Diamond Jubilee Keepsake Folders
Volume 5 (1993-2002)

Among the many souvenirs Canada Post released during the Jubilee Year was a set of six "Keepsake Folders" which depicted stamps issued during the six decades of the Queen's reign. This post deals with Volume 5, issued on May 7, 2012, covering the 1993 to 2002 period.

The folder includes:

• One mini-pane of four stamps
• Diamond Jubilee $2.00 Souvenir Sheet
• A postage-paid postcard depicting Queen Elizabeth II stamps issued from 1993 to2002
• A booklet that recounts significant events and Royal Visits

Keepsake cover

Booklet cover

Mini-pane

Canada Post reproduced the 48 cent Golden Jubilee stamp (2002)  on the mini-pane.

Diamond Jubilee Souvenir Sheet

Royal Visits

The Queen paid three visits to Canada during the 1993 - 2002 period. Photographs from the visits are reproduced in the mini-pane margin.

1994

Queen Elizabeth opened the 15th Commonwealth Games in Victoria on August 18, 1994. In addition to British Columbia, the 1994 Royal Tour took Queen Elizabeth to Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories from August 13 to 22.

1997

 The 500th anniversary of the discovery of Newfoundland brought the Queen to Canada in 1997 from June 23 to July 2. The Queen also visited Ontario.

2002

The 2002 Royal Visit to Canada from October 4 to 15, was in celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited Iqaluit, Nunavut; Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Toronto, Oakville, Hamilton and Ottawa, Ontario; Fredericton, Sussex and Moncton, New Brunswick.

Postage-Paid Post Card

Stamps Depicted


 a) The Karsh Photograph Definitives

45 cents : June 31, 1995

Toronto to Don Mills, May 9, 1996

45 cents domestic letter rate

46 cents : December 28, 1998

47 cents : December 28, 2000

b) Golden Jubilee Commemorative: January 2, 2002

The Toronto Sun and Lubor J. Zink

The Toronto Sun is a conservative tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1971 shortly after The Toronto Telegram ceased publication. Sun Publishing Ltd purchased syndication operations and newspaper vending boxes from the Telegram, and with the aid of staff recruited from the Telegram,  published its first edition of The Toronto Sun  on November 1, 1971.

 "The Toronto Sun" first edition, November 1, 1971

 The sender of this letter to the "Sun" did not know the address but provided a detailed description of its location enabling Canada Post to deliver the cover.

The Sun's journalistic philosophy was outlined in its first editorial :

We define ourselves as a politically non-partisan voice of moderation. That may sound wishy-washy, but we won't be. It's high time the voice of moderation in Canada made itself heard loudly and clearly, in firm answer to the shrill nonsense and ideology that is espoused these days in the name of democracy and humanity. 

We are neither right nor left; we dislike fanatics of any hue, and are prepared to tackle the arrogant left and the misguided right when occasion demands. 

Many would suggest that the Sun has never been a  "non-partisan voice of moderation". Among the Sun's favourite targets in the 1970s was then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Leading the Trudeau attack was Czechoslovakian-born Lubor J. Zink whose columns relentlessly painted Trudeau as a crypto-communist.

 Lubor Zink

The Toronto Sun Family : 1971 - 2013 blog provides this synopsis of Zink's life which helps us understand why Zink was fiercely opposed to communism.

For just over two decades, the Toronto Sun’s impassioned anti-communist writing team consisted of Peter Worthington, Bob MacDonald and Lubor J. Zink. The columnists looked for communists under every rock, as Paul Rimstead was fond of saying. Lubor, born in Klapy, Czechoslovakia in 1920 had first hand experience with dictators and communists. He fled to England in 1939 after the Nazis invaded his homeland, became a member of the Czech underground and was a World War 2 hero. After the war, he returned home and was a Radio Prague broadcaster until the Communist Party took control in a 1948 coup. Lubor, jobless, fled to England with his wife and young son and a decade later, moved to Canada. The Brandon Sun in Manitoba was his first Canadian newspaper stop. As editor, his editorials won him a National Newspaper Award in 1961. The NNA caught the Telegram’s eye and he was hired as a columnist, based in Ottawa. When the Tely folded in 1971, he continued as a Toronto Sun columnist, often writing columns with an anti-communist or anti-Pierre Trudeau slant. Like Peter, Lubor twice ran as a federal Conservative candidate (Parkdale in 1972 and 1974) without success. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Lubor, in failing health, signed off at the Sun in 1993, leaving Peter and Bob to reflect on the diminished communist community. Lubor’s legacy included three volumes of published columns: Trudeaucracy in 1972; Viva Chairman Pierre in 1977 and What Price Freedom in 1981. Lubor died in 2004. He was 84.

