In the News...

By Joshua Drakes

A new nation-wide education initiative aimed at improving science literacy and celebrating Canada’s role in space exploration is set to launch on April 1, bringing together local leadership and national institutional partners in a two-year program focused on students and classrooms across Canada.

Out of This World 25 (OOTW25) is being led by Canadian Historical Education Services (CanHist), founded by local historian and educator Neil Orford, in partnership with McMaster Children & Youth University, with further support coming from the federal Ministry of Canadian Identity and Culture.

The project is also marking the 25th anniversary of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s historic 2001 spacewalk, and connecting that milestone to Canada’s future role in space exploration, including the upcoming Artemis II mission.

“It made sense to propose to the federal government that we do a commemoration of what I consider to be a really important defining moment in our space history,” Orford said. “One might even argue it’s a really important defining moment in our national history – and that is the 25th anniversary of the first Canadian spacewalk.”

Orford continued by explaining that the initiative is rooted in the idea that Canada’s contributions to space science and international collaboration are often underrecognized, despite decades of involvement in major global space projects such as the International Space Station.

“Space history is not a story that is either well told or understood in the country, except by very few organizations,” he said. “Twenty‑five years ago, they were assembling the Canadarm, which was part of the incredible international collaboration, of which Canada is a part of… and has been a part of for over 50 years.”

By looking back at key moments in space history, organizers are seeking to highlight Canada’s influence while making those stories more accessible to younger generations.

At its core, OOTW25 focuses on strengthening science communication – as in how complex scientific ideas are shared, understood, and discussed by the public.

The program seeks to address growing concerns about misinformation and gaps in scientific understanding, particularly among youth navigating an increasingly digital, information-saturated world.

The project is set to roll out in two phases over the next two years.

The first year focuses on commemoration and better access, bringing together existing resources from organizations such as the Canadian Space Agency, the National Research Council, and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. These resources will be brought into classrooms as school-ready materials, along with new tools that allow students to explore topics like space technology, astronomy, and Canadian innovation.

The second year will shift toward deeper engagement with science communication skills.

Students will be encouraged to take a more direct and active role in interpreting and presenting scientific information through a framework described as curatorial thinking. This approach emphasizes evaluating sources, organizing information, and communicating ideas clearly – skills seen as increasingly critical in the modern information landscape.

A key feature of the program is the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and digital story mapping, developed in partnership with Esri Canada.

These tools allow students to create interactive projects that combine storytelling with scientific data, helping to translate initially abstract concepts into more tangible learning experiences.

Through partners like the Canadian Space Agency, the Dominion Observatory and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, classes will use existing learning modules and toolkits to explore everything from Hubble and Webb images to how the Canadarm works.

Orford said that the program is designed not only to teach science, but to change how it is taught. By giving students greater agency in their learning and encouraging hands-on, inquiry-based approaches, OOTW25 aims to foster curiosity and critical thinking rather than passive information absorption.

“It’s really important to give students agency over how they express their science communication,” Orford said. “We need to invite them into a safe space where they can express in a very cutting‑edge, innovative, technological way their understanding for themselves.”

“When they do that, of course, there is ownership over it… and they also become their own editors. That’s part of what is so important with curatorial thinking… we have to get them to exhibit their own learning and demonstrate their own learning in the richest, best ways that we can.”

Another key component is the emphasis on what Orford calls STEAM education, which incorporates the arts alongside science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The initiative promotes a broader understanding of learning that includes creativity, storytelling, and historical context as essential tools for scientific literacy.

“Our best astronauts are also musicians,” Orford said. “They’re very well read. In many cases, they speak more than one language. They are very artistically inclined and our best scientists also are great advocates for the arts and arts education.”

“The more that we see music disappearing from the school or history disappearing from the school, or art classes or drama disappearing from the schools, that does a disservice to the ability to think scientifically and communicate scientifically. So it’s very important to have a better conversation about STEAM learning, as opposed to STEM learning,” Orford added.

Through a mix of digital programming, classroom resources, and community-based learning opportunities, the initiative is expected to reach students nationwide. Planned offerings include interactive activities for schools, opportunities to engage with experts in space and research fields, and accessible online content for families and educators.

The program is also intended to serve as a model for national collaboration, bringing together academics, government agencies, and private partners to support education.

In addition to McMaster and CanHist, partners include the Canadian Space Agency, Esri Canada, and several scientific and other historical organizations.

With its dual focus on history and future exploration, OOTW25 arrives at a moment when Canada is once again set to play a visible role in space, particularly through astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s participation in Artemis II.

“Artemis II should be the big story we talk about in 2026, and god willing, it will be successful,” Orford said. “They will take their 10 days and go around the Dark Side of the Moon and see things that no human has ever seen before, and record things that have never been recorded before, and then return to Earth and be those modern-day explorers that we have always imagined astronauts should be.”

“We have at our fingertips this incredible story that’s going to take place, and that’s the thing we should be talking about.”

By linking past achievements with upcoming missions, the initiative aims to inspire a new generation of learners while reinforcing the importance of science in everyday life.

“We want our young people to aspire, we want them to dream,” Orford said. “We want them to imagine. We want them to have curiosity, and more importantly, we need them to find joy in their learning.”

Alongside the online learning portion of the education initiative, unique learning experiences will also be available locally. McMaster, as well as surrounding schools and communities in the Hamilton area, will have Interactive learning experiences made available to them through this program.

Ultimately, the program’s goal is to make science more engaging, understandable, and relevant – ensuring that students not only learn about discovery, but are equipped to take part in it.

Click here to view the article on the Orangeville Citizen website.

Back to Top.

As Nov. 11 approaches, the Shelburne Legion Branch 220 is preparing for its 2025 Remembrance Day ceremonies.

It’s been over 100 years since the end of the First World War, which effectively came to a close on Nov. 11, 1918, with the signing of the armistice. 

It’s been 80 years since the end of the Second World War, which concluded in 1945. It has been 72 years since the end of the Korean War, which ended in 1953. 

Since then, Canada has fought in a myriad of other conflicts, from the Gulf War in 1991 to the Global War on Terror in 2003, and the War in Afghanistan, which ended in 2014.

The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 220 in Shelburne has multiple services planned throughout the day.

Pastor Gord Horsley, who has been organizing the services for the last 18 years, said there are multiple events taking place throughout the day.

“On Tuesday, Nov. 11, we have two services at the Legion,” he said. “One is in the Legion, at 9:30 [a.m.], and we will have some speakers. The mayor will be there to speak. Normally, we’ll have the MP and the MPP, but they won’t be joining us until the banquet [Veteran’s Dinner] later.”

Following this, Captain Diane Powers from the #164 Air Cadets in Shelburne will have a video presentation to be screened.

After the video, Horsley said that the attention will shift to the Cenotaph in front of Shelburne Town Hall. 

“We’ll be marching down to the Cenotaph from the Legion at about 11 o’clock,” Horsley said. “We will be doing a wreath ceremony, and people from the community will be bringing wreaths with them. They’ll bring them up and place them at the Cenotaph and memorial of a veteran.”

Later in the evening, the Legion's doors will open for a Veterans’ Dinner. Cocktails will be served at 5:30 p.m., with dinner served at 6 p.m. There will be a number of guests in attendance.

“Neil Orford will be our guest speaker,” Horsley said. “We’ll have the MP and MPPs there, so Kyle Seeback and Sylvia Jones, respectively. The mayor will also be joining us.”

Neil Orford is a historian and retired educator with the Upper Grand District School Board. He also pioneered teaching the innovative and award-winning 'Digital Historian Project.' 

He said that Remembrance Day and VE Day are important times to remember the strong bonds formed with the Netherlands during World War II and to remember the intergenerational stories shared by veterans.

“It’s the 80th anniversary of victory in Europe this year, and we celebrate the bonds of friendship between the Canadian and Dutch peoples, with us being the liberators of the Dutch,” he said. “The 80th anniversary might be the final chance to really acknowledge the significance of that liberation and the stories that are associated with the men and women who were there.”

He continued by saying that we don’t have many WWII veterans left, and the opportunity to learn directly from their experience is fading. Most, if not all, are over 100 years old. Most are unable to travel either, further reducing the number who can share their stories.

Orford said that it’s extremely important to learn from their stories and to remember the foundations and principles upon which Canada stands. He said that it's important younger generations learn of these events, and hopes that schools continue to dedicate time to remembrance. 

“Every time we hold a ceremony, the number of [WWII] veterans, of course, is diminishing,” he said. “It’s important that Remembrance Day isn’t a day off, to use it as a day not just to remember, but to educate, now that time has elapsed to the point that stories are harder and harder to share intergenerationally,”

“I’m glad that Branch 220 is taking the opportunity to share these stories on Remembrance Day, Orford added.

For more info and updates on the Remembrance Day services, follow the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 220 on Facebook at facebook.com/br220.shelburne. 

Click here to view the article on the Shelburne Free Press website.

Back to Top.

Written By CONSTANCE SCRAFIELD 

Scott Jordan and Daryl Phillips invite us all to “Journey deep into the breathtaking lakes and backcountry of the La Cloche Mountains, perched along the north shore of Georgian Bay. With its clear blue lakes, striking white quartzite and pink granite hills, Killarney Provincial Park offers some of Ontario’s most unforgettable canoeing and hiking adventures.”

They have produced a movie celebrating 30 years of their own backcountry travel in Killarney Provincial Park by circumventing the park over 10 days, canoeing and portaging as their route took them.

