 |
magazine / so06
 |
September/October 2006 issue |
|
|
|
GOLD MEDAL
Mapping memories
 |
| James White (ABOVE) mapped the territorial divisions of Canada
(ABOVE LEFT) and produced the country’s first atlas. |
Among map-makers, James White was a trailblazer. A
slight man with a handlebar moustache, Canada's first
chief geographer published the inaugural edition of
the Atlas of Canada in 1906, the second national
atlas in the world (after Finland). In his 10 years
as chief geographer, White also produced a standard
base map of Canada and a 50-sheet set of topographical
maps of the settled areas of the country. This year,
the institution he launched celebrates 100 years of
depicting our nation's storied geography through cartography.
 |
| PHOTO: JOHN BURRIDGE |
The Atlas of Canada, a program of the Earth Observation
and GeoSolutions Division (EOGD) of Natural Resources
Canada in Ottawa, continues to chart Canada's ever-changing
physical, economic and social landscape. Over the past
century, it has published six editions of the national
atlas, a feat few other countries have matched, says Claire
Gosson, senior geographer at The Atlas of Canada. In honour
of its long-standing contribution to our mapping heritage, The
Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) has awarded
the organization its Gold
Medal (right).
The evolution of the atlas mirrors the country's development
and Canadian ingenuity and innovation in cartography.
The 1906 edition, for instance, focused on transportation
and communication networks to entice European investment
and immigration to Canada. Knowledge of Canada's remote
regions was still sketchy at the time, which accounts
for many missing or inaccurately rendered Arctic islands.
Rising concern for the environment and interest in socioeconomic
matters, such as the national labour force, were reflected
in the 1974 edition, which received the RCGS Gold Medal
in 1976.
In the early 1990s, digital cartography and the collection
of data through remote sensing revolutionized the way
maps were created. The internet spelled the end of the
atlas in book form; in 1994, The Atlas of Canada went
online, one of the first online atlases in the world.
On its 100th birthday, the atlas "is at a crucial
moment in its history" and is pondering its future,
says Denis Hains, director of the EOGD. Keeping up with
the staggering pace of change in information technology
is an important challenge. The organization is looking
into improving its online multimedia capabilities, says
Hains, and is considering contributions to the atlas's
content from the public, similar in concept to Wikipedia,
the web-based encyclopedia.
As for future editions of the atlas? "I don't
think there will be a new edition but, rather, a continual
update of the online atlas," says Hains.
"The online atlas of the future will be very dynamic."
— Monique Roy-Sole
top
BEHIND THE SCENES
"An exciting moment
in our history"
 |
| Gisèle
Jacob and André Préfontaine: a new
era for CG.
PHOTO:
JOHN BURRIDGE |
|
| |
It’s the beginning of a new era for Canadian Geographic.
For the past 12 years, CG has been jointly owned by The
Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) and Key
Publishers of Toronto. In July, the Society bought Key’s
interest, becoming sole owner of the magazine and websites.
"This is an exciting moment in our history," says
Gisèle Jacob, president of the RCGS. "I
am confident that Canadian Geographic will
continue to build on its many strengths."
Helping the magazine build on those strengths is André Préfontaine,
the new president of Canadian Geographic Enterprises
and publisher of CG. Préfontaine is
the former president of Transcontinental Media, the
fourth largest publishing company in Canada.
"Canadian Geographic and its new-media
extensions play a unique role in fostering a greater
understanding of the country," says Préfontaine. "I
look forward to working with the team that has made
it one of the most widely read publications in Canada."
Préfontaine takes over from John Thomson, who
has joined the team at Key.
— Monique Roy-Sole
LECTURES
The iceman speaks
 |
| PHOTO:
JERRY KOBALENKO
|
In 1984, Jerry Kobalenko (right), then 27 years old, trekked
across Labrador, hauling his gear and supplies by sled. "It
was the hardest thing I had ever done," he recalled
last year in "The iceman returns" (CG Mar/Apr
2005) after retracing his steps and beating his younger
self by seven days.
Over two decades and 7,000 kilometres, Kobalenko has
skied, hiked and snowshoed his way into Canadian history,
joining an elite circle of explorers whose passion lies
in icy landscapes.
This past summer, the Canmore, Alta.-based Kobalenko
ventured to Labrador once again, this time to research
an upcoming story on Torngat Mountains National Park
Reserve. And in September, he will share stories and
photographs from his extreme adventures during The
Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s fall lecture.
Kobalenko speaks in Halifax on Sept. 25 and in St.
John’s on Sept. 26. Visit The
Royal Canadian Geographical Society website for
more details.
READER FEEDBACK
Sticking up for the
spotted owl
Brian Payton’s story about dwindling owl habitat in
British Columbia ("Last call for the spotted owl," CG May/June
2006) inspired a group of students at Our Lady of
the Assumption School in New Lowell, Ont., to lend their
creativity to the cause.
The 18 students in Sara Benjamin’s grade five/six class
were studying a science unit on renewable and non-renewable
resources and a social science unit on democracy. After
reading Payton’s story, says Benjamin, the students
wanted to make signs and protest. "But I explained
that we are in a small town — how many people were going
to see that?" Instead, she had them draw posters
describing what they’d learned. Benjamin sent half of
the posters to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and half
to Canadian Geographic. "Please stop the
logging of the spotted owl’s habitat," Benjamin
wrote in a letter to Campbell. "Driving a species
to extinction to make a profit is an unforgivable act."
— Greg MacCormack
top
|
|
|
