Old Town Lunenburg, where all streets are straight and all corners square, is reputedly the best surviving example of a British colonial policy of creating new settlements by imposing a pre-designed “model town” plan on various trackts of wilderness that the British sovereign chose to “civilize” with settlements.

Apparently, at least 21 North American settlements, including Cornwall and Cornwall and Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario to Savannah, Georgia, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were constructed in such a manner. Of all of these Lunenburg is the best preserved. All the ones I have seen are lovely.

The grid pattern is remarkably well preserved. Many of the homes and other buildings date back to the 18^th century. The town was founded in 1753 by the British.  After this a permanent settlement was established by Swiss and German-speaking Protestants who found the strict grid systems congenial. They are not called Square heads for nothing.

In the Treaty of Paris in 1763in which ended the 7 Years War between Britain and France and through which Britain gained control over much of North America, though much of it not for long. But for at least 100 years before that the Acadians and Mi’kmaq shared occupation of this area.  The Indigenous people harvested clams in the area.

I love doors

I don’t know what the message is here, but I’m sure it’s profound.

Some good advice.

If you have to cry, a lighthouse is a good place to go.

Lunenburg is a great place to unwind.

Always good advice

During our visit to eastern Canada in 2025, Christiane and I visited the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier at Pier 21. We learned a lot including a fine display of artifacts about slavery in Canada.

Many people think the only way Canada was connected to slavery was through the underground railway where many slaves from America escaped their brutal conditions and came to Canada. Although that happened, the story is more complex than that.

I remember a few years ago when I listened to a very interesting story about  slavery in Canada on CBC radio.  By coincidence, when the show was recorded, the CBC crew encountered former Prime Minister Paul Martin in Halifax where they were recording the show and the interviewer asked him a few questions about slavery in Canada, and he proudly mentioned how Canadians had protected slaves as part of the underground railway in his former riding of Windsor.  When questioned, it became obvious, that he was not aware of slavery in Canada. He just remembered the good parts. Canada has certainly not emphasized this dark side of its history.  American conservatives are not the only ones who try to ignore their past except for the glorious aspects of their history. At least Canadians are not, to my knowledge at least, trying to hide those unsavory aspects.

First, slavery was practiced in Canada for over 2 centuries. It was abolished by a statute of Britain in 1834. Only after that was the stage set for Canada to become a safe haven for escaping slaves.   Until then, often slavery was just as brutal in Canada as it was in the United States. In fact, there are cases where slaves in Canada escaped from their masters and fled to the United States.

40 years earlier Upper Canada (before it was Ontario) abolished the importation of new slaves, but it did not ban slavery. However many northern states abolished slavery before Canada did.

Even after slavery was abolished, many survivors of slavery had a very hard time finding jobs and often could only find jobs that had been established during slavery such as nannies to white families.

Slavery left a profound legacy throughout the Americas, including Canada. Enslaved black people and their descendants had powerful influences on culture in Canada, as well as sports, science, the Humanities, food, and agriculture and much more. Yet slavery devastated the people and robbed Africa of many of its people. Canada was also home to much anti-black racism that has left a strong residue of disproportionate rates of incarceration of black people as well as income disparities, unequal access to health care, and higher rates of diabetes.

Through their unpaid labour, black slaves made enormous contributions to the economy of Canada. As the Museum made clear, “Under the cruel conditions of slavery, enslaved Black people tried as much as possible to keep their families together—an almost impossible feat as family members were regularly sold, bequeathed in wills, and even given away as bridal gifts.”

A fact that always astonishes me, is the fact that slave owners were compensated for the loss of their property when slavery was abolished, but no compensation was ever paid to the blacks or their descendants. There is a growing movement of people who are advocating that descendants of enslaved black people be paid reparations as some compensation for those losses..

Many black people challenged their enslavements by participating in slave rebellions or escaping. Some even managed to successfully dispute their enslavement in court proceedings.