Hosted by CanHist, Full Circle will be shown this Saturday, Oct. 4, in the Corbetton Church on the grounds of the Museum of Dufferin (MoD), between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Special guest Kevin Callan will host the event, share personal tales from the park, and lead a post-film Q&A with the filmmakers. Callan was listed as one of the top 100 modern-day explorers by the Canadian Geographical Society.

There is quite a difference between frontcountry and backcountry travel, as Scott Jordan explained during a recent interview with the Citizen.

He and his wife, Sharon, had been travelling since they both retired, he from 32 years of teaching English at Orangeville District Secondary School (O.D.S.S.), saying, “We kicked off with our retirement with Al Pace (Canoe North Adventures).”

They had a wonderful northern experience canoeing with Pace’s son, Taylor, as their guide.

“His instructions about paddling were very helpful,” Jordan commented.

He went on to explain the differences between what defines front and backcountry travel. Frontcountry offers all the amenities: showers, internet connection, the company of other campers, and access to supplies.

“Backcountry travel means what you load in the canoe is what you have for however long you are out there,” Jordan explained. “There’s nobody usually, except you might see other campers.”

Jordan and Phillips have been carrying satellite device technology for the last four years.

When they were making this film in September 2024, they saw lots of bears, but luckily, he reported there were “no encounters.”

Otherwise, there were lots of loons and a Barred Owl whose hoot is humorously famous for sounding like the question, “whose cooking for you?” Say it quickly and you can hear it for yourself.

Jordan added that they didn’t see moose while they were making the film. They have been working on the film since they returned from the trip last September.

Daryl Phillips, a photographer and graphic artist, is the filmmaker, and Jordan has composed the music with Phillips’ son, Mack.

His approach has been letting the rhythm of the paddle suggest a tempo. In other places, the lighting of dawn or dusk dictated either a major or minor key. Travelling montages demanded a more upbeat composition; more contemplative moments were subtler and softer.

Finding a place to camp is not a matter of chance along the way, but of planning before the trip. Killarney requires a reservation for camp sites, so campers know their destinations.

“They are established sites, signed and numbered,” he described it, saying, “You get to a point where you run out of water and there are signs on the portaging path to the next lake.”

For this trip, “We wanted to circle the park; this was to celebrate our travels in Killarney – on our own and with friends and family.”

Over all the years of camping, they could document the lives of their children. Jordan had no experience until he went to a camp as a youngster for his first canoeing experience.

His childhood was in Orangeville, and after five years away to university, Jordan came back to Orangeville.

Killarney was not their first experience camping; he and his wife went once on their own. It was a disaster. They got lost, ran out of food, but that taught Jordan a life lesson: “You have to respect before you can love.”

Some time later, Jordan went with Daryl Phillips, and it was fabulous. In spite of her understandable hesitation, his wife joined them another time, and Jordan claimed that it was good even though they got lost again and more, but that is the price of being in the wild.

He offered, “When you are in the backcountry and you open the tent flap in the morning. you see the lake.”

This movie is not a disaster film. It is not a travelogue, nor a how-to film.

What it is – the film looks more at why to continue backcountry camping. It restores a person, now freed from the pressures and noise of our modern lives.

Jordan praised Killarney’s quartz white mountains; as an extension, it is about the connection between oneself and the natural environment.

“Something magical happens between friends,” Jordan averred.

He loves the power of a story around a campfire and connection with the land, noting that one of the themes that emerges is waking with the dawn and going to sleep with the sun, usually by 9:30 p.m.

This journey was canoeing over 100 kilometres, and there were 20 kilometres of portages, of which the longest was three kilometres.

“We carried our long packs front and back with equipment, food and the canoe over my head,” Jordan related.

They took a break as needed; there was no rush.

“We didn’t have to prove anything,” he said.

Who would he particularly call to come to see this film? To the person who feels burnt out by the pace and demands to produce. Anyone looking for a wonderful show.

“It’s a wonderful place to find relief,” was the promise. “Kevin Callan is moderating. He knows a lot about how to get involved.”

Yet, why do Jordan and Phillips continue to return to Killarney? Perhaps, because it is where they first learned to love backcountry camping.

“Full Circle” will be shown at the Corbetton Church at the Museum of Dufferin (MoD) on Saturday, Nov. 4, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Refreshments will be available for purchase.

Tickets are $20 and available online at www.canhist.ca, by clicking on Small Town Big Ideas.

Click here to view the article on the Orangeville Citizen website.

Back to Top.

Written By PAULA BROWN  

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Two local organizations focused on preserving history, both past and present, are joining forces to host some of Canada’s leading innovative thinkers. 

The Museum of Dufferin and the Canadian Historical Education Services, also known as CanHist, have announced that the local museum will continue as a future venue for the Small Town Big Ideas (STBI) speaker series. 

“The Museum of Dufferin is such an ideal venue for the kinds of discussions we want to have with Small Town Big Ideas,” said Neil Orford, co-creator of STBI and founder of CanHist. “When you get some of Canada’s top public intellectuals, authors or journalists to come in, you want a place that showcases Dufferin.” 

