My father and his Boy Scout troop - 1968.

 

 

The de Havilland saga

My father George Shaw was a professional speechwriter for Federal Members of Parliament in Ottawa, Ontario. In 1986, he wrote the following speech:

    " It does not make economic sense for the Federal Government to continue to pump hundreds of millions of dollars every year into a corporation like de Havilland, with no hope of getting it back. In the first place, it was not a sound decision on the part of the previous government to purchase de Havilland. We don't believe that our government should be in the business of manufacturing and marketing aircraft, or automobiles, or refrigerators, or anything of the like. We don't believe that it is good policy for us to do something that can be done better by the private sector. As I mentioned earlier, our philosophy is to create a strong and stable economy that would encourage and enable the private sector to provide jobs.

     Our government placed de Havilland on the market, hoping of course that a Canadian corporation, or a consortium of companies, would jump at the chance to get into the aircraft business. We would have been prepared to make it attractive for a Canadian buyer to take de Havilland off the backs of the Canadian taxpayers.  We waited, but there were no buyers. And then we received an attractive offer from the Boeing Aircraft Corporation in Seattle, Washington, to purchase de Havilland. The terms of the sale were agreeable to us, and to Boeing, and so we announced that the sale would go through.

     The Liberals and the N.D.P. lost no time in accusing us of selling out the Canadian aerospace industry, and of jeopardizing thousands of Canadian jobs. As usual, their rhetoric was no more than that - just rhetoric. De Havilland has long been a world leader in the development of short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft, but the aircraft markets world-wide have experienced hard times in recent years. De Havilland, of itself, does not have the world-wide marketing organization it needs to sell enough planes just to keep its head above water."
______________________________________________________________

Ironically, back in 1968 my Dad was praising the accomplishments of de Havilland.
A de Havilland airliner was featured on a cover of Dad's magazine "Canadian Armed Forces Review":

Canadian Armed Forces Review cover page--December 1968.

 Canadian Armed Forces Review advertisement - 1968. The de Havilland aircraft factory can be seen in the background.

Another de Havilland ad in the magazine Canadian Armed Forces Review - 1969.

     By October of 2011 there were plans by the Federal government to demolish the de Havilland factory and bunker at Downsview, Toronto. Once a federal building is privatized, the building loses all heritage protection and status ---for example, the Kingston Prison for Women was a Classified Federal Heritage Building, and many of Canada's 1,000 government lighthouses were either Recognized or Classified Federal Heritage Buildings before they were "disposed of".
 There were plans underway to obliterate the Conference Centre in Ottawa, a former train station that is directly across the street from the Chateau Laurier Hotel. During the early 1980's I was a Conference Centre employee.

The Conference Centre in Ottawa, a former Canadian National Railway train station in Ottawa.

     The Canadian Air and Space Museum is trying to save the de Havilland building, and the museum had many aviation artifacts, including a full-sized replica of the Avro Arrow.
See my blogs from the year 2013:
      "Why Downsview Park should not be selling land to developers"
and
     "Parc Downsview Park is saving Canada's military and aviation history".

My father George Shaw talking to The Right Honourable John Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of Canada from 1957 until 1963.

George Shaw and former Prime Minister of Canada John Diefenbaker.

Federal properties that may be sold in the future

1.)  The Kingston Penitentiary in Kingston, Ontario, also known as The Big House. The Pen apparently is worth $17 million dollars. Giving a federal property an appraised value is usually a kiss of death.

2.)  Canada Place in Vancouver was built using Canadian tax dollars. The Fraser Institute wants to see the landmark privatized:

Canada Place, Vancouver, created for Expo 86. (Photo from Wikipedia)

3.) All the National Parks in British Columbia. The Fraser Institute is calling for the devolution of the following National  Parks to the B.C provincial government:

Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve of Canada

Mount Revelstoke National Park of Canada

Glacier National Park of Canada

Yoho National Park of Canada - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kootenay National Park of Canada - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site.

4.) The 672-acre Blair Rifle Range and Mountain Forest (CMHC), North Vancouver, British Columbia may be privatized. As far back as 1995 there were plans to change the site:

                                               ORDER IN COUNCIL
National Housing Act - 1995-1825 - Authority to enter into a SUPPLEMENTARY AGREEMENT between the Crown, the Province of BRITISH COLUMBIA and the CANADA MORTGAGE AND HOUSING CORPORATION which provides for future changes in the active party responsible for the development of the land comprised of the former BLAIR RIFLE RANGE, located in the District of North Vancouver.

