Episodes
The Mi'kmaq Great Peace: Canada's First Diplomats
In this episode of The Story of Canada, Lucas and Luna explore the pivotal role of the Mi'kmaq and the Wabanaki Confederacy in the Great Peace of Montréal of 1701. They discuss how the Mi'kmaq, often overshadowed in histories of New France, were crucial mediators and military allies, shaping the treaty that ended decades of conflict between the French, the Haudenosaunee, and numerous Indigenous nations. The conversation covers key figures like Grand Chief Membertou, the spiritual and political…
The Mi'kmaq and the Great Peace of Montréal
In 1701, the Great Peace of Montréal ended decades of war between the French and the Haudenosaunee, but it also brought together dozens of Indigenous nations from across northeastern North America. Among them were the Mi'kmaq, whose territory stretched along the Atlantic coast. This episode explores the Mi'kmaq's role in the peace negotiations, their unique political structure, and how they used the treaty to secure their own alliances. We'll look at the realpolitik of Indigenous diplomacy, the…
The Great Peace of Montréal: Canada's First Summit
In 1701, Montréal hosted a historic gathering that would shape North America for generations. The Great Peace of Montréal brought together French colonists and Indigenous nations from across the eastern half of the continent, ending decades of brutal conflict. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the unlikely diplomacy behind the treaty—how a Huron chief named Kondiaronk used his eloquence and wit to broker an agreement that even the most powerful nations had thought impossible. They'll dig…
Canada 200: The Great Peace of Montréal
For episode 200, Lucas and Luna step back from conflict to explore a forgotten triumph of diplomacy: the Great Peace of Montréal, signed in 1701. In a single treaty, over thirty Indigenous nations, from the Haudenosaunee to the Wendat, Huron-Petun, Odawa, Ojibwa, and Abenaki, alongside the French, ended decades of bloody warfare that had ravaged the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Valley. Discover how the French diplomat Louis-Hector de Callières, the governor of New France, and the brilliant…
The Selkirk Settlers: A Highland Clearance in Rupert's Land
In 1811, Lord Selkirk bought a huge tract of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company, intending to settle Scottish farmers displaced by the Highland Clearances. The result was a collision of cultures — Gaelic-speaking settlers, Métis buffalo hunters, and fur-trade rivals — that exploded into the Battle of Seven Oaks. This episode follows the Selkirk settlers from the stormy Atlantic crossing to the Red River, their brutal first winters, Miles Macdonell's infamous Pemmican Proclamation, and…
Pemmican and the Fur Trade: Canada's Original Fuel
Before the Red River cart rolled across the prairies, before the CPR stitched the country together, Canada ran on pemmican. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into the story of the High Country's original superfood — how the Métis and Plains peoples perfected a mix of dried buffalo, fat, and berries that could fuel a voyageur for weeks, feed entire fur trade brigades, and even spark a war. From the buffalo runs of the Great Plains to the warehouses of Fort Garry, pemmican was the engine of the…
The Red River Cart: How the Métis Built a Wheel
Before the railway, before the Last Spike, there was a simpler invention that stitched the Canadian prairies together: the Red River cart. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the cart's origins from indigenous travois to its remarkable role in the fur trade and Métis buffalo hunts. Learn how this creaking, wooden vehicle carried furs and pemmican across the plains, how it was built without a single nail, and why its distinctive sound became a symbol of the Métis nation. From its roots in the…
The Quebec Bridge Collapse and Canada's Engineering Reckoning
In 1907, the world's longest cantilever bridge collapsed into the St. Lawrence River, killing 76 workers and shattering Canada's confidence in its own engineering. This episode digs into the design flaws, the hubris, and the human cost of the Quebec Bridge disaster — and how the tragedy reshaped engineering standards for the entire world. We follow the ambitious plans of the Phoenix Bridge Company, the overlooked warnings of American consultant Theodore Cooper, the fatal miscalculations of the…
The Great Fire of 1845: Quebec City's Ashes and Rebirth