“We are looking to create partnerships with local institutions that are seeking to bring culture, ideas and conversations together,” said Jasmine Proteau, manager of the Museum of Dufferin. We already have such engaged citizens and people interested in hearing more about different art, culture and ideas, so it’s important to have a space to have these types of conversations.”

Small Town Big Ideas is a speaker series hosted by CanHist and sponsored by multiple small-town groups and businesses in Dufferin County. The series looks to welcome some of Canada’s most innovative thinkers to the Dufferin community to speak intimately with local residents on various topics such as history, politics, environment, gender equality, and journalism. 

Speaking with the Free Press, Orford noted the importance the museum plays as a venue in discussing past and present events. 

“The museum is a great place for getting context. One of the biggest challenges is getting people to understand the context in which events happen and the context in which history occurs and has occurred,” said Orford. “Every story the museum tells has a past and very much a present. When you’re concerned about the future, like I think most of our audiences are, it’s really important to try and fix the context for every conversation.” 

The Museum of Dufferin, located at 936029 Airport Rd., Mulmur, collects and preserves the stories of the people, places, and culture of Dufferin County both past and present. The local museum features three galleries with permanent and rotating exhibitions and art shows, as well as four historic buildings. The Museum of Dufferin is also the location of the Dufferin County Archives, where visitors are welcome to research the history of the community. 

“We are paying attention to what’s happening today and making sure important stories are being preserved for future generations, while they’re being told,” said Proteau. “We’re trying to connect the past, with the present and also showcase some of these continuities in history.” 

The Museum of Dufferin and CanHist welcomed their first guest speaker under their partnership back in October of 2024. The event featured author and journalist Elizabeth Renzetti, who discussed the launch of her latest book, “What She Said: Conversations About Equality.” 

Held in the main gallery space of the Museum of Dufferin, the event saw roughly 70 patrons attend the discussion with Renzetti. 

“The museum audience and Small Town Big Ideas audience are very similar,” said Orford. 

As CanHist begins making plans for their 2025/2026 season, they’ll be working closely with the MoD to determine guest speakers and conversations that will appeal to both audiences while connecting to the museum’s three-year exhibition plan.

“From my point of view, it’s looking at what the museum has, and the themes they’re striking in their upcoming seasons,” said Orford. 

CanHist will be announcing the guest speakers for the 2025-2026 season of Small Town Big Ideas in August. 

More information about STBI tickets, as well as upcoming and past events, can be found at canhist.ca.

Those interested in learning more about the Museum of Dufferin and its upcoming events can visit www.dufferinmuseum.com.

Click here to view the article on the Shelburne Free Press website.

Back to Top.

Written By CONSTANCE SCRAFIELD 

When Claire Cameron was young, she was working in a summer camp in Algonquin Park. It was 1991 and at that moment, a Canadian couple were attacked and killed by a black bear. Statistically, bear attacks are extremely rare, with a few people per year being fatally attacked in the whole of Canada or the U.S. 

Cameron was back working in the park and was haunted by the bear attack on the two people. No one was there but their bodies were found five days later. The bear was found still with the remains, clear evidence of the attack, and was shot.

At nine years old, Cameron’s father died of skin cancer – melanoma. His death was quite protracted and difficult for his young daughter to witness. Seeking healing from her grief, she turned to hiking in the wilderness, which brought her back to herself. Hiking and her connection to nature over the years, her time in Algonquin Park working as a hiking guide were critical to her.

Still, the story of the bear attack haunted Cameron, bears obsessed her even and she was determined to discover the truth of the bear attack story. She began back in the Algonquin Park working with a scientist to learn more about them.

Earlier this week, the Citizen had the chance to interview Claire Cameron about her remarkable new book, which is a mystery she decided to solve, a fiction of a bear’s life and her own memoir, interwoven and powerful.

All the elements of “How to Survive a Bear Attack: a Memoir” are pressed by her cancer diagnosis. Her father’s death was suddenly her own future, with a current prognosis of three years to live. Of the danger behind a bear’s attack, she notes that for her, that very unlikely event is not what will end her life – her own genetics will do that. So, her vision of how to live is also her own.

She told the Citizen, “I’ve been around black bears; they were all peaceful encounters. This is a book about how to co-exist with bears and they with us. I was trying to address my fear; at most, one person a year in North America is attacked by a bear. That’s a very low number.”

She was 19 years old when the attack on the couple happened and she read about it in the paper, saying, “My book is about how it happened. It links my cancer to the bear attack – how disease can strike a life.”

During the research to discover what prompted the bear’s attack, there been thoughts that there were groceries and there were, but the hamburger meat in a package near the fire was left untouched. The bear’s autopsy confirmed the findings of the first responder camp staff once they had found the bear, killed and brought it back. 