The "piece of vacant land" in North Vancouver that the Fraser Institute is probably referring to is the Blair Rifle Range, sold in the year 1967 to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Years ago, the land was worth almost $80 million dollars.

5.) The entire Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa may be sold off. In the year 1998, the National Capital Commission tried to buy the Experimental Farm for one dollar:

                                        OTTAWA CITIZEN- 24 August 1998 article by Tom Spears
     "Behind closed doors: With no one allowed to watch and listen, members of the National Capital Commission ponder making deals with Nortel, battling El Nino and buying the Central Experimental Farm for $1 dollar."

And in 1975, former head of the National Capital Commission Douglas Fullerton recommended the sale of most of the Central Experimental Farm to companies that would create 7,000 houses on the land--- see my blog "Federal properties in Canada that were sold off or demolished".

A 1974 Ottawa Journal article about the Ottawa Experimental Farm.

6.) The Fraser Institute (again) is calling for the privatization of the Crown corporation Canada Post, and the sale of all of its buildings:

The Fraser Institute wants to see the demise of Canada Post.

Federal properties in Canada that were sold off or demolished.

Railway Properties
CN Tower in Toronto is "non-federal owned".
Spadina Roundhouse in Toronto, demolished to make way for the Skydome, now the Rogers Centre.
Canadian National Railway land at Bay and Adelaide Streets in Toronto was sold to the builders of the Trump Tower.

Federal Penitenitentiaries
Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario
Saint-Vincent de Paul Penitentiary in Laval, Quebec.


Agriculture Canada properties
In 2005, the Federal Government closed four major experimental farms:
1.) The Dairy and Swine Research Centre in Kapuskasing, Ontario.
2.) The Atlantic Cool Crop Research Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland.
3.) The Cereal Research Centre in Winniprg, Manitoba.
4.) The Crop and Livestock Research Centre in Nappan, Nova Scotia.

The Vegreville Experimental Farm near Edmonton, Alberta.
Upton Farm in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
The Sir John Carling Building on the grounds of the Ottawa Experimental Farm was demolished.

Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa - in 1988, 91 acres of Farm land were privatized, the Clyde/Merivale lands.

A front page article from the Ottawa Journal newspaper in 1975. Former  National Capital Commission Chairman Douglas Fullerton wanted to see most of the Experimental Farm farm sold to developers, to build 7,000 houses. Agriculture Ministers Bud Olson and Eugene Whelan refused to sell even one acre of the Farm.

Museums - the former War Museum on Sussex Drive in Ottawa.


Dominion Buildings
 Higginbotham Building, a Lethbridge, Alberta landmark.
Dominion Public Building, 1 Front Street West, Toronto, sold to the same developer who is ruining the Chateau Laurier Hotel.
Charlottetown Dominion Building - 17 Queen Street.

Canada Mortgage and Housing properties
Kingstonian Apartments, 780 Division Street, Kingston, Ontario.
Regent Park, Toronto.

Canada Post properties
A mail sorting plant on Ottawa Street in Montreal.
Canada Post Headquarters at 40 Bay Street in Toronto is now the Air Canada Centre.
Postal Station K, Yonge and Eglington Streets in Toronto.

Canadian National Railway Hotels

Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa
Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal
Jasper Park Lodge in Alberta
Macdonald Hotel in Edmonton
Hotel Vancouver

Veteran's Affairs
Senneville Lodge in Senneville, Quebec.
After World War 11 the Department of Veteran's Affairs acquired a building in Kingston, Ontario, at 27 Princess Street. But the property was declared "surplus" in 1957 and faced demolition. Thankfully, the landmark was acquired by new owners and became the "Smith Robinson Building". Don Cherry suggested that the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame could be relocated here, Don Cherry is a Kingstonian.


Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Jarvis Street Complex and parking lot in Toronto, Ontario.
The Robson Street CBC land in Vancouver. Li ka Shing built high-rise condos, TV Tower 1 and TV Tower 2 on the land.
Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal - The CBC will rent office space from the new owner of Maison Radio-Canada, and 2,200 new housing units will be constructed on the land.

