Monthly Archives: July 2014

Quebec

Portrait of a Scandal: a Book Review

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Portrait of a Scandal: the Abortion Trial of Robert Notman, by Elaine Kalman Naves, is many things: a non-fiction courtroom page-turner, a story about illicit love, a tale of Scottish immigrant families in mid-19th century Montreal, and an exploration of some of the social customs and beliefs of the times. The fact that the book describes abortion practices and life in Kingston Penitentiary makes it all the grittier, while the high-profile identity of the main individual — the younger brother of society photographer William Notman — makes the details all the juicier.

I wanted to learn more about life in 19th century Montreal, home to several of my ancestors. But this real-life story hooked me within a few pages, with the mysterious death of a young physician, Dr. Patton. I won’t be spoiling the book by revealing that Patton committed suicide because he mistakenly believed his patient, a student named Margaret Galbraith, had died as a result of the abortion he performed on her. Her lover, Robert Notman, was charged with procuring the abortion.

The book is full of strong individuals, from the young woman whose hopes of becoming a teacher were doomed the minute she fell for Robert, to the lawyers who argued the case with dramatic flourishes. Their story is in excellent hands. Author Elaine Kalman Naves is an award-winning author, having already written a memoir about her own family, a book about Montreal writers and numerous articles for The Gazette.

Many family historians would relate to Naves’ research process, from her frustration with the red tape she encountered at the McGill University archives to her pleasure following Margaret’s footsteps back to the shores of Loch Lomond in Scotland. Much of the material has been culled from sources familiar to genealogists, including newspaper articles, family papers and city directories. Naves has brought these 150-year-old sources together in a way that makes sense to modern readers. And despite only having fragments of information about Robert’s and Margaret’s lives, she has succeeded in bringing these people back to life.

The bibliographic essay at the end of the book is also worth a look. Two of Naves’ favourite sources, Call Back Yesterdays by Edgar Andrew Collard, and Montreal: Island City of the St. Lawrence by Kathleen Jenkins, are probably on many Montrealers’ bookshelves, while the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online is only a Google search away.

Elaine Kalman Naves. Portrait of a Scandal: the Abortion Trial of Robert Notman. Montreal: Vehicule Press, 2013.

 

New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, PEI, Research tips

Acadian research guide contains hundreds of resource links

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On this 259th anniversary of the Acadian deportation, those researching their Acadian heritage might find the research guide, Acadians of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland of interest. It consists of Acadian Parish Registers under the French and British regimes in addition to the modern-day period under Confederation.

Click on this link, Acadians of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, to see a 162-page downloadable document that will help you find your family’s name in community parish records, etc.

2014 Acadian Congress
The Acadian Congress takes place August 8 to 24, 2014. The map below indicates the areas where many of the Congress activities will take place.

Carte3RegionsPetit

“Then uprose their commander, and  spake from the steps of the altar. Holding aloft in his hands, with its seals, the royal commission. “You are convened this day,” he said, “by his Majesty’s orders… Painful the task is I do, which to you I know must be grievous. Yet must I bow and obey, and deliver the will of our monarch; Namely, that all your lands, and dwellings, and cattle of all kinds, forfeited be to the crown; and that you yourselves from this province be transported to other lands. God grant you may dwell there. Ever as faithful subjects, a happy and peaceable people! “

“Prisoners, now I declare you; for such is his Majesty’s pleasure!”

Silent a moment they stood in speechless wonder, and then arose louder and ever louder a wail of sorrow and anger. “

Source: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Évangéline and other selected poems – Penguin Books, 1988.
Genealogy societies, Governance, Quebec

QFHS has its Certificate of Continuance

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The Quebec Family History Society obtained its Certificate of Continuance from Industry Canada on March 6 of this year, according to Industry Canada’s website, https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/cc/CorporationsCanada/fdrlCrpDtls.html?corpId=2362252&V_TOKEN=1405560793699&crpNm=Quebec%20family%20history%20society&crpNmbr=&bsNmbr.

Meanwhile, QFHS members in good standing (meaning those who have paid their dues) are invited to a special general meeting on September 13. There are two items on the agenda: “approval to obtain our Certificate of Continuance” and “discussion for possible future changes to our Constitution.” The certificate of continuance allows the society to continue to exist as a not for profit corporation under the new federal NFP Act, and the bylaws have to be revised to be in compliance with the new act.

Members did not approve the executive decision to obtain the certificate and were not informed by the executive that the certificate has been issued. It is not clear whether the bylaws have already been revised.

If the bylaws have yet to be revised, the society is now operating under the Default Rules provided by Industry Canada. See http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs04967.html.

In either case, there is still an opportunity for members to respond to the invitation to suggest changes to the bylaws, in writing, by August 13.

