Maps of Canada show how boundaries have changed

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/07/2017 (3075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As we celebrate Canada’s 150 birthday, it was fitting that Charleswood Historical Society’s ninth Heritage Lecture Series focused on Canada’s history.  

At The Changing of Boundaries in Canada from Beginning til Now, Steven Fletcher (former MP for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia, now the MLA for Assiniboia) shared his passion for maps of Canada and some interesting historical facts about how the boundaries of Canada have changed over the past 300 or so years. 

Fletcher, who has been collecting maps since his youth — initially as a way to plan his canoe routes during the summer months — has accumulated hundreds of maps of Canada, some original and some copies.    

Many of the maps he has collected were made available during his tenure in parliament. A little known fact, he pointed out, is that elected officials are entitled to 50 maps a year, and having been a sitting MP for 11 years, he now has 550 maps in addition to those he had accumulated during his lifetime. 

Fletcher also collects antiquarian maps and book about Canada and he provides public access to anyone interested in the maps, which he keeps in tubes in his constituency office.  

As he reviewed some of the maps he brought to his presentation — one of which dated back to 1740 — he emphasized that, contrary to popular belief, our nation’s boundaries were not static.

While it’s impossible to provide an explanations of how and why the boundaries of Canada have changed in the space of this column, there were some interesting bits that I wanted to share.

The first is that the province we now know as Manitoba was part of a district called Assiniboia and Saskatchewan.  

Another was his description of the 49th parallel, the longest international border between two countries. 

The irregularities of 49th parallel create some anomalies, he noted. For example, Port Roberts, which is only 30 km south of Vancouver, is part of the United States and inhabitants of this small community (who are Washingtonians) have to cross two international borders to reach the rest of the state. Another is Buffalo Point, a resort community on southern Lake of the Woods, which is on the border at Warroad, Minn., but which ended up on the Canadian side.
 
While the boundaries of Canada have changed throughout the country’s history, Fletcher pointed out that all of these changes came peacefully.

And that is just one of the many reasons we are so proud of Canada and its 150 years of history. 

For more info about upcoming event, go to www.charleswoodhistoricalsociety.ca

Donna Minkus is a community correspondent for Charleswood.