In this episode of The Story of Canada, Lucas and Luna turn to a disaster that reshaped one of North America's oldest cities: the Great Fire of Quebec City in 1845. The fire broke out on a June afternoon in the city's working-class Saint-Roch district, swept through narrow streets lined with wooden houses, and left more than fifteen hundred buildings in ashes. Lucas traces the fire's path, the heroics of residents who formed bucket brigades, and the city's remarkable recovery under the…
The Komagata Maru: Canada's Racist Immigration Test
In 1914, the Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver's harbour carrying 376 British subjects from Punjab. They were seeking a better life in Canada, but the Dominion had other plans. This episode digs into the ship's fateful voyage, the racist 'continuous journey' rule that barred Indian immigrants, and the legal battle waged by Gurdit Singh. We trace the passengers' two-month standoff, the Canadian navy's intervention, and the tragic aftermath when the ship returned to India and British troops…
The Cree Trade Empire: Canada's Indigenous Fur Power
Before the Hudson's Bay Company built its first fort, the Cree already controlled the continent's fur trade. In this episode of The Story of Canada, Lucas and Luna explore how the Cree and their allies — the Assiniboine and Ojibwa — used their mastery of the boreal forest, their birchbark canoes, and their strategic position between the French and English to become the middlemen of the northern wilderness. We follow the rise of the Cree trade empire from the 1600s to the 1700s, the devastating…
The St. Lawrence Seaway: Building Canada's 2000-Mile Highway to the Sea
In this episode of The Story of Canada, Lucas and Luna dive into the St. Lawrence Seaway — the monumental 20th-century project that turned the Great Lakes into a deep-water port for ocean-going ships. They explore the engineering marvels like the two-flight locks at Iroquois and the massive Welland Canal expansion, the political tug-of-war between Canada and the United States, and the ecological and human costs, including the flooded villages and the lost Mohawk burial grounds. The conversation…
The Red River Resistance: Louis Riel and the Métis Stand
In this episode, Lucas and Luna unpack the Red River Resistance of 1869–70, when a provisional government led by Louis Riel confronted Canada's westward expansion. They trace the Métis fears over land surveys and the transfer of Rupert's Land, the execution of Thomas Scott, and the negotiations that produced the Manitoba Act. Along the way they clarify the difference between the Resistance and the later Northwest Rebellion of 1885, and they reflect on Riel's complicated legacy — political…
Canada's Dazzling Diamond Rush: The Klondike's Boomtowns
Before Dawson City became a legend, there was Forty Mile, a rough-and-tumble frontier town on the Yukon River that boomed and busted in a single decade. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into the forgotten first chapter of Canada's Klondike Gold Rush, tracing the rush from the discovery at Rabbit Creek to the chaos of the Chilkoot Trail, the gold-fever towns that sprang up overnight, and the North-West Mounted Police who kept the peace with judicious force. They explore the role of Indigenous…
The Last Spike of the CPR: A Nation's Risky Gamble
In this episode of The Story of Canada, Lucas and Luna dive into the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway — the steel spine that tied a young Dominion together from sea to sea. They unpack the engineering nightmares of the Canadian Shield, the political scandal that nearly killed the project, and the desperate gamble of John A. Macdonald's government. You'll hear about the surveyors who mapped the Rockies, the hard-rock miners who blasted tunnels through the Selkirks, and the thousands of…
The Spanish Flu and the Birth of Canada's Public Health
The 1918 influenza pandemic killed 50,000 Canadians—more than all Canadian World War I deaths. In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine how the deadly second wave exposed the absence of a national health system, forcing Prime Minister Robert Borden's government to create the federal Department of Health in 1919. They trace the pandemic's path from returning troops to remote Indigenous communities, the struggle for beds in crowded military hospitals, and the local measures that often came too…
Klondike Gold Rush: Law and Order in the Yukon
When gold was discovered on Rabbit Creek in 1896, the Klondike Gold Rush drew tens of thousands of fortune seekers to the remote Yukon. But unlike the lawless American mining camps of Skagway, the Canadian side of the border was kept remarkably orderly thanks to the North-West Mounted Police under Superintendent Sam Steele. This episode explores how the Mounties enforced Canadian sovereignty, required miners to carry a year's worth of supplies, and prevented the chaos that plagued other rushes.…
