O Canada! 1955

Point-Counterpoint: Close Encounters In this issue of Point-Counterpointwe offer you two choice "Notes and Documents" by two loyal fellow-travellers, both former JCS/REC board members. Pierre Savard revisits the 1950s - a time when it was still possible to believe in the global atomic age as one of present peace and future plenty through the prism ofthe 1955 Eighth World Jamboree of Scouts. Despite Hurricane Connie, a very large patch of chemically resistant poison ivy, and newsworthy linguistic scandals, 11,000 boy scouts from over 60 countries (one was a young Canadian named Pierre) were successfully accommodated by the Niagara Parks Commission, from whence they paraded, parleyed and perused sites as diverse as Queenston Heights and the Canadian National Exhibition. Media coverage and official Jamboree documents reveal prevailing Canadian notions of "Canada and the World." On a different note, ClaraThomas serves up the contrast between the perspectives of the mid-1970s and mid-1980s through her involvement in and memory of the rare but historicencounters between writers Margaret Laurence and Chinua Achebe. The vibrant sense ofcultural renewal in 1970s Canada is seen to give way to the more modest hopes of the 1980s for cross-cultural solidarity. The dream ofgreater dignity, of meaningful outcomes to the economic, political and spiritual struggles ofThird World peoples, remained a constant in the friendship binding these two writers. Professor Thomas refers to an historic retirement dinner party bringing together Margaret Laurence and Chinua Achebe; Northrop Fryeand Adele Wiseman were also amongst those present that evening, while I was fortunate enough to attend as one of the euphoric if terrified graduate students offering personal testimonials to Clara. I seem to recall that she wore herSaraBinks hat for her parting speech (a colourful first-hand history of York University). The occasion was a memorable one. Journal ofCanadian Studies Volo 32, No. 1(Printemps1997 Spring) M.L. 0 Canada! 19551 II y a quarante et un ans se tenait, aNiagaraon -the-Lake, le huitieme jamboree des scouts du monde. Ce rassemblement de plus de 11,000 participants venus de quelque 70 pays constitue une page memorable de l'histoire du mouvement scout tant au plan international qu'au plan canadien. Ce n'est pas l' historique de cette rencontre qui nous interesse ici mais plutot Jes representations du Canada que I'evenement a provoquees. Soit, d'une part, !'image que les etrangers ont retenue du Canada et, d'autre part, !' image que les Canadiens ont projetee de leur pays. Pour retracer ces representations, nous avons puise essentiellement dans la presse ecrite, qui fait largement echo au jamboree entre Jes 18 et 28 aoOt 1955 et ce, tant par le texte que par la photographie. Nous avons aussi ecoute Jes transcriptions d'emissions de radio et de television conservees en archives : en general, elles confirment Jes reportages des journaux. Le traitement de !'information difiere sur certains points entre medias anglophones et francophones mais, dans !'ensemble, !'information est convergente. Avant de nous attacher a!'image du Canada, il est utile de rappeler Jes principaux aspects du huitieme jamboree scout mondial de Niagara-on-the-Lake en aoOt 1955. Legrand rassemblement international a lieu dix ans apeineapres une Guerre mondiale dont plusieurs etats vivent encore les sequelles, en pleine Guerre froide et a I'epoque oii Jes mouvements de decolonisation progressent inexorablement dans Jes paysen developpement. Au passage, on eve>quera I'absence de liberte politiquedans bien des pays. LeStandarddeSt. Catharines, sous le titre «He Can't Speak of His Homeland», presente un scout couvert par l'anonymat,«a true son of a proud nation and native of a city of whose beauty he could rightfully speak with pride.» Parmi Jes scouts venus du Quebec, on souligne la presence d'une troupe de Neo-Canadiens formee de Lithuaniens en exil. En 1955, Ja France sort des difficultes d'Indochine pour faire face a!'insurrection algerienne. Au jamboree, la delegation 153 fran\:aise offre un front uni que Jes meclias se plaisent acelebrer. Decrivant le spectacle presente par le contingent de la France, Bill Boss de la Presse canadienne commente : «Blancs et noirs, chretiens, juifs et musulmans ont doom~ un magnifiqueexemple de fraternite scoute (...)A Jes regarder participer conjointement...