The CBOT Building at 250 Lanark Street in Westboro, Ottawa was divested in 2002.

Dominion Observatories
The Gonzales Observatory in Victoria, British Columbia is now owned by the Capital Regional District in Victoria, B.C.

Natural Resources Canada
The CANMET Laboratory in the Ottawa Booth Street Complex has been transferred to McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.

Tunney's Pasture in Ottawa
The Atomic Energy of Canada property - gone.
the Eldorado Nuclear property - gone.

Early 1970's photo taken by my Dad, of a Tunney's Pasture building.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada
In the year 2010, Fisheries and Oceans Canada "disposed of" its entire portfolio of lighthouses, 1000, including Peggy's Cove:

Armouries
The Windsor, Ontario armoury.
A condo developer bought Wallis House in Ottawa; the armoury was built in 1873.

DND
CFB Downsview, Toronto
CFB Rockcliffe, Ottawa
CFB Edmonton (Griesbach Barracks)
CFB Calgary (Currie Barracks)
CFB Summerside, Prince Edward Island - a massive military base, sold for a dollar to a profit-making company... see the book "On the Take" by Stevie Cameron.
CFB Winnipeg (Kapyong Barracks)
Shannon Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
CFB Jericho Beach in West Vancouver, British Columbia
CFB Moncton in New Brunswick
CFB London, Ontario (Wolseley Barracks)
CFB Shearwater, Nova Scotia - A few years ago the base was returned to the government.
CFS Albro Lake in Dartmouth
CFB Chilliwack, British Columbia
CFB Pleasantville in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Formerly known as Fort Pepperrell.
CFS Falconbridge Ontario -( Order in Council - October 23, 1986 - The Surplus Crown Assets Act- The former CFS Falconbridge. Authority for the Minister to sell 259 ha of land to General Leaseholds Ltd.)


National Capital Commission
According to the GREENBELT MASTER PLAN, CONSULTATION REPORT - Phase 1 - Step C - Land Use Concept-Prepared for the National Capital Commission, January 2012--- the NCC has big plans for Greenbelt land in Ottawa:
1.) Possible sale of Parcel 2, the site at the southwest corner of West Hunt Club Road and Woodroffe Avenue, with buildings.

     "As of March 31, 1998, the Greenbelt Research Farm, which covers 1,200 hectares of land bordered by Hunt Club Road, Woodroffe Avenue, Fallowfield Road and Greenbank Road, ceased to function as an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Centre. This was announced in the 1995 Federal Budget".

2.) The potential removal of Greenbelt designation from the Nepean Sportsplex.

3.) Possible sale of Parcel 4, an isolated parcel on the west side of Highway 417, which is a mixture of idle field and small trees.

4.) Possible sale of Parcel 3, isolated lands east of Conroy Road and south of Hunt Club with small trees.

(In my opinion, the National Capital Commission does not have the right to sell ANY Greenbelt land. Jacques Greber created the Greenbelt in Ottawa as a living memorial to Canada's war dead.)

The Conroy Pit in Ottawa may also be redeveloped----"The Conroy Pit (110 ha.) is an abandoned sand pit, with recreational and development potential.".(See "NCC - Greenbelt Master Plan Background" 1996 - pdf Page 4.)

A Federal Government committee was  critical of National Capital Commission real estate sales, and made several recommendations, including:
RECOMMENDATION 1
We recommend that the National Capital Commission develop a meaningful consultation process which would apply to either the disposal or change of use of property held by the Commission.

RECOMMENDATION 2 
We recommend that the Treasury Board rescind its 1991 Real Asset Management Funding Strategy as it relates to the National Capital Commission and that monies received by the Commission for the sale of surplus assets be directed to the Consolidated Revenue Fund as these were assets held for all Canadians.
(See: "The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance" - Nineteenth Report: Chairman Lowell Murray, June 13, 2003.)
(Note: Instead of depositing money from the sale of real estate into the National Treasury, the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the National Capital Commission is permitted to keep all the money from the sale of federal properties---ASC, creator of this blog, savecfbrockcliffe).

