-studied internationally, and so the evidence is relatively conclusive," Yau said.

   He said programs, such as the installation of traffic cameras, that aim to reduce speeding and running red lights led to a roughly 40 per cent reduction in fatalities, and a 20 to 50 per cent reduction in injuries.

   "Most importantly, we have really good evidence that it impacts driver behaviour," he said. "If people know that there's a red light camera or a camera to watch their speeding, they're adjusting their behaviour...."

   Over the past three years, the impact of adding speed enforcement at 35 locations "led to a 52 per cent decrease in drivers exceeding the speed limit by more than 25 km/h," the ministry wrote.

   Red-light infractions decreased by 13 per cent and the number of repeat red-light offenders declined 29 per cent in the past five years, according to the ministry."

   Apparently those living in B.C. do not object to this visual surveillance since a poll in 2024 found that  "seven-out-of-10 British Columbians supported automated speed cameras."
   Back in 2024, I noted that London added fifteen new red light cameras to its photo arsenal. If you want to know where they were placed, see "Candid Cameras."  Although it was argued that the cameras would likely be effective in reducing speeding and accidents, while generating revenue, it was also mentioned that over thirty years ago the Ontario Progressive Conservatives decided to stop using photo radar. 
   Premier Doug Ford is also opposed to the use of cameras and wants to protect taxpayers from this "cash grab". The Ontario government introduced legislation to ban the use of cameras by municipalities and Bill 56 ("Building a More Competitive Economy Act") was passed and the use of such cameras banned. The bill sped through the legislature, but I am not sure how Ontario voters felt about such a measure. (See: "Ford Government Passes Bill Banning Municipal Speed Cameras in Ontario," Joshua Freeman, CTV News, Oct. 30, 2025.)
   I do speed on occasion and could be caught on one of these cameras, but I think it reasonable to have them and install even more. The fine levied is sent to the owner of the car and demerit points are not added to a driving record. I could also blame my wife. The city gains some revenue and the driver learns a lesson.

   While I am at it, perhaps the sound of cars could be recorded as well as the speed. That is already happening in France and even in Edmonton where very noisy cars are fined. For more about lowering the level of "acoustic aggression" see "Advance Noise Alert" in this post on MM. 
The Bonus:

   While I am on the subject of motor vehicles and Premier Ford's many interesting initiatives, don't forget to renew your LICENSE PLATES.