The second element of Cameron’s book is a black bear’s behaviour, its life as the fiction in her book. For that she wrote, working with a scientist to get a picture beside in science but in a fictional story.

Cameron attended Queens University to study history and went to California as an outdoor guide – “It was such a big part of my life,” she commented.

When, at 45, she was diagnosed with skin cancer, the same as her father and told to stay out of the sun, she gasped, “What am I going to do? That was my whole life.

“It’s still a work in progress,” she quipped.

“I worked in Algonquin Park. It was a paradise and it was so shocking, I think for me, learning how to live with a chronic condition which was not necessarily a death trap – there is still time.”

She said, “I’ve started to hike in November – the hiking trails are empty then and I enjoy the bad weather.”

Philosophically, “If there is something you can’t control… I concentrate rather what I can than can’t.”

What has guided Cameron through writing this book is how not to think about things that don’t often happen, and how to get through hard things.

How to Survive a Bear Attack: A Memoir has “this true crime mystery – there’s a lot of that in the book.” She has had a huge response getting to know black bears better, though this is about an individual. A lot of people are really interested in that.

There is more. While Cameron has been touring with this book, the environment has been an important part of it: she gets into the idea of Algonquin being founded in 1893. The people who lived there were told to get out. For her, it’s a haven; it was the end to where they lived. 

Even worse: the park is logged and was formed to a view of logging. Forty percent is logged but with roads and gravel extraction, sixty percent is industrial.

“What I thought of as pristine is not at all,” she noted with sadness. “I learned you need to ask if the area – is it conserved – for whom and for what? I was naive. Writing this book expanded what I think wilderness is.”

Living in Toronto now, Cameron goes down to the lake at the end of the day, commenting she had never thought of that but now to her, it is a wilderness.

As a writer, it is so important for her to have ambition. Having cancer gave her the impetus to be very focused on writing.

“I’ve just started planning my life in three year segments,” she explained. “Planning my time is much simpler – who you spent time with is much clearer.”

She said, “It’s easier to take the attitude.”

Claire Cameron is coming to the Shelburne Public Library for an afternoon’s delight and conversation on Sunday, June 22 at 1 p.m. with her new book, How to Survive a Bear Attack: A Memoir. There will be book sales and signings.

This is a free event. To register, visit eventbrite.ca/e/an-afternoon-with-claire-cameron-how-to-survive-a-bear-attack-a-memoir-tickets-1215613806619

Click here to view the article on the Shelburne Free Press website.

Back to Top.

By Paula Brown

The month of April marks the anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and local residents will have the opportunity to step back in time to the lives and experience of World War I soldiers through music. 

Small Town Big Ideas, a speaker series organized by CanHist, will be welcoming Canadian acoustic folk band The Fugitives on April 30 at Grace Tipling Hall for a performance of their 90-minute musical tribute to the Battle of Vimy Ridge, entitled ‘Ridge.’ 

“I think we’re being faithful to the vision of what Small Town Big Ideas is all about. The vision always was that we bring in as many big ideas as we can that are current in the Canadian public discourse, whether those are ideas that are spoken from public intellectuals, authors or in this case, artists. It’s very important that we have discussion and really provocative insights,” said Neil Orford, founder of CanHist. 

After seeing the band perform Ridge in Fergus late last year, Orford approached them about bringing the show to Shelburne. 

“I got a very strong sense from the band of how committed they were to telling stories in music and song that are representative of the genuine words of people who were historical actors in important events," said Orford. “Getting a chance to see it live myself, certainly opened my eyes to the need to pay close attention to how we talk about historical moments in Canada, like Vimy Ridge, and rededicate ourselves to listening as best we can across the ages to the words of the men who were actually there.” 

The Fugitives are a Juno-nominated group consisting of songwriters Adrian Glynn and Brendan McLeod, who are joined by banjo player Chris Suen and violinist Carly Frey.

Ridge is a 90-minute musical tribute to the more than 10,000 Canadian causalities of Vimy Ridge. Through storytelling, theatre and music the show examines the misconceptions and varying perspectives around the battle. Featuring musical interpretations of WWI soldier songs, often known as ‘trench songs’, Ridge also probes dif cult and necessary questions about the wartime experience. 

McLeod started writing the outline for Ridge in 2020 while he was exploring the history of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. During his research, he began to comb through songs written by soldiers about their experiences in the war. 

“They were funny, they were poignant, they were beautiful and harrowing and really gave you a snapshot of the emotions they were going through,” said McLeod.

Speaking about why they wanted to explore the Battle of Vimy Ridge as the subject of the show, McLeod explained, “It’s one of those formative events in Canadian history and I was curious as to how much of what we’re told is real and how much of it lines up with the truth. 

He added, “I was looking at the history of it and wanted to think of the soldier’s experience, not what the government tells us happened or what the military told us happened, but what the soliders’ say happened.” 