The LeBreton Flats, 130 acres of prime waterfront land in Ottawa, were owned by the National Capital Commission. People had their homes expropriated to create LeBreton Flats, just as thousands of individuals had land expropriated by the NCC to create the Greenbelt. In both cases, property was sold, and continues to be sold to real estate developers. What a scandal. The Greenbelt land should be untouchable, the Greenbelt was created by city planner Jacquer Greber as a memorial to Canadians who died in foreign battles.

The National Capital Commission sold the Mackenzie King Bridge, the Laurier Avenue Bridge and 264 hectares of land to the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton---1995.

Diefenbunkers
The Diefenbunkers were nuclear fallout shelters built by the Canadian government during the 1950's and 1960's. About 20 years ago, the Penhold, Alberta fallout shelter was demolished after an outlaw motorcycle gang, either the Satan's Choice or the Hell's Angels, expressed interest in buying it.

The Penhold, Alberta nuclear fallout shelter.

Shopping Malls

Rideau Centre Shopping Mall---1983. The mall is no longer Crown property.

Health Canada

The Health Canada laboratory located at 510 Lagimodiere Boulevard in Winnipeg, Manitoba is being sold for $9 million dollars. The building is only 30 years old, and is right next to the Royal Canadian Mint.

Vancouver's Battle of Jericho 2013.

Vancouver's Battle of Jericho 2013

Neighboring communities are concerned about densification, and the potential loss of heritage buildings and trees at CFB Jericho.

The former military base is located on 52 acres of prime real estate in West Vancouver.
 The land may be sold to Hong Kong developer Li ka Shing or to Credit Suisse, according to a Global News video "What will happen to the lucrative and highly-desired Jericho lands?" by Geoff Hastings, August 15, 2013.

Li ka Shing built high-rise condominiums on Expo 86 land in Vancouver; on the Toronto waterfront and on CBC property on Robson Street. The high-rise towers that line the waterfront in Toronto are known as "Canada's Great Wall of China".

Dream on, City Councillors, if you think developers care one iota about your vision for the Jericho property. Forget about the heritage buildings and the trees being saved, or the creation of a commemorative park. Developers do not CARE about Canada's military history, so get a grip and realize who, and what you are dealing with.

West Vancouver is one of the wealthiest municipalities in Canada, and Millionaire's Mile is located in nearby Point Grey. Former British Columbia premier and real estate man Gordon Campbell, and billionaire Jimmy Pattison live in Point Grey.
 During the early 1970's Terry Jacks wrote "Concrete Sea", to describe how Vancouver has changed, and not for the better:

      No one is meant to be
      Livin' here in a concrete sea
      Everyone including me
      Wishes he could be set free.
     (By Terry Jacks and the Poppy Family, who were based in Vancouver.)

( I wrote this blog in August of 2013.)

Hostelling International re purposes a Jericho Beach military building and the Ottawa jail on Nicholas Street in Ottawa:

The former CFB Jericho Beach army barracks, now a hostel.

Two more Dominion Buildings were "disposed of" by the Federal Government of Canada

  Once a federal building is privatized, the structure loses all heritage designation. If you want proof of that, look at the battle to save the de Havilland Aircraft buildings in Downsview, Toronto. Federal heritage laws supersede provincial and municipal heritage laws. The brand new owner of the Dominion Public Building, Larco Investments,can tear down this landmark;convert it into thousands of condominiums, or build towers on top of it..and nothing can stop Larco Investments:

GONE

The Dominion Public Building at 1 Front Street West in Toronto. Canadians owned this landmark until the year 2018.

 Thousands of CNR and CPR railways stations were bulldozed, re purposed or left to rot; the Laval Penitentiary in Quebec is deteriorating; aircraft hangars at CFB Rockcliffe in Ottawa were demolished. Union Station in Toronto is being "selectively demolished".

You failed miserably, you so-called guardians of Canada's architectural history in Toronto.
You did not save the Summerhill Train Station ---if the Liquor Control Board of Ontario is privatized, Summerhill Station will be transferred to the Ontario Realty Corporation. The ORC can then bulldoze the magnificent building, modeled after the Campanile di San Marco in Saint Mark's Square, Venice, Italy:

The Summerhill Train Station in Toronto, Ontario; now owned by the LCBO.