Zink lived and worked in Ottawa as a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. 

The correspondence from Mr. Zink is dated September 10, 1978.

 Ottawa, September 11, 1978

 Zink's postscript was a plug for his latest book VIVA CHAIRMAN PIERRE.

 André Nicholl wrote this scathing review of Viva Chairman Pierre  ( Ottawa Citizen, January 21, 1978)

This book is pathetic both awful and sad.

Everything that Pierre Trudeau has ever said or done, from adolescent days in Montreal to the recent trip to Cuba, is conceived of as a plot to turn Canada into a communistic state.

The evidence consists of old quotes (all out of context) from Cité Libre, snippets from speeches and interviews, and such deep analyses of Trudeau's personality as his once having lied about his age-the latter somehow marking the man as devious and amoral

Nowhere does Zink acknowledge there might be anything good about Trudeau, such as his dignity and his uncanny ability to adapt to change. No, Trudeau embodies communist evil. Pals in Moscow, Peking and Havana understand all his moves and silently abet his leading the nation to a collectivist dictatorship.

The book could have been saved . Zink could proposed [sic] some alternative to Trudeaucracy. But not a sentence from all those Toronto Sun columns hints at what our prime minister is taking from us.
Obviously, Zink cares about the country. But he is obsessed, and his caring is a lost in a paranoid diatribe. That's why Viva Chairman Pierre is pathetic.

Discovery Train

 

From 1978 to 1980, the mobile museum "Discovery Train" toured Canada bringing Canadian history to the people. Operated by the National Museum of Canada, the train with over 10 exhibit cars  contained a moving walkway to shuttle visitors through the train in  20 minutes. The cars contained displays on prehistoric man, First Nations and Inuit, New France, British North America, immigrants, pioneering, boom and bust, WWII, present day Canada, and a big musical finale. 

 

The train's first stop was on July 22, 1978 at Kingston, Ontario, home of Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir. John A. Macdonald.
 


Locomotives

Canadian Pacific Steam Locomotive #1201 appeared with the Discovery Train on opening day in Kingston, but never pulled the train.

Canadian National and Canadian Pacific diesel locomotives actually pulled the train across the country.

Philatelic Souvenirs

Sherbrooke, Octpber 24, 1979

 

June 13, 1980

 

U.S. Bicentennial "American Freedom Train"

The U.S. Bicentennial American Freedom Train

The Discovery Train cars were originally built for use on the "American Freedom Train" (AFT) which toured the U.S. from April 1, 1975 to December 31, 1976. AFT was a 26-car traveling exhibition of artifacts from the 200 year history of the United States.The National Museum of Canada purchased fifteen AFT cars at a fraction of their original cost after the U.S. bicentennial, making the Discovery Train project an affordable endeavor.

Reference

The Story of the 1978 - 1980  Discovery Train

Sir Casimir Gzowski

[This is an update of an earlier post]

Sir Casimir Gzowski ( 1813 - 1898) was a prominent figure in 19th century Canadian history. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, of Polish parentage, Gzowski applied his engineering and legal skills to become a Canadian pioneer railroad builder, engineering the construction of the Great Western Railroad from Toronto to Sarnia and the International Bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo. Gzowski served as acting Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1896 to 1897.

The Gzowski commemorative stamp, designed by Philip Weiss, was issued on March 5, 1963.

 (Not in author's collection)

Essays

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

National Archives of Canada

First Day Covers

Postmaster General

Ellen Fairclough, Postmaster General

Glory

Niagara Falls Slogan

Gzowski was the first chairman of the Niagara Parks Commission (1885 - 93).

Plaque located at Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, March 5, 1963

Usages

Domestic Forward Letter

Brampton to Toronto, May 5, 1963

5 cents domestic forward letter rate

Domestic Registration

Kereneos to Vancouver, July 3, 1963

5 cents forward letter rate + 20 cents registration fee

International Air Mail

Toronto to Vienna, April 8 1963

15 cents air mail letter rate

Cap-de-la-Madeleine to Paris, April 5, 1963

15 cents air mail letter rate

Souvenir : International Bridge Fort Erie

Gzowski Memorial Toronto : 1968

A memorial to Casimir Gzowski was unveiled in Toronto on May 25, 1968. A slogan cancellation was produced to mark the occasion.

UNVEILING OF GZOWSKI MEMORIAL MAY 25 1968

Commercial Cover


Toronto, May 23, 1968