Postal History Corner

Friday, September 3, 2010

1961 Resources For Tomorrow Conference

Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's federal government held a resource conference in Montreal from October 23-26, 1961. The "Resources for Tomorrow" (R.F.T.) conference was attended by 800 individuals from all walks of life, including various levels of government, universities and industry.

According to the R.T.F. Conference public information brochure:

The R.F.T. conference was not intended to discuss "protection" in the sense of locking up the resources, protecting them from use, or hedging their use with so many safe-guards and restrictions that it is impossible to use them sensibly. Although protection will not be neglected, this is not the keynote of the discussion. The emphasis will be on improved use of resources; use so planned as to satisfy the increasing needs of the rising generation and ensure the welfare of generations yet unborn.

On November 2,1961, Alvin Hamilton, Minister of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources, provided this impression of the conference in a letter to Prime Minister Diefenbaker:

I was amazed at the enthusiasm generated at the conference. Obviously you have struck a responsive chord in calling for a conference of this kind. We had expected to keep the number of participants to 600, Because of the pressure of demand, 700 had to be accommodated in the workshops. Actually, another 100 turned up without invitation and had to be squeezed into the program.

The Resources for Tomorrow commemorative stamp was issued on October 12, 1961.

Essays

National Archives of Canada

Philip Weiss Essays

National Archives of Canada

Alan Pollock Essays

National Archives of Canada

Watercolour

National Archives of Canada

Approved Model

First Day Covers

Slogan Cancellation

A slogan cancellation publicizing the Resources for Tomorrow Conference was used at several post offices.

Montreal October 23, 1961
First Day of Conference held in Montreal

Usages

Domestic Forward Letter

Orillia to Kitchener, November 21, 1961
5 cents forward letter rate

Air Mail Letter to the United States

Montreal to Philadelphia, November 7, 1961
7 cents air mail letter rate to the United States

Surface Letter to Great Britain

Lunenburg to London, November 28, 1961
5 cents surface letter rate to Great Britain + 10 cents special delivery fee

Returned to sender "Incorrectly Addressed"

International Air Mail

Port Colborne to Braunschweig West Germany, November 11, 1961
15 cents air mail rate to Europe

Addendum

Documents from the Diefenbaker Canada Centre Archives:

Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Bomarc Missile in North Bay Ontario

RCAF Station North Bay was one of two Bomarc missile batteries in Canda. In 1958, Canada and the United States entered into the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) agreement. NORAD was a joint command that provided aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. As part of its NORAD commitment, the Diefenbaker government agreed to deploy the U.S. Bomarc surface to air missile (SAM) in Canada, scrapping the Avro Arrow interceptor program arguing that the missile program made the Arrow unnecessary.

Bomarc missiles were installed in batteries in North Bay, Ont. (446 Squadron) and La Macaza, Que. (447 Squadron), and placed under control of NORAD based in North Bay and Colorado, with shared Canadian-American command.

The Bomarcs were to be fitted with nuclear warheads but the Diefenbaker government refused to accept nuclear weapons on Canadian soil. With the Conservatives' fall in 1963 and the Liberals' return to power under Lester Pearson, a decision was finally made to accept nuclear warheads for Canadian nuclear-capable forces, and the Bomarc warheads were delivered to their sites on December 31 1963.

In 1969 Prime Minister Trudeau's Liberal government announced that Canada would withdraw its armed forces from their nuclear roles. As part of this process the Bomarc missile was phased out of service by 1971.

RCAF Station North Bay

RCAF Station North Bay was home for RCAF 446 SAM squadron. The base had been re-activated in 1951 and used for training. The base became the primary defence site for Toronto and Southern Ontario during the cold war period.

In the late 1950s, an underground NORAD control centre was built in North Bay for an automated control system for tracking and intercepting enemy bomber aircraft (SAGE). The CBC described the chamber as follows:

Norad's Cheyenne Mountain Operations Centre, buried deep in a mountainside in Colorado is a legendary fortress. But Canada has its own underground Norad nerve centre. Near North Bay, Ont., a giant base is being carved out deep into the solid granite of the Canadian Shield. Almost 200 metres below the surface, engineers are excavating a chamber to hold SAGE (Semi Automated Ground Environment) — "the most sophisticated defence system world has ever known."

RCAF Station North Bay circular date stamp

March 29, 1962

Canadian Forces Base North Bay

RCAF Station North Bay was formally changed to its present name, Canadian Forces Base North Bay or CFB North Bay on 1 April 1966. The BOMARC missiles were decommissioned in 1973 and the SAGE installation followed in 1983.

In 1966, the RCAF North Bay post office was given the civilian name "Hornell Heights".

Hornell Hights (CFB North Bay) to Toronto, December 7, 1971

Hornell Heights cds

CFB North Bay, Hornell Heights, Ont.

Saskatchewan Provincial Exhibition 1961 "Space Year" Cachet

The 1961 Saskatchewan Provincial Exhibition cachet appears to have been modeled on the Bomarc missile.

Bomarc Missile Combat Evaluation Launch Exercises Florida

To ensure that proper qualifications and procedures were maintained, periodic Control Evaluation Launch Exercises were held at the Elgin Gulf Test Range at Elgin AFB, Florida. The exercises were normally held during the Canadian winter months. At least one missile from the Canadian battery was removed from the squadron and transported to Elgin. The missile was fired on a live intercept using non-special weapons to ensure that the Combat Ready Missiles were fully operational.

1965 Exercise

Clippings from RCAF 446 SAM Squadron web site

1970 Exercise

1970 Combat Evaluation Launch Exercise
Souvenir cover of Bomarc-B firing by 446 SAM Squadron (North Bay), Eglin Air Force Base, February 10, 1970.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

1961 E. Pauline Johnson

National Archives of Canada

Emily Pauline Johnson (1861-1913) , commonly known as E. Pauline Johnson, was a Canadian writer and performer popular in the late 19th century. Johnson was notable for her poems and performances that celebrated her First Nations heritage; she also had half English ancestry.
On 10 March 1961, the Government of Canada released a commemorative stamp celebrating the 100th anniversary of Pauline Johnston's birth. The Post Office's press release of the time described its new stamp and some of her achievements:

This new postage stamp honours the centennial of the birth of Miss E. Pauline Johnson, [aboriginal] poetess. The stamp shows a profile of the late poetess, wearing a high ruffled collar of Victorian apparel superimposed on a background of forests, plains and mountains. In the background, a full-length likeness of Miss Johnson in tribal costume is shown to emphasize her two personalities of [aboriginal] princess and Victorian lady. In the foreground lower left corner, "1861", the year of her birth, appears on the pages of an open book representing her contribution to Canadian literature. In announcing this stamp, the Postmaster General said that in commemorating Pauline Johnson, we pay tribute to all Canadian [aboriginals] for their contributions of our Canadian way of life...

In 1895, she published "White Wampum" and in 1903, she added "Canadian Born" to the world of Canadian writings. In 1912, she gathered a collection of her poems and added a biographical sketch which she published under the title of "Flint and Feather". This was followed by her first novel in 1913, "The Shagganappi". Although her contributions were numerous, she is perhaps better known for her volume of prose tales which she called "Legends of Vancouver" published in 1911.

Canadian actor Donald Sutherland narrated the following quote from her poem "Autumn's Orchestra", at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Know by the music woven through

This fragile web of cadences I spin,

That I have only caught these songs

Since you voiced them upon your haunting violin.

Slogan Cancellation

Pauline Johnson was born on the Six Nations Indian Reserve outside Brantford, Ontario. To commemorate the centennial of her birth, a slogan was put in use at the Brantford post office.