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History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical Education

Canadian Institute for Historical Education

Canada’s history is full of triumphs, tensions, and turning points. Yet too often, it’s reduced to headlines or overshadowed by present-day debates. History Matters was created to give space for deeper conversations — ones that connect the past to the present, and help us see why context matters more than ever.

history

All Episodes

43:16

Richard Stursberg on the ‘Collapse’ of Canadian Book...

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2026/03/26

In this episode, Allan talks with writer and media executive Richard Stursberg to explore the rise and decline of Canadian book publishing. The conversation breaks down how Canada once built a thriving literary culture, why English-Canadian publishing has lost ground, and what that means for national identity, history, and cultural sovereignty today, along with what can be done to rebuild it. Stursberg examines the dramatic decline of English Canadian publishing, tracing the rise of a vibrant

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38:15

Christina Blizzard Fifty Years in Journalism

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2026/03/19

In this episode of History Matters, Alan Williams speaks with veteran Toronto journalist Christina Blizzard about her decades-long career reporting on politics, media, and public life in Canada. Blizzard recounts her early work at the Toronto Telegram and her role in the founding of the Toronto Sun in 1971. She reflects on the transformation of the newspaper industry over the past half-century, from the mechanical processes of traditional print production to the rapid pace of today’s digital news

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39:36

Madelaine Drohan on 250 Years of Canadians Fending...

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2026/03/12

In this episode of History Matters, journalist and author Madelaine Drohan joins the program to explore a question that feels contemporary, but is anything but new: how long have American Leaders imagined Canada as part of the United States? The conversation begins with today’s “51st state” rhetoric and Prime Minister Carney’s Davos warning that Canada is facing a rupture, not a transition. From there, it steps back to 1775–1776, when the Continental Army invaded Canada and Benjamin Franklin,

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37:54

Gordon Henderson on The Trial of Egerton Ryerson

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2026/03/05

In this special episode of History Matters Allan welcomes Gordon Henderson, a veteran television producer, documentary film maker, and historical novelist to introduce a live stage performance of the “The Trial of Egerton Ryerson,” a play commissioned by the CIHE, researched and written by Gilbert Reid and Gordon Henderson. Reid did the bulk of the original research which Henderson turned into a play set in a courtroom. Framed as an appeal hearing after Ryerson’s “conviction” in the court of

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35:35

Ruth Abernethy on telling history in bronze

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2026/02/26

DESCRIPTION EP15Public monuments shape how Canadians encounter their past. Yet the process of representing historical figures in bronze raises important questions: how does one preserve humanity, complexity, and context in a permanent public form?In this episode of History Matters, Allan Williams speaks with Ruth Abernethy, one of Canada’s most accomplished sculptors. Her public works include figures such as Glenn Gould, Oscar Peterson, Sir John A. Macdonald, and William Lyon Mackenzie King, among

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36:07

Christopher Dummitt on Canadian history in the Age of AI

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2026/02/19

In this episode of History Matters, Allan Williams speaks with Professor Christopher Dummitt of Trent University about the events leading to Ontario’s 1954 Fair Accommodations Practices Act. The discussion examines the leadership of Hugh Burnett, the organized campaign against racial discrimination in Dresden, and the broader pre-Charter human rights movement in Canada. This period is frequently overshadowed by the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms.The conversation also explores Professor

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38:01

Charlotte Gray on Canada’s national archives and...

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2026/01/08

In this episode of History Matters, Allan is joined by Charlotte Gray, one of Canada’s best known and most prolific popular historians, for a wide-ranging conversation about how Canadian history is preserved, told, and understood today. We begin with the urgent and pressing issue of the future of Library and Archives Canada, which has experienced deep funding cuts, and now labours under privacy and access to information legislation so much more restrictive than in almost all other countries, that it

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37:43

Nick Rogers on Henry Dundas

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/12/24

In this episode of the Canadian Institute for Historical Education podcast, host Allan Williams speaks with distinguished historian Nicholas Rogers, Research Professor Emeritus at York University and author of numerous works on eighteenth-century Britain and the Atlantic world. The conversation centers on Rogers’s recent article in the Canadian Historical Review, “Toronto’s Dundas Imbroglio,” which examines the historical debates surrounding Henry Dundas, slavery, and public memory in Canada. (A

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38:18

Christopher Dummitt on Responsible Government

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/12/18

What if one of the most defining moments in Canadian democracy wasn’t Confederation, but a riot that burned Parliament to the ground in Montreal? In this episode of History Matters, I’m joined by Christopher Dummitt, professor of Canadian history at Trent University and host of the acclaimed podcast 1867 and All That.Together, we dive into the dramatic political turning points of the 1830s and 1840s, including the Rebellion Losses Bill, the rise of responsible government, and the tensions that

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27:47

Nigel Biggar and Margaret MacMillan in Conversation...

