July 2001 - Nr. 7
Letter from the Editor
Once again Canada Day was upon us and celebrated with more or less pride and knowledge about the country of our choice. The news reported that many Canadians do not know the facts about this nation, those very same facts that new citizens have to know to attain this coveted status.
Because
of the 134th Anniversary of our nation I checked the Internet for
Canadian history. Immediately over 700 items were offered to choose from. I
certainly did not go through all of them but chose a few official looking
ones. Nowhere did I find references to any ethnic backgrounds other than
British and French, not even in the lengthiest document on the subject.
And as people that have been here for well over 350 years we do know that even the history that is taught in schools is not the whole truth. To this day students and teachers alike have no idea that Simcoe was tremendously assisted by Berzcy, and that without him Simcoe might be an unknown entity. No one seems to know that Yonge Street was build by German settlers and that Adam Beck was from Germany…. And so the list goes on. Perhaps you feel like doing a search. Let me know what you come up with.
There is literature around describing who we are and what our people have done to contribute and what they have endured in being here. Not all has been easy and much hardship can be heard of. In the German Canadian Yearbooks anyone interested can learn about our people, what we are made of, what we have experienced and what our dreams have been and still are.
And anyone reading these books will find that people
regardless of origin have the same aspirations and feelings. The currently
available book is of special interest perhaps to none German speaking
individuals who want to learn about us a bit more. Many of the entries are
in English and edited by Hartmut Froeschle and Lothar Zimmermann. The book
is published by the Toronto Historical Society of
Mecklenburg
Upper Canada, who will be present, together with other representatives from
our community, at the Canadian National Exhibition, when we have the honour
of presenting German Day at the fabulous, Toronto Star sponsored Band Shell
on August 17 this year.
This
young nation still has a lot to offer despite the troubles that have
befallen it, like most western countries. Just now we suffer from the
tremendous smog in this town. In June the city held an important Smog Summit
in Metro Hall.
Thought
out as a think tank it is was designed to discuss possibilities and
alternatives to current energy sources. Germany and Austria also had sent
delegates to speak on this subject, but it appears all still a bit vague.
The will to drastically change anything is not there as far as I can see.
The general public needs to get involved and realize that our way of life
must undergo some responsible changes.
As
part of the proceedings a group of artists exhibited subject related art.
The Artists Liaison group is a
fast growing organisation inviting international artists who are willing to
pledge their skills to help wherever environmental concerns play a part in
the survival of species and/or habitat.
Just
a week after the summit the group presented a beautiful painting of two
young polar bears to the Toronto Zoo, just like the ones that were found
near their shot mother earlier this year.
Nikita
and Aurora, as these two have been christened, are doing well, as the
artist, a young man named Joseph Foster from Perth, can attest to. He came
personally with his family to present his painting to the Chief Executive
Officer, Mr. Calvin J. White and his staff. Joseph is a fine wildlife
painter in the great Canadian tradition and also has pledged to support the
efforts of Artists Liaison, founded by DiDi Lemay, a Dutch-Canadian dynamo.
As an artist and a spokes person for this fine organisation I have a special
interest in it as it relates to me and my personal goals and purposes. Thus
you can expect that I will keep you apprised of its activities whenever it
seems appropriate.
Of course we also took a long walk in the zoo and came across many wonderful animals that have a hard time surviving out there in the wild. The wild is actually no longer wild because of us. We are enemy number 1,2,3, and 4 of what is left of free wildlife and its habitat. What we do not realize is that we destroy our habitat along with it. Perhaps it is time to wake up to a few facts instead of just screaming that we do not want the garbage here or there. We have to produce less garbage, consume less energy and useless paraphernalia. It will put too many people out of work? We need to learn to do something else, something useful and less disruptive to nature.
But I have another news item, which deserves our attention. A young German-Canadian, Tobias Oriwol, is in need of some help. From the beginning as a swimmer to now he has won an extraordinary amount of medals in every competition he ever participated in. Quietly he worked very hard and is now as a 16 year old Canada’s big Olympic hope in Japan. As you can imagine, the cost are enormous and too much for one family to carry. Therefore we offered to ask our readers to help Tobias. If you want to help, send your donation to Tobias Oriwol, 502- 1111 Bough Beeches Blvd., Mississauga, Ont., L4W 4N1.
Just imagine he could come home with one or more medals for Canada! One of our own! In the meantime we wish him good luck!
Until next time
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
Comments to: editor@echoworld.com
