SPRING 2014
FMI
*
IGF JOURNAL
25
CHALLENGING ISSUES FOR CANADIAN LEADERS
by train and the roads were not the
paved highways we know today. One
of his most spectacular journeys was by
steamboat down the Mackenzie River in
the summer of 1937, to the Arctic Ocean.
He saw the opportunity presented by
new technology, in this case aircraft, to
fly from the delta of the Mackenzie River
to Great Bear Lake and over the tundra
up to Coppermine (Kugluktuk).
He saw his role, representing the
monarch, as a
trait d’union
, linking the
many regions of the country and working
to draw the attention of one region to
another. His job was “to try and foster
the larger loyalty”, to counter centrifugal
forces like regionalism, largely a function
of our geography and constitutional
makeup. He recognized the “different
economic worlds” of East and West.
Tweedsmuir envisioned the North as
being “one of the great unifying factors
in the future of the Dominion” because
it was common to both East and West.
The North also held great promise
for the economic development of
the country as a whole with the
natural resource wealth that was just
beginning to be discovered. Successive
Governors-General, and governments,
have focussed on the North to varying
degrees. Even though Tweedsmuir’s
vision may not have been fully realized
in terms of unity, his inspired move
then, and the lesson for us, was to
propose a vision that united the country,
one that everyone could share and be
enthusiastic about.
Development and conservation
Development of natural resources
raised other issues. Questions about
the environment and development are
integral to general public discourse
today. But this was not an unknown
theme 75 years ago. Tweedsmuir’s
love of the outdoors and his broad
humanity were reflected in his speeches
and writings. He raised concerns
about conservation and in the process
amplified the voice of those who were
already addressing the issue.
In August 1936, the Governor-General
addressed a crowd in the north of
Vancouver Island. He was impressed by
the Island’s natural setting, but cautioned
about development encroaching on the
natural resources and beauty, words
which find echo today:
“... Canadians are apt to
think that their resources were
inexhaustible, but this is not so.
It is terribly easy, even in a great
country like this to ruin natural
beauty and to destroy flora and
fauna. It would be an awful pity if,
through carelessness, you spoiled
the natural charm of the country,
if you allowed too many great trees
to disappear, too many beauty spots
to be ruined by cheap buildings, if
through ineffectual administration
of game laws you permitted the
wild animals and fish to disappear.”
Honouring Tweedsmuir’s love of the
outdoors, the Province of British Co-
lumbia named a large interior wilder-
ness area after him — Tweedsmuir Pro-
vincial Park.
Following this visit to Vancouver
Island and B.C., his views were only
strengthened on his trip back east
when he flew into Lake Waskesiu,
Saskatchewan to meet Grey Owl.
A celebrity in his own right, Grey Owl
was an impassioned conservationist.
(Grey Owl was believed to be a member
of the First Nations but in reality
was an Englishman, Archie Belaney,
who identified himself with the First
Nations and their issues.) Tweedsmuir
would remember Grey Owl’s words
about First Nations and the important
role they could play in the economy as
stewards of the wilderness. This was
just one exposure he had regarding the
First Nations. As he journeyed down
the Mackenzie River in the summer of
1937, he observed and heard about the
health problems of the Dené and the
Inuit, and addressed the issue in a report
to the Prime Minister and the Governor
of The Hudson’s Bay Company.
In February 1940, Tweedsmuir
addressed the Canadian Forestry
Association. He congratulated, and
through this encouraged, them for
having “forced the question of forest
conservation upon the attention of
Canada, so that it has become a matter
of major public interest.”
Tweedsmuir had travelled extensively
throughout the country and had seen
for himself the great potential that
natural resources held for the future of
the country. Speaking specifically of the
lumber and papermaking industries, he
cautioned that this great natural asset of
our forests, however, “will only decline if
we spend our capital unwisely.” It “must
be jealously and scientifically cared for.”
He identified a three-fold problem that
needed to be addressed for conserving
the forestry asset: the perils of fire; wise
cutting; and new planting. Looking to
the future, he counselled that “we are
entitled to reap the fruits of our forest
wealth provided we do not impoverish
our successors.”
International Organization and
World Peace
Through the 1930s, the League of
Nations, the international organization
created after the First World War to
avoid future wars, was recognized as
ineffective. The United States was not
a member, Japan and Germany had
withdrawn, and two member states were
at war, Italy having invaded Abyssinia
(Ethiopia).
Tweedsmuir initially argued for
a revised League of Nations. As
international tensions grew, each
passing year made clear the League
was ineffectual. Tweedsmuir, as an
international statesman, began to think
Hunlen Falls, Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, BC
Photo courtesy: BC Ministry of Environment
