Wolfe, Macdonald, Secord, Champlain, Montcalm. These individuals are iconic in the annals of our nation. But what about Pierre Le Moyne, Mary Ann Shadd, Shingwaukonse and George Denison? They are names you are not likely to find in the indexes of high school Canadian history textbooks. Author and Leaside Library employee Greg Koabel thinks they – and 16 others – should be celebrated, not lost to the mists of time. Their stories need to be told, a job he accomplishes in his new book The Making of Canada.
Koabel’s work is an amalgam of several episodes taken from his podcast series, “Nations of Canada.” The Making of Canada came out earlier this year, in May, and is an engaging, chronological exploration of 20 individuals who – while not prominent in our lore – “made a distinct contribution to the collaborative work of building a nation.” The book is published by Sutherland House, a Leaside success story that has been around since 2017, offering thoughtful non-fiction to a worldwide readership.
Koabel explained that “biography is a great way to get into history.” And the Scarborough native knows a lot about the subject. He studied history at the University of Regina and did his Ph.D. in the UK at Nottingham Trent University, with a focus on 17th-century Britain. He even taught British history for four years at his alma mater in Saskatchewan.
Why the shift to Canadian history? “I decided focusing on our own stories would open up opportunities,” he said. “The conventional narrative left me underwhelmed; delving into complex untold stories changed my mind.”
There’s the story of Charles Salaberry, a Quebecer who led troops in the War of 1812. He defeated the Americans at the Battle of Chateauguay, one fought in Lower, not Upper Canada, like the more famous Battle of Queenston Heights, for example. Koabel argues that Salaberry’s victory is significant because it was fought by outnumbered “Canadians” and Indigenous allies such as the Kahnawake Mohawk and not mostly British soldiers as was the case in Upper Canada.
Koabel also informs us that it wasn’t just during the War of 1812 that our American neighbours tried to absorb us. James Douglas, Guyana-born and of European and African heritage, fended off American incursions in what is now British Columbia in the 1850s. George Denison, a Toronto-born Loyalist, viewed the U.S. Civil War as a “challenge to Canada’s existence and an occasion to mobilize at home” and contributed to the push for Confederation, which happened in 1867, two years after the end of the Civil War.
Mary Ann Shadd helped refugees to Canada, Black Americans who travelled the Underground Railway. She founded a weekly newspaper, the Provincial Freeman, in Toronto and even married here in 1856. Her efforts helped to make a Canadian identity. “The book is about a bunch of people trying to make life better; all contributed to shaping Canada, a country that is very much a work in progress, a nation defined by, but perhaps not limited to, the wide array of traditions in its past,” said Koabel.
He has worked at Leaside Public Library for six years. For him, Leaside is a “real community. The branch is nestled in the middle of a residential area and not on a main street, which is unique in Toronto, and circulation rivals busy downtown branches – Leasiders like their books.”
Koabel’s book is well researched and freshly written; it will make a great gift for yourself or anyone you know who craves a deeper dive into Canada’s rich history.