Some of the more moving things we saw in the display at the museum in Halifax, were actual copies of advertisements published in local newspapers for advertisements for the proposed sale of slaves. There were also advertisements seeking assistance for the return of their slaves. Even in Canada.

Slaves were sold at auctions in warehouse, markets, and wharfs, often alongside fruits and vegetables. This was all part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade that brought about 15 million Africans forcibly against their will to North and South America. We learned that the West Indies slave trade was Atlantic Canada’s most financially rewarding commercial activity until the 1830s. Many Canadians were upset when such activities became illegal thanks to the British Parliament. We must remember that all the colonies that joined together to form Canada in 1967 had a history of slavery.

New France began in Nova Scotia in 1605 and Quebec in 1608 and with came slavery. The first known slave in Canada was a 9-year-old boy Olivier Le Jeune  in 1629. He got his first name his owner and his last name from the priest who baptized him. He remained a slave for his entire life.

By the end of the 1600s the majority of black people that came to Canada, came as slaves, and this continued for 2 centuries.

According to the museum, slavery was no more humane in Canada than it was in the United States.  Slaveholders assaulted and killed enslaved people in Canada often without legal consequences and regularly stole black children from their parents and sold them as property.  The Museum had some gruesome photos of slaves with backs covered in scars from lashings they had received.

Enslavers came from all walks of life and levels of society: wealthy people, government workers, military and religious organizations,  merchants, widows, housewives, and nuns and priests.

During both the French and British periods of administration in Canada, ownership of slaves was seen by many as a way to deal with labour shortages.  While at times indigenous people were also enslaved, colonial leaders preferred black slaves. Naturally, racist ideas were used to justify such actions. When Halifax was founded in 1749 13% of its population was enslaved. Over 2,000 black slaves arrived in Canada with the United Empire loyalists.

The uncomfortable fact is that the Canadian economy, like American economy, benefited enormously from slavery while their societies were poisoned by it.

The history of Kejimkujik National Park including the deep ancient history is very interesting.

380 million years ago the continents of Africa and North America moved together closing the Atlantic Ocean in the process. This collision of continents baked and bent the layers of silt and shale into the metamorphic rock that we call shale.

Later the continents shifted again and the continents separated once more leaving some African slate as part of what we now call Nova Scotia.

The Kejimkujik region was formed by many glaciations when at different times massive continental glaciers covered much of North America. This occurred many times over the past 3 million years. The last glaciation ended about 12,000 years ago when the great ice sheet retreated.

The first people to settle here, so far as can be told, were the Mi’kmaq.

In the Mi’kmaq language the Kejimkujik refers to “tired muscles,” probably a reference to the great efforts it takes to canoe through the waterways of the region. Others say the word refers to “swollen waters’ or “attempting to escape.” Some Mi’kmaw knowledge holders say that the name is derived from the Mi’kmaq word Kejimkuji’jk, which means “little fairies”.

Historically in winter, the Mi’kmaq travelled up the lovely Mersey River which leads to the centre of the peninsula. Historically, the Mi’kmaq travelled up the Mersey River (inland) to the area around Kejimkujik Lake, where they lived and hunted during the fall and winter months.

At the same time caribou migrated inland at that time of year but I think they were extirpated from the region after Europeans arrived. They were historically an important source of food for the Mi’kmaq together with eels. In the park there is evidence of eel weirs that are thousands of years old.

There are also a number of petroglyph sites in the park but we did not see them on our visit. The petroglyphs are currently protected sites because of their cultural and historical value.

After European settlement in the region, the Mi’kmaq living that still lived here found it very hard to maintain their traditional life style. Many of them were forced off of their hunting grounds when the Europeans cleared them of tree cover. The Europeans of course were more interested in farming and logging.

After they were forced off their traditional lands many tried to take up farming themselves as well as acting as fishing guides for Europeans. Even though Mi’Kmaq people don’t live here anymore they still consider it their spiritual home.

Albert Einstein, as usual said it smart:   “Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.”