Walking in downtown Charlottetown is like being part of those Murder Mystery board game where everyone dresses up and assumes a role. Actors dressed in period costumes assume the roles of the a Fathers of Confederation and Victorian women and wander around The Province House area where the notion of a Canadian Dominion was conceived in 1864. The Historic Queen Square walking tour was well worth the $5.00 and the young actress playing the daughter of George Coles, the 1st Premier of P.E.I., gave a good sense of the politics of the day. She also took us into the Confederation House Art Gallery to see the historic 1765 map of P.E.I. on loan from England.
The surveyor-general of North America at the time, Samuel Holland, made the map from his base camp at Observation Cove and a boat travelling around the island which matches the satellite images today. So very difficult to fathom.
I also loved the follow up film in the Confederation a House. The dramatization credits the inspiration and vision of Sir John A. Macdonald in Upper Canada and Sir Etienne Cartier in Lower Canada in being able to broker a deal for a unified Canada in what started as a conversation about a union of Maritime provinces. It also acknowledges the problematic absence of the voice of Aboriginal people and woman. Overall a great model of how we can tell the stories of our past in a way which fuels the imagination. Last year we celebrated Sir John A Macdonald’s 150th birthday at our school. This year I have several ideas bubbling!
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