You did not save the Downsview buildings in Toronto:

When Canadians finally wake up, they will discover that all of Canada's national properties were sold off, privatized. Even the CN Tower--- Walt Disney Corporation and Viacom wanted to buy the CN Tower about ten years ago. As I mentioned before, 91 acres of Experimental Farm Land in Ottawa were privatized in 1988; a project called "Central Park" was built on the Clyde/Merivale lands.
The powerful Fraser Institute is calling for the denationalization of  Canadian government properties in the province of British Columbia---Canada Post, Canada Mortgage and Housing, Veterans Affairs...And the Fraser Institute wants to see the devolution of all the National Parks in British Columbia to the provincial government of BC.

GONE

The Higginbotham Building in Lethbridge, Alberta. During the 1970's, the Higginbotham Building housed Canada Post, Manpower, Canada Customs and other federal government agencies and departments. In 1973, my Mother received a federal grant, a Local Initiatives Project (LIP) grant. Her project, CONCERN, provided free services to elderly and disabled Lethbridge citizens---the employees mowed lawns, drove people to medical appointments, painted houses, etc.

My Mother rented an office in the Professional Building, right next door to the Higginbotham Dominion Building; and I accompanied her when she selected furniture and equipment from the Higginbotham warehouse.

I am pictured second from the left at the Higginbotham Building loading dock, 1973.

GONE

The Avro Canada Flying Saucer

The Avrocar, a top-secret man-made flying saucer .


The following article appeared in a magazine called "Canadian Armed Forces and Procurement Review", created and edited by my father George Shaw:

 CN TELTEX OTT
UNITEDAIR MTL

7/19/68  Montreal - What happened to the only flying saucer in captivity? There is a brief glimpse of the saucer, flying about four feet off the ground, in a film devoted to Canadian aviation history in the "Man the Producer" pavilion of MAN AND HIS WORLD.  The exhibition, Expo's encore, continues until October 14.

     The saucer that actually flew was the last project of the A.V. Roe Company of Toronto, the builders of the famous Avro Arrow Jet Interceptor.  The saucer was an experimental step in the development of vertical takeoff and landing craft.

     In research for the film, it was discovered that the Avro Flying Saucer is now a museum piece. It is located in a museum at Fort Eustis, Virginia.

     The flight of the saucer is one scene in the 12-minute film, which is part of the United Aircraft of Canada Limited exhibit in the "Man and His Progress" section of the theme pavilion.

     The exhibit, marking the 40th anniversary of the company in Canada, depicts the development of aviation in Canada; two famous engines are on display: The PT6 Gas Turbine (applications such as turbotrains, turbocars at the Indianapolis 500; more than 20 types of aircraft) and the R-1340 radial piston.

     Other scenes in the film include kite experiments at the turn of the century by Alexander Graham Bell in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. It was there that J.A.D. McCurdy learned to fly and made the first flight in the British Commonwealth of a heavier-than-air machine in 1909. The film also shows the re-enactment of that epic flight on its 50th anniversary in 1959.

     The film was produced by United Aircraft of Canada largely from rare footage collected by C.H. (Punch) Dickins, Pioneer Canadian pilot and retired Vice-President of de Havilland Aircraft of Canada.  Mr. Dickens collected the footage as a centennial project and as a contribution to the preservation of aviation history.

     Some segments of the film, shown continuously at the Exhibition, are taken from early documentaries.  The clips include the first flight by the Wright brothers; Igor Sikorsky's four-engined aircaft built in Russia; and Charles Lindbergh's triumphant arrival in Paris.

Article by Norman R. Avery

(Note: I have a reel-to-reel, 7 minute Lockheed California film from the 1960's, that my Dad gave me. The movie has to be formatted differently, so that I can post it on this blog.)

My mother and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Easton Manor was my grandfather's home, from the late 1930's until 1962. The Manor had underground tunnels that were created to hide booze during prohibition. 

     During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, my Mother had a primal fear that Ottawa and Smiths Falls would be decimated by nuclear explosions: "Washington D.C. will be hit first, and then Ottawa, because it's the capital of Canada" she reasoned.
     My little brothers, nine and ten years old respectively, dug "fallout shelters" in the tiny back yard. My Dad sold fallout shelters on his Ottawa television program "The House Detective". The Diefenbunker nuclear shelters were built for the Prime Minister of Canada and government officials. One Diefenbunker is located in Carp, Ontario, it is a tourist attraction.