1837 Rebellions: The Patriotes and Canada's Road to Responsible Government
In 1837, French-Canadian patriotes took up arms against British rule in Lower Canada, led by the fiery orator Louis-Joseph Papineau. This episode dives into the causes, key battles at Saint-Denis and Saint-Charles, and the brutal reprisals that followed. It also examines the parallel uprising in Upper Canada led by William Lyon Mackenzie, and how the rebellions — though crushed — paved the way for the Durham Report and responsible government. Hear about the role of Patriote women, the impact on…
Canada's Forgotten Internment Camps of WWI
Long before the Japanese internment of WWII, Canada ran a massive internment operation during the First World War. Under the War Measures Act, over 8,500 people—mostly Ukrainian Canadians, but also Germans, Austro-Hungarians, and others—were labeled 'enemy aliens' and forced into camps in remote locations like Banff, Jasper, and Spirit Lake. Families were separated, property was seized, and many were used as unpaid labour in national parks. This episode of The Story of Canada explores the…
Vimy Ridge The Battle That Made Canada a Nation
In April 1917, the Canadian Corps achieved what the British and French could not: the capture of Vimy Ridge. Under the leadership of Arthur Currie, Canadian troops used innovative tactics like the creeping barrage and full-scale rehearsals to storm the German stronghold. The victory came at a cost of 3,598 dead, but it forged a new sense of national identity. This episode explores the planning, the battle, and the legacy, including the Vimy Memorial and Canada's independent seat at the Treaty…
Dieppe: The Raid That Forged Canada's D-Day
On August 19, 1942, nearly 5,000 Canadian soldiers stormed the beaches of Dieppe, France. The raid was a disaster: over 900 killed, nearly 2,000 captured. But out of the bloodshed came the lessons that saved lives on D-Day. This episode dives into the planning, the chaos on the beaches, and the forgotten heroes—from the chaplain who refused evacuation to the intelligence failures that doomed the mission. We explore how Dieppe shaped Canada's military identity and why its legacy is still…
The Fenian Raids: How Irish Invaders Forged Canadian Confederation
In 1866, a motley army of Irish-American Civil War veterans invaded Canada, hoping to seize the country and trade it for Irish independence. The Fenian Raids—named for the legendary Irish warriors of myth—surprised a young Canada still debating Confederation. This episode explores the Battle of Ridgeway, where the inexperienced Canadian militia faced battle-hardened soldiers; the mysterious Fenian commander John O'Neill; and how the raids inadvertently pushed the British North American colonies…
The Avro Arrow: Canada's Lost Supersonic Dream
In the 1950s, Canada was a world leader in aviation. The Avro Arrow, a supersonic interceptor designed to defend against Soviet bombers, was the jewel of that ambition. This episode tells the story of the Arrow's engineering marvels — the delta wing, the Orenda Iroquois engine, the advanced fly-by-wire system — and the political decisions that led to its shocking cancellation in 1959. We follow the rise and fall of A.V. Roe Canada, the role of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, and the conspiracy…
The Halifax Explosion: Canada's Devastating Day of Fire and Rescue
On December 6, 1917, the largest man-made explosion before Hiroshima ripped through Halifax, Nova Scotia. A French munitions ship, the Mont-Blanc, collided with a Norwegian relief vessel, the Imo, igniting a chain of fire and a catastrophic blast that flattened the city's north end, killed 2,000 people, and injured 9,000. In the aftermath, a relief train from Boston sped north, forging a lasting bond between Massachusetts and Nova Scotia. This episode explores the collision, the explosion's…
The Last Spike: How the CPR Built a Nation
How did a railway become the literal and figurative tie that bound Canada from sea to sea? In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the epic construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway — from the political crisis of the Pacific Scandal and the engineering nightmares of Rogers Pass to the thousands of Chinese labourers who blasted tunnels and laid track through the Rocky Mountains. They revisit the driving of the Last Spike at Craigellachie by Donald Smith, the push-and-pull between John A.…
Japanese Internment: Canada's Wartime Injustice and Redress
