Podcast by Rachel Stewart
Canadian Disasters is a captivating podcast that delves into the history and stories of various disasters that have struck Canada. From terrorist attacks and natural disasters to implosions and shipwrecks, this show explores the tragic events and the aftermath. Both well known and forgotten pieces of history will be highlighted. Canadian Disasters: True North Strong and Destructive.
01 April 2024
Ken Leishman lived a fascinating life. He was beloved to the people of Winnipeg and Red Lake. The only people who weren't die hard fans?
The police.
Sources:
Norma Bailey: "The Flying Bandit" Documentary
Christian Cassidy, "This was Manitoba: Kenneth Leishman-the Flying Bandit"
Mark Montgomery, Radio Canada "Canada History Mar 1, 1966: the Great Winnipeg Gold Heist "
00:00
34:54
29 February 2024
In the 1960's, the City of Halifax decided to remove an area that they had determined to be a "slum." By 1970, the vibrant thriving community of Africville would be gone, and many of its citizens would not recover.
Sources:
Jennifer Nelson: Razing Africville
Dakshana Bascaramurty: On Africville, the razing and the racism (link: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-africville-canada-news-coverage/)
Albert Rose: Report of a Visit to Halifax with Particular Respect to Africville
Shelagh Mackenzie: Remember Africville
00:00
28:13
01 February 2024
On November 18th, 1929, the deadliest Tusnami in Canadian history struck the Burin Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. Ill-prepared for such a disaster, it was a race against the clock for survival.
Sources:
The Wake by Linden MacIntyre
Disasters of the Century, Season Three, Episode 34: Burin Tsunami
Video: "The 1929 Burin Tsunami" Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website
00:00
27:34
15 January 2024
In 1819 an expedition set out from England in the hopes of mapping coastline in the remote northern stretch of Canada. What followed was a horrific bungle, more suited to the pages of a paperback thriller than actual history.
This is the story of the Coppermine Expedition
Sources:
Franklin Overland: https://franklinoverland.ca/
Sir John Franklin: Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the Years 1819-22
Fergus Fleming: Barrow's Boys (Chapter: The Man who ate his Boots)
Peter Steele: The Man who Mapped the Arctic
Ken McGoogan: Dead Reckoning
00:00
52:08
01 January 2024
On January 28th, 1990, Darrell Night was picked up by two SPS officers and dropped off in an industrial area kilometres outside the city centre of Saskatoon. He surived. Others were not so fortunate. Having a living witness helped to uncover a systematic progam that indigenous people had been whispering about for years. This is the terrifying story of the Starlight Tours.
Sources:
Starlight Tour: The Last, Lonely Night of Neil Stonechild, revised and updated by Susanne Reber and Robert Renaud
Two Worlds Colliding by Tasha Hubbard (Documentary Film)
Report into the Commission of Inquiry Into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild by The Honourable Mr. Justice David H. Wright
00:00
41:07
01 December 2023
On July 6th, 2013 a train carrying thousands of tons of oil careened into the Quebec town of Lac-Mégantic, killing dozens. How did an unmanned train cause so much destruction? What was the trail of errors that led to the disaster?
Sources:
Lac-Mégantic: This is not an Accident (Documentary Television Series directed by Phillipe Falardeau
Mégantic A Deadly Mix of Oil, Rail, and Avarice by Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny
00:00
34:45