CANADA AT 150

TELLING CANADA’S STORY: See Paul Berton’s column

“We can see Canada grow up,” says Jeff Day, commenting on today’s special Canada 150 edition.

Day, The Spectator’s sports editor, co-ordinated today’s supplement, five sections and 88 pages featuring Canada’s past, present and future.

Some of it is written from a modern perspective. Today’s writers on today’s Canada, with a look back at yesterday’s Canada, and a look forward at tomorrow’s Canada, and this region’s place in it.

Some of it is from an earlier perspective: yesterday’s writers on what Canada was in 1967, and their thoughts and aspirations on what the nation might become. We look back to when they were looking forward.

It also features columns from some of The Spectator’s best writers past and present. Current Spectator columnists Susan Clairmont, Steve Milton, Andrew Dreschel, Jon Wells, Scott Radley, Jeff Mahoney and Graham Rockingham offer their thoughts on our 150 birthday and what the anniversary means to them.

There are also stories from The Canadian Press on the big events in our nation’s history, as well as the many local events that shaped the history of this region.

What were Canadians thinking and doing 150 years ago, when the nation was born? What did The Hamilton Spectator write about 50 years ago, during our centennial?

The sections are loaded with famous historic photographs: the beach strip in the 1950s; James in 1899, the Lister Block in 1958, the Hamilton Farmers’ Market in 1920, Gore Park in 1890, Gage Park in 1960, Sam Lawrence Park in 1971, the Desjardins Canal in 1809, Concession Street when it carried horses and buggies ...

There are stories and photos on Canada’s soldiers, its heroes, its innovators, its builders, retailers, educators, visionaries, athletes, politicians ...

There are accounts of many big events, such as royal visits, big fires, building projects, public events and tragedies.

It’s a walk through our rich and fascinating past, both locally and nationally.

But like all such projects, it is not complete. How could it be?

We did more work, wrote more stories, dug up more information than we could fit into the five sections. We discarded articles and photographs of many historic events and sites, locally, provincially and nationally, and have no doubt simply overlooked many others. For that we apologize.

It is merely a taste — a glimpse of our rich history.

Like many such projects, tied as they are to “celebrations,” it also tends to ignore some, but not all, of the things we are not so proud of, the mistakes we made, the things we did not accomplish or the efforts we made that were misguided or callous or just plain wrong.

We can only try to keep learning and reading and writing and photographing and documenting the daily news to try and learn and improve and hope that tomorrow will be better.

Fortunately, it usually is.

It’s a walk through our rich and fascinating past, both locally and nationally.

Paul Berton is editor-in-chief of The Hamilton Spectator and thespec.com. You can reach him at 905-526-3482 or pberton@thespec.com