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THE DEVELOPMENT AND STATUS OF GEOGRAPHY IN UNIVERSITIES AND GOVERNMENT IN CANADA.* J. Lewis Robinson University of British Columbia, Vancouver As the first Canadian president of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers this would seem to be the proper occasion on which to discuss the place of geography in Canada. In doing so I have two purposes in mind. First, is that of describing what geographers are doing in Canada and of describing their progress in the establishment of the subject in the universities and several branches of government. Second, is the opportunity to offer this summary as a comparison with the development and utilization of geography in the various parts of western United States. While I pay tribute to these men as pioneers in the development of geography in Canada, I am more interested in their work, and the trends which they have established , than in the names themselves. The emergence of geography on a professional level is a recent development in Canada. Although geography was taught in the primary and secondary schools in the last century, and geography text-books have been written by Canadian teachers, it has been relatively recently that geography was introduced into the Arts programs of Universities. There is not space to discuss the place of geography in the secondary and primary school systems for that is a separate study in itself. It is apparent, however, that geography is generally missing or poorly taught in the schools in proportion to the amount and kind of geography given in the various provincial universities . In this respect Canadian education has been far behind developments in European universities, and also behind the United States which recognized the importance of geography early in this century. Much of the pattern and progress of Canadian geography has followed, on a smaller scale, that of geography in the United States. Origins in the Universities The first record of a geography course in a Canadian university is that listed in the curriculum of the University of New Brunswick at its inauguration in 1800. The course covered the general field of earth or physical science. When the course disappeared, and what influences or effects it may have had are not known. The province of Quebec has been a pioneer and leader in modern Canadian geography. This is chiefly because education in French-Canada is modelled after the European system where geography is a normal part of a general education. The first recorded chair of geography was at the School of Higher Commercial Studies (affiliated with the University of Montreal) in 1910. The first professor was Henry Laurey». In the next decade the staff was expanded but geography never reached the status of a department. Throughout the following years geography remained as an important part of the commercial training of these students who went out into the Quebec business world. Benoit Brouillette, one of the modern leaders of geography in French-Canada, came to the School of Higher Commercial Studies in 1931. Last summer Dr. Brouillette was in charge of the UNESCO Seminar on the "Teaching of Geography, " held in Montreal. At present he is on loan to UNESCO in Paris. All of the early Quebec»Presidential address of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, Los Angeles, California, June 21, 1951. 4 Yearbook of the AssociationVOL. 13 geographers were trained in established departments of geography in universities in France before returning to teaching in Canada. The influence of the classical French geographers who were world leaders in the early part of this century has been strong in the development of geography in Quebec. Geography expanded into the other faculties of the University of Montreal after World War I. (The Quebec university system is different from that of the rest of Canada. Most of the faculties, although affiliated with the University of Montreal, are virtually self-contained and separate colleges.) Courses were established in the Faculty of Social Sciences in 1921. The first professor was French-trained Emile Miller, who had written several books on physical and human geography. A promising career ended prematurely when he drowned in 1926. Courses were continued by a famous visiting French professor, the human geographer JeanBruhnes, who gave lectures...

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