During World War II, the Canadian government ordered the forced removal and incarceration of over 22,000 Japanese Canadians, most of them citizens. This episode explores the origins of that policy — from Order-in-Council PC 1486 to the seizure of fishing boats and homes — and the harsh conditions in camps like Hastings Park, Slocan, and Tashme. It also examines the little-known story of the Nisei soldiers who volunteered to prove loyalty, and the decades-long fight for redress that culminated…
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham: Quebec 1759
Lucas and Luna explore the pivotal Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, which decided the fate of New France and laid the groundwork for modern Canada. They discuss the strategic genius of General James Wolfe, the tragic death of the Marquis de Montcalm, the role of the British Navy and French irregulars, and the enduring legacy of the battle for Quebec City and Canadian identity. The conversation also touches on the broader Seven Years' War context and the mythologization of both…
The Red River Cart: How the Métis Built Canada's Fur Trade
Long before railroads or highways, the Métis of the Red River Valley built an ingenious mode of transport that powered the fur trade for half a century: the Red River cart. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore why these creaking, two-wheeled carts—made entirely of wood and hide—were the backbone of prairie commerce. They follow the cart trails from St. Paul, Minnesota to Fort Garry, then north to York Factory on Hudson Bay. The story touches on the Métis buffalo hunts, the rise of the…
The Great Deportation: Acadian Expulsion and Its Legacy
In 1755, British forces forcibly removed thousands of Acadian settlers from Nova Scotia, scattering them across the American colonies and Europe. This episode explores the lead-up to the expulsion, the key figures involved—Governor Charles Lawrence and Lieutenant Colonel John Winslow—and the fate of the displaced Acadians, many of whom ended up in Louisiana, becoming the Cajuns. We also examine the Mi'kmaq alliance with the French and the impact on Indigenous communities. The story includes the…
Canada's War of 1812: Laura Secord's 20-Mile Warning
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the remarkable story of Laura Secord, a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. In June 1813, after overhearing American plans for a surprise attack on British forces at Beaver Dams, Secord walked 20 miles (32 km) from Queenston to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon. Her journey through swamps and woods, avoiding American patrols, helped secure a British and Indigenous victory. The episode examines Secord's life, the Battle of Beaver Dams, the role of…
The Rideau Canal: Building Canada's Forgotten Waterway
Before the St. Lawrence Seaway, before the railways, there was the Rideau Canal — a 202-kilometer engineering marvel carved through the wilderness of Upper Canada. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the story of Lieutenant Colonel John By, the British military's ambitious plan to build a secure supply route after the War of 1812, and the canal's role in shaping Ottawa as Canada's capital. They discuss the gruelling conditions faced by the thousands of Irish and French-Canadian labourers…
Canada's Underground Railroad: The Forgotten Freedom Seekers
This episode of The Story of Canada shifts focus from Confederation and railways to a quieter but no less extraordinary chapter: the Underground Railroad in British North America. Lucas and Luna explore the network of Black freedom seekers who escaped slavery in the United States and found refuge in what is now Canada. They discuss the role of the American Revolutionary War and the British promise of freedom, the founding of settlements like Africville in Nova Scotia and the Elgin Settlement in…
Canada's Chinese Head Tax and the Exclusion Act
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Canada imposed a head tax on Chinese immigrants, starting at $50 in 1885 and rising to $500 by 1903—equivalent to two years' wages. Over 82,000 Chinese Canadians paid this tax, totaling $23 million, before the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act banned nearly all Chinese immigration until 1947. This episode explores the stories behind the policy: the railway workers who stayed after the CPR was built, the families separated for decades, the 1907 anti-Asian…
Louis Riel: The Trial That Divided Canada
In 1885, the Métis leader Louis Riel returned from exile to lead a rebellion that ended in defeat and a trial that still haunts Canada. This episode follows Riel from his childhood at Red River through the Red River Resistance and his years in Montana, to the North-West Rebellion at Batoche and his trial for high treason in Regina. We explore the conflicting evidence on his mental state, the jury's refusal to recommend mercy, and Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald's insistence on execution.…
The Red River Resistance: Louis Riel and the Birth of Manitoba
In 1869, the Canadian government purchased Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company without consulting the Métis people who lived there. Surveyors arrived to divide the land into square townships, threatening the river lot system that generations of Métis farmers had developed along the Red River. When Ottawa appointed a Protestant English-speaking governor, the Métis formed a provisional government led by a charismatic 25-year-old named Louis Riel. They seized control of Fort Garry…
The St. Roch: RCMP Schooner That Claimed the Arctic for Canada
In 1940, a humble RCMP schooner named the St. Roch slipped out of Vancouver, bound for the treacherous Northwest Passage. Commanded by Sergeant Henry Larsen, a Danish-Canadian with a quiet resolve, the ship was built not for glory but for police patrol—yet it achieved what elite explorers had failed for centuries. Over 28 months, the St. Roch battled crushing ice, scurvy, and isolation, finally reaching Halifax in 1942 as the first vessel to complete the Passage from west to east. This episode…
Canada's Early Arctic Sovereignty: The Forgotten Story of the RCMP Schooner St. Roch
Before the Cold War, before the DEW Line, Canada's claim to the Arctic was defended by a single wooden schooner and a handful of Mounties. This episode follows the RCMP vessel St. Roch — the first ship to traverse the Northwest Passage from west to east, and the first to circumnavigate North America. We meet Sergeant Henry Larsen, the Danish-born skipper who commanded the ship through uncharted ice for over two decades, living for months at a time with Inuit families at remote posts like Pond…
Canada's Quiet Nuclear Moment: The Chalk River Reactors
In the aftermath of World War II, Canada emerged as an unlikely nuclear pioneer. This episode takes you inside the Chalk River Laboratories in the Ottawa Valley, where scientists built ZEEP—the first nuclear reactor outside the United States—and later the NRX, one of the most powerful research reactors in the world. We explore the wartime collaboration with Britain and the US, the defection of British physicist Alan Nunn May who leaked secrets to the Soviets, and the 1952 NRX meltdown that…
Canada's Unknown War: The Aroostook War and the Madawaska Republic
In the 1830s, the border between Maine and New Brunswick was a tinderbox of disputed territory and simmering nationalism. When American and Canadian lumberjacks clashed in the dense forests of the Madawaska region, the United States and Britain nearly went to war over a strip of land barely inhabited by a resilient Acadian community. This episode picks up where the 1837 Rebellions left off, exploring the forgotten conflict known as the Aroostook War: a bloodless war fueled by felled timber…
The Komagata Maru: Canada's Anti-Asian Immigration Laws
In 1914, a Japanese steamship named the Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver's harbor carrying 376 Punjabi immigrants, mostly Sikhs, who were seeking a better life in Canada. But they were met with hostility, legal obstruction, and ultimately, military force. This episode explores the story of the Komagata Maru and the racist immigration policies that kept it at sea for two months. Lucas and Luna discuss the 'continuous journey' regulation, the role of Gurdit Singh, the legal battle led by J.…
Canada's Vimy Ridge: The Battle That Forged a Nation
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Battle of Vimy Ridge, a pivotal World War I engagement that became a symbol of Canadian unity and national pride. They discuss the meticulous planning by General Arthur Currie, the innovative creeping barrage tactic, and the role of the Canadian Corps in capturing this heavily fortified German position on April 9, 1917. The conversation also covers the significant Canadian losses—over 10,600 casualties—and the enduring legacy of the Vimy Memorial in…
Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven: How Painting Forged a Canadian Identity
Before Canada had a flag, it had a landscape—and a small band of artists who painted it into national consciousness. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the story of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, the early 20th-century painters who turned the rugged Canadian wilderness into a symbol of a young nation's soul. They explore Thomson's mysterious death in Algonquin Park, the group's radical break from European impressionism, and how their images of jack pines and granite shores became…