To read more about this issue, see Societies – Are they Changing, on genealogycanada.blogspot.com, posted July 20, http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2014/07/societies-are-they-changing.html, and the previous article on Genealogy Ensemble, QFHS Invites Members to Submit Recommendations on Bylaw Changes, posted July 8, https://genealogyensemble.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/qfhs-invites-members-to-submit-recommendations-on-bylaw-changes/

 

Genealogy societies

QFHS invites members to submit recommendations on bylaw changes

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If you are a member of the Quebec Family History Society (QFHS), this important article is for you:

The QFHS will hold a special general meeting of its members on September 13, 2014 for approval to obtain a Certificate of Continuance, a document that grants the organization continuance as a federally incorporated not-for-profit society.

Also on the meeting agenda is a discussion of possible future changes to its constitution. Members have been invited to submit written recommendations for changes to the bylaws, which were written in 1992. The deadline for these submissions is August 13.

The meeting is open to all members in good standing. The official notice of the meeting was included in the Summer 2014 issue of Connections and can also be found on the society’s website, www.qfhs.ca. The society’s current bylaws can be found in the members-only section of the website.

The notice that appeared in Connections did not explain the need for this special meeting. The federal government has written a new law, called the NFP Act, governing federally-incorporated not-for-profit corporations such as ours. The society must revise its bylaws to obtain its Certificate of Continuance.

The deadline to obtain a Certificate of Continuance is Oct. 17, 2014. All corporations that don’t meet the deadline will be automatically dissolved.

With its wonderful library and charitable tax status, the QFHS is a valuable part of the English-language community in Quebec. Recently, it has also begun serving people with ancestors from France, northern Europe, Italy and other places. We need to ensure that the society not only survives, but continues to thrive.

Last winter, about a dozen concerned QFHS members, including myself, met monthly to discuss concerns about the society. In January, we sent a petition to the QFHS board, requesting a special general meeting of the membership to discuss changes to the bylaws. The meeting planned for September – almost nine months after the petition was sent — is a response to that request.

The members of our group love the society, but we are concerned about the lack of transparency and would like members to have more say about how the organization is run. This meeting call is a perfect example of our frustrations. Most members don’t know why it is being called or what steps the board has taken to meet the deadline to comply with Canada’s new NFP Act. Many organizations have already completed the transition process and, as far as we know, we have not even begun it.

We are also concerned that members won’t have much time for discussion during this meeting because a special guest speaker that we’d all like to hear will present at the same time.

We intend to prepare our own list of suggested bylaw changes. The QFHS bylaws are neither long nor complicated, and there are just a few key changes we would like to see, such as voting rights for members who do not live in the Montreal area, but who make up almost half the society’s membership. We would also like to see a limit on the number of times a director can be re-elected.

All members should take this opportunity to look at the bylaws in the members-only section of the website and send in their recommendations.

Also, more members should consider stepping up and running for election to the board of directors. For an organization like ours to thrive and improve the society for its members, there should be a rotation of new board members after each term. This rotation will bring in new expertise and ideas.

The special meeting will take place at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, September 13, Briarwood Presbyterian Church Hall, 70 Beaconsfield Blvd., Beaconsfield, QC. Please be there.

Written recommendations for changes to the bylaws should be mailed to: QFHS, P.O. Box 715, 15 Donegani Ave., Pointe Claire, QC, H9R 4S8. Attention: Robert Poole. The deadline is Aug. 13.

 

For more information:

The following link has a summary of the features of the new act and what societies need to do to meet its requirements. http://www.csae.com/Resources/ArticlesTools/View/ArticleId/1771/Navigating-Canada-s-Not-for-Profit-Corporations-Act.

For an introduction to the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (NFP Act) prepared by Industry Canada, see http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs04958.html

This page explains, “The corporation must replace its letters patent, supplementary letters patent (if any) and by-laws with new charter documents. This means that you need to submit articles of continuance to obtain a Certificate of Continuance as well as create and file new by-laws. The articles and by-laws must comply with the NFP Act.”

It adds, “Corporations that do not make the transition by the deadline will be assumed to be inactive and will be dissolved. For registered charities, dissolution could lead to the revocation of their registration as a charity, which would result in the corporation having to pay revocation tax equal to 100% of the value of their remaining assets.”

Another page describes the transition process: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/h_cs04954.html

And this page is helpful because it explains mandatory and default rules: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs04967.html

Finally, the QFHS is not alone in having governance issues. Here is a link to a series of articles prepared by the Federation of Genealogical Societies in the U.S. to help organizations meet challenges such as developing marketing and communications strategies, managing volunteers, understanding parliamentary procedure and running elections: http://www.fgs.org/cpage.php?pt=55