Curious Canadian History

In this CCH special episode, we bring together two expert historians for a gripping confrontation of perspectives, examining—and challenging—the significance of two defining Canadian battles of the Second World War: D-Day Phase One and the Battle of the Scheldt. These were not just moments on a battlefield, but crucibles of chaos, courage, and consequence, where the fate of thousands—and the trajectory of the war itself—hung in the balance. Each historian steps forward to argue why their battle stands as a pivotal moment in Canada’s military history, setting the stage for a compelling and thought-provoking exchange.

ALEXANDER FITZGERALD-BLACK is the Executive Director at the Juno Beach Centre Association, the charity that owns Canada’s Second World War Museum on the D-Day landing beaches in Normandy, France. He holds a Master of Arts in Military History (University of New Brunswick) and a Master of Arts in Public History (Western University). His first book, Eagles over Husky: The Allied Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign, 14 May to 17 August 1943, was published in 2018. He has co-written multiple exhibitions at the Juno Beach Centre, including From Dieppe to Juno: The 80th Anniversary of the Dieppe Raid and Rising to the Challenge: The RCAF in the Second World War. Most recently, his book chapter “The Air Support Rollercoaster: Canadian Soldiers’ Morale in Normandy” was published by the Naval Institute Press in Airpower and the Normandy Campaign, edited by Mike Bechthold.

Megan Hamilton is a Canadian historian currently studying in the UK. She's in the final year of her PhD at King’s College London, which is being completed in partnership with the Imperial War Museum. Her research studies Second World War army training across the British Empire, examining how the Imperial armies trained and learned together. She was part of the team that put together the IWM’s current temporary exhibit, 'Emergency Exits: The Fight for Independence in Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus,’ which is open in London until the end of March 2026. She is a regional director for the Second World War Research Group and a graduate teaching assistant at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

You can donate to the Juno Beach Centre's fundraising drive for a Juno Beach Memorial at the below link!

https://campaign.junobeach.org/donate/monument
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In the heart of the Red River Settlement, a vibrant Métis community forged a distinct identity shaped by kinship, trade, and resistance. The latter half of the 19th century was a time of profound upheaval, when the Red River Resistance challenged Canadian expansion into the region. Yet history is not always what it seems. Alongside real leaders and lived struggles, one figure—long woven into the story—was never real at all. How did a ghost of the past become accepted as truth? And what does that reveal about the way history is remembered, recorded, and retold? In this episode we separate myth from memory on the Red River.

Derrick M. Nault is an assistant professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Winnipeg and a citizen of the Red River Métis Nation. His research examines Métis history, with particular attention to how kinship networks, political resistance, and collective memory have shaped Métis identity over time. This focus is grounded in his family’s long-standing involvement in Métis political and cultural life. His direct ancestors include André Nault, Louis Riel’s cousin and a captain during the Red River Resistance; Jean-Baptiste Parenteau and Damase Carrière, councillors in Riel’s 1885 provisional government; Marie Pélagie (Dumont) Parenteau, sister of Gabriel Dumont; and Antoine Vermette, a noted Métis buffalo hunter and founding member of l’Union Nationale Métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba.


Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here!

Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:

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Born free in a slaveholding nation and unafraid to confront it, Mary Ann Shadd Cary carved out a life defined by intellect, defiance, and relentless public action. A teacher, lawyer, and the first Black woman in North America to publish a newspaper, she challenged both American slavery and Canadian complacency. Through the pages of The Provincial Freeman, she argued for self-reliance, integration, and equal rights at a time when such demands invited hostility. Her story moves across borders—from the United States to Canada and back again—tracing a 19th-century struggle for freedom that still echoes today.

Dr. Nneka D. Dennie is a Black feminist scholar with specializations in nineteenth- and twentieth-century African American history. Her research examines Black intellectual thought with an emphasis on nineteenth-century African American history. Dr. Dennie is an Assistant Professor of History, core faculty in the Africana Studies Program, and affiliate faculty in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Washington and Lee University.

Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here!

Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:

Amazon
Indigo
Dundurn
Goodreads
Indiebookstores.ca
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In the 17th century, across an ocean and a continent, the will of Louis XIV stretched deep into New France. This episode examines how an absolutist monarchy governed a fragile colonial frontier. How did royal officials impose order on distant settlements along the St. Lawrence? What roles did intendants, governors, and bishops play in enforcing law, regulating trade, and structuring society? From seigneurial land grants to military defense and missionary ambition, we explore the administrative machinery that bound colony to crown—and the tensions that emerged when metropolitan authority met colonial reality in a vast, unforgiving world.

Colin Coates is professor of Canadian Studies and chair of the Department of Global and Social Studies at Glendon College, York University. He is currently president of the Canadian Historical Association. His book, Political Culture in Louis XIV’s Canada: Majesty, Ritual, and Rhetoric was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2024. It won the Prix de l’Assemblée nationale for the best political history book from the Institut d’histoire de l’Amérique française.

Check out Canyon Entertainment’s newest podcast hosted by David Borys, The Conflict and Culture Podcast, here!

Don’t forget! You can purchase a copy of Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 right now at the below links:

Amazon
Indigo
Dundurn
Goodreads
Indiebookstores.ca






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The Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) produced widespread famine, particularly in Biafra, prompting an unprecedented humanitarian response from abroad. Canadian churches helped found CANAIRELIEF, an ecumenical coalition that raised funds, mobilized volunteers, and supported clandestine airlifts of food and medical supplies. Motivated by moral urgency and graphic media coverage, these churches sought to bypass political paralysis. Yet the effort was deeply complicated: relief flights risked prolonging the conflict, aid was entangled with Biafran propaganda, and questions arose over neutrality, sovereignty, and whether humanitarian action inadvertently sustained the war’s machinery.

Dr. Taiwo Bello is an Assistant Professor of African History and an affiliate faculty member of the Africana Studies Centre at Oklahoma State University. He serves on the Editorial Review Boards of the African Studies Association journal, History in Africa, published by Cambridge University Press; and the Canadian Association of African Studies journal, the Canadian Journal of African Studies, published by Taylor & Francis. He is the current President of the African Military Studies Association (AMSA), a coordinate organization of the African Studies Association.
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