     In a department store, Mom dropped to her knees and started praying, during a power failure. A stranger tapped her on a shoulder and said "The lights will be back on in a few minutes."
The massive power failure that later affected Ontario, New York State and New England on November 9, 1965 was also an ominous event, in her mind. Maybe she was right:

DIARY - November 9, 1965 - There was an immense power failure as I was walking to Custer's, but I didn't know it at the time. Walter Cronkite couldn't be reached for the news, so Roger Mudd substituted in a special report. This event reminds me of the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still"

For years afterward, I had nightmares about cataclysmic events that would destroy the planet. Our safe haven, The Farm in Easton's Corner's, had been "signed away" by my confused grandmother, in 1962. My grandmother,mother and her half a dozen children were left homeless overnight when the new owner of the Manor told us to "Get off my property." I learned that Mrs. Hall created a nursing home called "The Stepping Stone" and placed bathrooms in every one of the bedrooms. All the rooms had been given names, and were decorated accordingly ---the Blue Room, the Yellow Room, the Library.


During the 1960's my mother was constantly on edge, almost paralyzed by fear - even commercials about "The Emergency Broadcast System" would stop her in her tracks, until the announcer said "This is only a test."
DIARY - January 9, 1966 - Dreamt that a nuclear bomb on a ship exploded accidentally, and the world ended. It was terrifying and I woke up early, shaking. A massive snowstorm paralyzed the East Coast.

March 25, 1966 - It snowed heavily again. For lunch I had chocolate cake and potato chips. Saw the movie "On the Beach" with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. At the end of the movie (and the world) Waltzing Matilda was playing as Ava stood bravely on the shore. I burst into tears.

June 29, 1966 - Dreamt I was in a nuclear war. I went seeking shelter with my possessions - my diary, blanket and a pen. Audie Murphy was also in the shelter.

July 12, 1966 - Just as I suspected, the big storm we had for five minutes was a tornado. It's a dreadful thought, but I think all the missiles and bombs have something to do with this weather.

August 10, 1966 - Dreamt there was an attack on Alaska and South America. An American newscaster said "Canadians may not be used to this" and we all crowded into the landlady's apartment and breathed into World War 1 gas masks.

At the Carnegie Public Library I could escape from my Mother's paranoia; from the transients that my brothers picked up at the train station ---one boy spiked by Coca-Cola drink with an hallucinogenic drug, either mescaline or LSD. My mother was on the verge of taking me to the hospital for injections of Valium or another sedative to "bring me down".  The library was a haven, from the marijuana and cigarette smoke...
I could escape from rock music, especially Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf and the Rolling Stones. Rock music is used as a form of psychological torture by the American Central Intelligence Agency. Music by Van Halen and my cousin Bruce Cockburn (If I Had a Rocket Launcher) was employed to drive Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega out of a sanctuary.
My Mother convinced the boys that they had musical talent, that "it runs in the family". "One day, you'll play at the Mariposa Folk Festival, the Riverboat Inn and the Whiskey a Go Go" she told them.
I'm surprised that she did not include Madison Square Garden, where the Leningrad Cowboys wanted to perform.

 Bruce Cockburn visited us in 1969, when my family and I lived in a shack in Brockville, Ontario. My brother Leslie tried to open his guitar case to look at his guitar, but Bruce Cockburn told Leslie to "get your hands off my guitar".
Mom compared my brothers to Ethel Kennedy's sons Joseph and Robert Kennedy Jr., who were getting a lot of publicity for marijuana possession and careless driving. The Kennedy's were America's aristocrats, comparable to the royal family in England.
"The boys" wanted to convert our apartment in Smiths Falls into a drop-in centre, or a coffee house. They would charge admission, and sell instant coffee and Betty Crocker Devil's Food Cake or Angel Food Cake. Mom and I traveled on a Canadian National Railways train to rescue one brother from Rochdale College in Toronto. We also visited them at the Bowmanville Training School for Boys (a German P.O.W. camp during World War 11). The Ontario Realty Corporation, a provincial Crown corporation that privatizes government buildings, owned Bowmanville.

Our next-door neighbour's home in Brockville.