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George Stanley

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Educator

The Resume

    (July 6, 1907-September 13, 2002)
    Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
    Historian, educator, and politician
    Headed the History and Arts Department at the Royal Military College of Canada (1949-69)
    Founded and chaired the Canadian Studies Department at Mount Allison University (1969-75)
    Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (1981-87)
    Wrote 'The Birth of Western Canada: A History of the Riel Rebellions' (1936) and 'Canada's Soldiers: The Military History of an Unmilitary People' (1954)
    President of the Canadian Historical Society (1955-56)
    Designed the Canadian Maple Leaf Flag (adopted February 15, 1965)

Why he might be annoying:

    He opposed allowing Jewish refugees from Europe into Canada 'as long as any Canadian remains unemployed.' (1938)
    His Maple Leaf Flag copied the school flag of the Royal Military College, except for replacing the college emblem with a maple leaf.
    His design was added at the last minute to the ones being considered by Parliament's special flag committee.
    His design being chosen may have been a result of Conservatives on the committee trying to engineer a deadlock that would justify keeping the Red Ensign as the national flag. The Conservatives assumed the Liberals would vote for the 'Pearson Pennant' backed by party leader Lester Pearson. Instead, the Liberals also chose the Maple Leaf Flag, resulting in an unanimous 15-0 recommendation.

Why he might not be annoying:

    At Oxford, he played on then university ice hockey team that won the invitational Spengler Cup.
    He administered Canada's War Artists Program during World War II.
    He received a Guggenheim Fellowship to study the history of the Canadian government's policy in dealing with Native peoples (1949).
    He was married to Ruth Hill for 56 years.
    He had recommended that Canada's new flag 'must avoid the use of national or racial symbols that are of a divisive nature' and specifically advised against incorporating either the Union Jack or fleur-de-lis into the design.
    As recently as 2015, the Canadian Supreme Court cited 'The Birth of Western Canada' in a language rights decision.

Credit: C. Fishel


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    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying