Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tinent to take a straight-on German hit. That same year the Germans also torpedoed a
Newfoundland ferry sailing in the Cabot Strait near Port aux Basques; 137 people died.
Modern Times
It wasn't until 1960 that Canada's Aboriginal people were finally granted Canadian cit-
izenship. Even into the late 1960s Aboriginal children were being removed from their
families and sent away to residential schools to 'civilize' them; many were abused. Land-
rights claims and settlements regarding the schools are still winding their way through
Canadian courts, while the damage such policies inflicted continues to haunt the Abori-
ginal communities.
Meanwhile, in Newfoundland in the 1950s the provincial government also was enfor-
cing a resettlement program. People living in isolated fishing communities (aka outports)
were being strongly 'encouraged' to move inland where the government could deliver
schools, health care and other services more economically. One method for 'encour-
aging' villagers was to cut ferry services. Many communities had no road access so this
made them inaccessible - people were squeezed out of their ancestral homes in this way.
The later 20th century was particularly harsh to the region's biggest industries: coal
mining and fishing. Cape Breton's coal mines started to tank in the 1960s as its product
fell out of favor in the marketplace; the mines shut for good in the 1990s. In 1992, the
codfishing moratorium was put in place, and many fisherfolk and fish-plant workers - a
huge percentage of the population, especially in Newfoundland - lost their livelihoods.
The offshore oil and tourism industries have been trying to pick up the slack, but many
people are leaving the region to find work elsewhere in Canada.
TIMELINE
1000 BC
After hanging around for a few thousand years eating fish and seals and developing complex ce-
remonial practices, the Maritime Archaic Indians inexplicably disappear.
AD 1000
Viking Leif Eriksson and crew wash up at L'Anse aux Meadows, create the New World's first
European settlements, repair their ships and smelt iron.
1492
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