While the battle of Vimy Ridge occurred more than a century ago, McLeod said the themes brought up in Ridge continue to be relevant in the face of modern events. 

“Every year we tour the show; it unfortunately gets more resonant with audiences. Since we’ve been doing it, the world has gone through so many different trajectories with everything happening in the Middle East, war breaking out in the Ukraine, and now we’re going on tour while there’s an economic trade war between Canada and the US with people talking about Canada’s sovereignty,” said McLeod. “I would never have anticipated five years ago that this is the curtain behind which we’re playing the show.” 

Tickets for the show are $40 and can be purchased by visiting the Small Town Big Ideas page on www.canhist.ca. 

Click here to view the article on the Shelburne Free Press & Economist website.

Back to Top.

Dufferin Board of Trade | February 19, 2025

In this episode, Diana Morris, Executive Director of the Dufferin Board of Trade and Dufferin Biz Hub, sits down with Neil Orford, founder of CanHist and award-winning history educator turned entrepreneur.  

Neil shares his journey from the classroom to creating CanHist, an organization rooted in the Dufferin community that offers engaging school programs, adult tours, and initiatives like Small Town, Big Ideas. Discover how storytelling, a cornerstone of history, can strengthen small business brands and why investing in public history matters in 2025.  

Plus, hear about CanHist’s upcoming concert at Grace Tipling Hall featuring the Juno-nominated folk band, The Fugitives!  

Learn how local businesses can preserve community heritage

Gain practical storytelling tips for your brand

Be inspired by Neil’s advice on carving out a niche in unique markets 

Tune in now and be part of the conversation that’s shaping good business in Dufferin! 

Back to Top.

By Mike Lang 

Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, Am Shalom Synagogue in Barrie hosted a renowned author this weekend who discussed his book about his family’s Holocaust survival stories.

Jewish Toronto journalist John Lorinc wrote ‘No Jews Live Here,’ a book published this past fall, to keep his family’s stories alive.

“My mother is 92 and getting older, and so I wanted to capture those stories before they disappear,” said Lorinc.

In 1944, Lorinc’s mother, uncle and grandmother were hiding from the Nazis in a Budapest, Hungary apartment building along with other Jewish people and Gentiles. He says that one day, they heard a truck with Hungarian fascists stopping by the base of their building.

“The apartments that were rented by Gentiles had signs on them that said: ‘no Jews live here,’” recalled Lorinc. “My grandmother, who was a very survival-minded person, realized that the neighbors, the people next door who had that sign, were away. And so, she ran out, grabbed the sign and put it on their door, and so the Hungarian fascists who were rounding people up didn’t take them away.”

That incident, Lorinc confirms, is what inspired his ‘No Jews Live Here’ book title. He adds that the fascists eventually returned and took his family away, but his mother always remembers his grandmother’s fearlessness.

“She was a total handful,” said Lorinc. “In these moments of extreme danger, she was able to figure out how to protect [our] family.”

Lorinc’s mother and father both survived the war – the latter surviving Auschwitz – and eventually made their way to Canada in the 1950’s. But many of their other family members perished in the Holocaust.

“These are things that we really have to think about and remember, and try to apply the learnings from the past to what’s going on today,” said Lorinc.

Am Shalom Synagogue president Jeff Wellman echoed the need to keep Holocaust stories alive from generation to generation.

“[It’s] important to understand the horrors that have happened, the antisemitism that’s happened, but also the other racisms and biases that have happened, to teach all of us to be better people and fight the discrimination that unfortunately is still with us,” stated Wellman.

Monday also marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Click here to view the article on the CTV News website.

Back to Top.

By Constance Scrafield 

Multi-award-wining author Dr. Tim Cook has been chief historian and director of research at the Canadian War Museum for the last 25 years.

On Nov. 28, he will be at the Monora Park Pavilion at 7 p.m. to talk about Canada’s many roles during World War II and his new book, The Good Allies, as part of the series of talks with Small Town Big Ideas.

With a PhD in history, Cook has won several awards for his outstanding books about Canada’s military history, particularly about the aspects of Canada’s contributions to the war efforts during the two World Wars. For this considerable list, Cook has won four Ottawa Book prizes for Literary Non-Fiction, and two C.P. Stacy Awards for the best book in Canadian military history. In 2008 and 2018, he won the J.W. Dafoe Prize and in 2009, the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.

One can only admire Cook’s remarkably easy style of writing, rendering his clear and concise recounting of the wars so readable, that the books are hard to put down. Throughout The Good Allies, Cook has made fulsome endnotes. 

During an interview with the Citizen, he commented, “I want to make it clear. I like to be thorough, so readers can confirm the sources. I spent a lot of time at the archives. I’m not making it up.”

The Good Allies follows William Lyon Mackenzie King (referred to as King in the book), the longest-serving Canadian Prime Minister, well known for his eccentricities, his seances.

