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Neither Celebrated Nor Forgotten

By Éric Bédard June 22, 2009 The sovereigntist protests over a planned re-enactment of the pivotal 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham offer an opportunity for Quebecers to forge a new relationship with their own history.

The letters of British General James Wolfe, who stationed his army of almost 40,000 men across from Quebec City on June 23, 1759, show a man dreaming of revenge. “I must admit, I’d be delighted to see the Canadian vermin pillaged, plundered and repaid for its cruel actions,” he wrote. If the Canadian fighters did not surrender, he promised in his June 27 Proclamation, their families in the backcountry would perish “in the most severe famine this winter.” Wolfe’s threats fell on deaf ears: the eleven thousand Canadian militiamen—one in seven residents—held their ground. This …

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Tenth Anniversary: Spring

ISSUE 43 Tenth Anniversary: Spring 2012

online content:

also in this issue:

  • Face the Music

    by Tim Falconer How can someone who passionately loves music also be a terrible singer? Tim Falconer takes up voice lessons—and discovers the surprising science of tone deafness.

  • The Big Job

    by Deni Y. Béchard As a teenager, Deni Y. Béchard went to Vancouver to live with his father, an ex-con with a penchant for telling tall tales. He met a man desperate to forget the past.

  • The Homesickness of Astronauts

    by Johanna Skibsrud "She felt a great sadness. She would remember next to nothing of this, even soon."
  • [see full issue contents]