The Dieppe Raid: Canada's Bloody Lesson on the Road to Victory
On August 19, 1942, nearly 5,000 Canadian soldiers stormed the beaches of Dieppe, France, in a raid that would become one of the bloodiest chapters of World War II for Canada. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the planning, the chaos, and the aftermath of Operation Jubilee. They discuss the strategic miscalculations by British command, the heroism of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, the Calgary Tanks, and the devastating losses on the pebble beach. They examine the role of intelligence…
Canada's Quiet Nuclear Moment: The Chalk River Reactors
In this episode of The Story of Canada, Lucas and Luna travel back to the 1940s and 50s to uncover the remarkable story of Canada's secret role in the nuclear age. They explore the creation of the ZEEP reactor in 1945—the first nuclear reactor outside the United States—and its successor, the NRX, which became a world-class research tool. Learn about the Chalk River Laboratories, hidden in the Ottawa Valley, where Canadian scientists and engineers worked alongside British and American allies…
Canada's Quiet Superpower: The St. Lawrence Seaway
In this episode of The Story of Canada, Lucas and Luna dive into one of the country's most ambitious yet understated engineering feats: the St. Lawrence Seaway. Completed in 1959, the Seaway transformed North American trade by allowing ocean-going vessels to sail 3,700 kilometres inland to the Great Lakes. But the project was more than concrete and locks — it displaced thousands of people in the Mohawk community of Akwesasne, flooded ancient fishing grounds, and required delicate negotiations…
Canada's Unknown War: The Aroostook War and the Madawaska Republic
In this episode of The Story of Canada, Lucas and Luna explore one of the strangest conflicts in North American history: the Aroostook War, a bloodless confrontation between the United States and Britain over the disputed border of Maine and New Brunswick. They uncover the story of the Madawaska Republic, a short-lived breakaway state founded by Acadian settlers who declared independence from both powers. Lucas explains how the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty finally resolved the boundary, why…
Canada's Halifax Explosion: The Deadliest Man-Made Blast Before Hiroshima
On December 6, 1917, the collision of two ships in Halifax Harbour triggered the largest man-made explosion before the atomic age. Over 1,600 people died instantly, and the blast flattened the city's north end. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the chain of events that led to the disaster, the heroic efforts of dispatcher Vince Coleman who stayed at his post to warn a passenger train, and the incredible relief effort that saw Boston send medical aid within hours — a bond still honoured…
Canada's 1918 Spanish Flu: Winnipeg's Forgotten Pandemic
In 1918, as the First World War was grinding to a close, a silent killer swept across Canada — the Spanish Flu. This episode focuses on the pandemic's devastating impact on Winnipeg, Manitoba, where overcrowded tenements and a strained public health system turned the city into one of Canada's hardest-hit communities. We trace the flu's arrival with returning soldiers, the desperate measures taken by Dr. Arthur J. Douglas, the city's medical health officer, and the makeshift hospitals set up in…
Canada's Forgotten Peacekeepers: The Suez Crisis of 1956
In 1956, the Suez Crisis nearly sparked a global conflict. While the world remembers Nasser, Eden, and Eisenhower, few know that Canadian diplomat Lester B. Pearson proposed a radical solution: the first UN peacekeeping force. This episode dives into the frantic diplomacy behind Blue Berets, Pearson's Nobel Peace Prize, and how a middle power shaped modern peacekeeping. We trace the crisis from Nasser's nationalization of the canal to the secret collusion between Britain, France, and Israel…
The Battle of Lundy's Lane: Canada's Bloodiest Fight
In July 1814, as the War of 1812 raged on, American and British forces clashed near Niagara Falls in what would become the bloodiest battle ever fought on Canadian soil. The Battle of Lundy's Lane saw over 1,700 casualties in a single night of brutal close-quarters combat. Lucas and Luna explore the strategic stakes, the leadership of Major General Jacob Brown and General Winfield Scott on the American side, and Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond and Lieutenant Colonel James Miller for the…
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