“He was a complex character, fascinating in itself,” was Cook’s appraisal of the man. He added that King’s diary, to which he refers throughout the book, “is the most important Canadian document of 30,000 pages. King comes out well.”

Cook’s path of research took him to the library archives in Canada, as well as being able to get into other archives in the States, by his American friends and scholars.

He reported that many of them did not understand our service and commitment during WWII. One million Canadians went to fight and three million were here in Canada, involved in wartime production. That is a huge number, Cook made the point, considering the population at the time (just over 10 million)

“This is not well known in the U.S.,” he said. “I wanted them to know. 

“If the book means anything, this is my 19th. I think what was revealed to me during WWII, was we needed the U.S. to help defend Britain.”

If we needed the U.S. then, Cook is clear that now, “They can’t to do without us; they still need us in to protect the North and for trade.”

There is peace in our time between our two countries now but not always. He instructed us that we had been at war with the States early in the 1800’s (the War of 1812) and later, there were struggles about the Americans not becoming involved, while Canada was at war in Europe in support of Britain, especially after the successful Battle of Dunkirk.

President Franklin Roosevelt and King extended a visit King was later making to include a side trip to Hyde Park, where there was negotiated a tremendous accomplishment by King, with reference to shipping war supplies and paying for their manufacture. He dodged for Canada the lend/lease agreement the U.S. and Britain had between them (from page 112…), saving Canada a fortune.

Our interview turned to Cook’s passionate interest in Canada’s military history and the why of it.

“I’ve always been drawn to men and women in times of war,” he said. “The personal experience of war. My grandfather served in WWII. Millions of Canadians have a story connected in the two World Wars. Many died or came back wounded. Many Canadians have these strong links.” 

The crisis of wars demanded in the First and Second World Wars defined the development of war and the fundamental changes in our country; the creation of the security state.

A person can not understand the evolution of our country without taking in the history of wars. Even though he is a military historian, Cook also writes about other societal aspects, like art and culture. As research and understanding progress, war historians and writers are fascinated or horrified, he confirmed. 

Talking about his fellow authors, Cook said, “I am always interested in what other writers do and even how they write, what their routines are.”

With this book, this is the world we live in and in the course of reading The Good Allies, one has the chance to learn much more about this world than one might expect.

It is a fascinating read. 

For tickets to Dr. Tim Cook’s informal conversation with STBI, please go to eventbrite.ca/e/in-conversation-with-dr-tim-cook-tickets-990897780937

Please note the venue was recently changed to take place at the Monora Park Pavilion (500 Monora Park Rd. Mono). It was formerly slated to take place at Grace Tipling Hall.

A book signing will follow the event on Nov. 28.

Click here to view the article on the Orangeville Citizen website.

Back to Top.

By Lindsay W. 

History is deeply embedded in every facet of Dufferin County, but how well do we truly understand our past? Neil Orford and his team at CanHist and Defining Moments Canada, provide extensive digital resources and immersive educational experiences inspiring community members through the stories from Canadian history. 

Neil’s lifelong passion for history began at an early age and blossomed throughout his career. Moving to Dufferin County in the mid-eighties, after being recruited to teach in Orangeville District Secondary School’s history department and later at Centre Dufferin District Highschool, Neil quickly identified a growing demand for great history education. Speaking at conferences to teachers, schools and communities across Canada to meet this demand, earned him a plethora of awards for his initiatives in history education.  

Establishing CanHist in 2013, Neil explains “it was a reflection of everything we were doing in the schools.” The organization provides accessible resources for historical education inside and outside classrooms, interactive walking tours, research, and speaker experiences for adults, veterans and community members. 

“History matters; so, it needs to be told in an engaging way, through storytelling” 

Based originally in Dufferin County, CanHist focuses on developing valuable history programs for local communities, teachers and business groups in hopes of enticing others to begin discussing their own town’s history. The offered Heritage Walking tours immerses students, teachers and other adults as they explore significant sites in Canadian history. Expressing how participation is key when understanding history, Neil says, “When you get them off the coach and you get them to walk, then they start asking questions,” continuing, “When immersed in something it becomes more significant to you.” These tours are run both inside and outside of Canada, some places including Juno Beach in Normandy France or Hadrian’s Wall in the United Kingdom.  

Looking towards the future, CanHist’s aims to “become advocates for greater community involvement,” explains Neil. Encouraging teachers to equip students with historical knowledge using CanHist’s digital story mapping tools and working with community groups such as Dufferin County Veterans, “to figure out digital ways to be more expansive,” says Neil.  