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/12/11

This episode is the second of two taken from a CIHE event held in March 2025 with OxfordProfessor Nigel Biggar, recently appointed to the UK House of Lords, and MargaretMacMillan, Companion of the Order of Canada.This second part features the conversation between Lord Biggar and Professor MacMillanthat followed his opening statement. They examined the moral complexity of empires, especially the British Empire, and the modern push to revise or erase elements ofCanadian history. Margaret MacMillan

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31:07

Nigel Biggar on Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/12/04

This episode is the first of two taken from a CIHE event held in March 2025 with renowned historians Professor Nigel Biggar, recently appointed to the British House of Lords and author of the 2023 book, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, and Professor Margaret MacMillan, Companion of the Order of Canada, and author of The Uses and Abuses of History, among many other books.In the first of two parts, Lord Biggar presents key arguments from his book Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, challenging one-sided

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40:19

Allan Levine on Canada’s ‘Dollar a Year Men’ in World...

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/11/27

Did you know that in World War II, Canada’s “best business brains” traded Bay Street boardrooms in support of the country's war effort?In this episode of History Matters, I sit down with Winnipeg-based historian and author Allan Levine to talk about his new book, The Dollar a Year Men: How the Best Business Brains in Canada Helped to Win the Second World War (Barlow Books, 2025).We open with a gripping story from December 1940: C.D. Howe, E.P. Taylor, and other Canadian industrialists crossing a

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47:02

Sean Conway on Separate School Education in Ontario

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/11/20

In this episode, host Allan Williams welcomes historian and former Ontario cabinet minister Sean Conway for a wide-ranging discussion that connects contemporary political decisions to their deeper historical roots.Conway reflects on the Ontario provincial election of 1985, which brought an end to the 42 year PC dynasty, and the unusual circumstances that led to his receiving official briefings on the “Separate School Funding” issue as much as six weeks before the Frank Miller government fell and

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39:17

The Dictionary of Canadian Biography

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/11/13

What happens when a national biography doesn’t just celebrate—or condemn, but strives to understand? In this episode, I sit down with historian David A. Wilson to explore how the DCB is rethinking who gets included, how language is updated without “rewriting” the past, and why a birdseed magnate—James Nicholson—helped launch Canada’s most important biographical project. In this episode, I sit down with historian David Wilson, General Editor of the Dictionary of CanadianBiography, to discuss the

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35:19

J.D.M. Stewart on The Prime Ministers

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/11/06

Host Allan Williams welcomes J D M James Stewart, author, broadcaster, podcaster, and veteran teacher, to discuss The Prime Ministers, Canada’s Leaders and the Nation They Shaped Sutherland House, 2025. They revisit R B Bennett’s reputation in the shadow of the Depression, examine Mackenzie King’s wartime stewardship, and consider how crisis, longevity, and electoral success drive rankings that often place King, Macdonald, and Laurier at the top. Stewart outlines his research approach using Hansard,

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25:28

Tribute to Historian Tim Cook

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/10/31

Host Allan Williams welcomes J.D.M. Stewart, Eric McGeer, and Christopher Dummitt for a special tribute to Tim Cook, the award-winning Canadian military historian and chief historian/director of research at the Canadian War Museum. The panel reflects on Cook’s life, generosity, and extraordinary output—19 books that made the World Wars accessible without sacrificing scholarly rigour. They spotlight must-reads including The Secret History of Soldiers, Warlords, Lifesavers and Body Snatchers, and his

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29:01

Vickery Bowles on public libraries and parliamentary...

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/10/24

How does a library protect democracy? In this episode, I speak with Vickery Bowles, former City Librarian of Toronto, about how the Toronto Public Library became the largest library system in North America, 100 branches strong.We talk about the Toronto Reference Library, its remarkable special collections, and why intellectual freedom remains a core democratic value. Plus, Vickery shares news of a big milestone: all 100 branches are now open on Sundays for the first time ever.Vickery

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26:16

David Frum on ‘Settlers & Colonialists

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/10/24

What does settler colonialism really mean, and how does it shape the way we see Canada’s past? In this special live episode of History Matters, we feature journalist and author David Frum delivering his talk “Settlers and Colonialists,” recorded at a CIHE event in Toronto.Frum challenges audiences to think critically about how the language of settler colonialism has reframed the histories of Canada, the U.S., and Israel, and what that means for national identity, guilt, and democracy today. Whether

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00:59

New Podcast History Matters

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/10/24

History Matters brings Canada’s past to life through conversations with leading historians, authors, and thinkers. Hosted by Allan Williams of the Canadian Institute for Historical Education, each episode explores the people, events, and ideas that shaped our country, from Confederation to contemporary debates about memory, democracy, and identity.

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39:10

Patrice Dutil on Sir John A Macdonald

History Matters by Canadian Institute for Historical... ·

2025/10/24

What if one year and one election defined Canada’s destiny? In this first episode of History Matters, I speak with historian Patrice A. Dutil about his new book Ballots and Brawls: The 1867 Canadian Election, and why context matters in understanding our past.We unpack the first election after Confederation, the chaos of open ballots and political brawls, and how a fragile democracy took root under Sir John A. Macdonald. Patrice also shares insights from his award-winning Sir John A. Macdonald and

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21 results

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