“There are not a lot of Toronto's in Canada, but there are lots of Orangeville’s”  

This past spring, and continuing into the fall, CanHist has been hosting “Small Town, Big Ideas,” a speaker series gathering Canadian intellectuals to Dufferin County in hopes of reviving what was a common occurrence decades ago. Access to these events is often limited to small towns, as Neil emphasizes, “Canada is filled with great thinkers, so they deserve to come to a small town as much as they deserve to come to a big city.” When attending the series at either Grace Tipling Hall or at the Dufferin County Museum, Neil challenges the audience to consider these five things: “Discover, Query, Inquire, Reflect and Provoke.” This series aims to engage people in conversation, creating another opportunity for the community to come together.  

Engaging with local history is key to understanding one’s connection to the community. It can simply start with visiting the local museum, attending council and committee meetings, joining walking clubs on local trials, reading plaques, or, more peculiarly, visiting the town’s cemetery. “What can you learn about Dufferin County by reading the inscriptions on the gravestones?” inquires Neil. “These things are low impact but have high engagement opportunities.” But he suggests the number one place anyone should start is with “engaging in your family history.” 

Click here to view the article on the Dufferin Board of Trade website.

Back to Top.

By Constance Scrafield 

Well-known journalist, John Lorinc is coming to the Grace Tipling Hall on Thursday, April 25, to discuss how small towns like Shelburne, Orangeville and neighbouring municipalities are affected by the encroaching spread of nearby larger cities. 

By insisting there are better ways to build and that it is a very bad policy to encourage the use of gas for energy, Mr. Lorinc sees care for the environment as a natural outcome of building wisely, he told the Citizen in a recent interview.

Writing for a number of publications, such as the Globe and Mail and Canadian Geographic, among many others, he is senior editor of Spacing Magazine. Already a published author of a number of books, lately Dream States, which looks at the increasing role of technology in cities, he has another book coming out in the fall. This is a memoir about his own family coming through the war. 

“Tech is a tool, not an end in itself,” he said. “We have this whole system of flood control. Ontario is ahead of the pack about flooding after Hurricane Hazel.”

Toronto has made the whole effort to make the ravine system spongier.

He said, “At the end of the day… you also need to deal with the need for pipes and tanks.”

Shelburne is in the housing business, as the number of residents increases.

Kitchener-Waterloo are good studies, of how they affect the rural, smaller communities and their impact on social services. There are a lot of opportunities to take advantage of the proximity of big cities, which smaller cities should do, he opined.

In constructing new buildings, “other technologies are useful like heat pumps as they don’t use any gas,” he said but added regretfully that the Ford government is installing more hooks to allow for natural gas.

He stated clearly, “Government needs to pass rules that allow home builders to avoid gas. There needs to be a more impactful legislation.” 

Mr. Lorinc agrees there should be more solar, “Everybody says the gadgets are the last thing we do. But, certainly, they could be put on new-built; it should be mandatory. The cost is way lower than it used to be. Political leaders need to say we should insist.”

The fact is, suburban developments are long-standing orbits of cities. He once interviewed a forester who said wisely, “The difference between a collection of houses and a subdivision is the trees.”

Technology is very invasive. The proposed Harbourfront Smart Neighbourhood in Toronto was cancelled.

He said, “The pandemic stopped the project but it had generated so much controversy over proposed face recognition, the American company didn’t want to bother going ahead with it.

“There is surveillance everywhere,” he commented, “but it’s when there is software for face recognition, as in China, that there are objections elsewhere.”

There were various police agencies in the US experimenting with AI that could identify people.

Emphatically, he said, “This is why democratic oversight and a well-informed media [are important], the revelations came out by media reporting. In China there’s controlled media only.”

This is part of smart cities and the engagement of people is necessary.

“You can’t take your rights for granted,” he observed.

“My view is there are multiple uses to compact communities. Density is not for everybody. Preservation of farmland is important. We can create more vibrant areas and density brings down housing costs.”

In creating more density, there are plenty of ways of doing that with big towers but fewer of them. There are neighbourhoods in mature cities that prove the theory. More people in communities are likelier to encourage creativity and micro-economies. Creating such communities means less need for driving.

Reporters have to work to bring information to people, fair and accurate, so people can respond. 

Mr. Lorinc loves journalism.

“I have the privilege of meeting all sorts of people,” he said. “This is what I do, It’s so important when there is so much misinformation out there. We have to be provocative and bring accurate information. I’m incredibly fortunate.”

BookLore is bringing copies of Mr. Lorinc’s books to his presentation on April 25 for sale and for him to sign.

The presentation starts at 7:30 p.m.

“What I’m going to be talking about is housing, how it affects everyone. All these places are part of the storyline, and they have to find a way of living in a city in order to define where are the next generation of families going to live.

“One of which is to reduce our impact on the environment,” Mr. Lorinc commented. 

Of the 100-storey towers in Toronto, his concern is the way they are designed, that we should be building better.

“We should be building them to last 100 years,” he said.

By the bye, you might like to look up his book about dumplings.

For tickets at $10 go to https://canhist.ca/small-town-big-ideas

Click here to view the article on the Orangeville Citizen website.

Back to Top.