Let's Talk About Bill 21

 Let's talk about Bill 21.

This writer has several female relatives who wear the hijab. One of them is working in a hospital where she takes care of the most serious Covid infected patients (something she did from the start of the pandemic). Another works for the Covid response team that is in charge of identifying and dealing with flareups and infection spread. A third one works for the ministry of finance while a fourth is a teacher.

All of these strong women are not only saving lives, they are helping Canada be a better place. Yet none of them are allowed to work in one province of Canada - Quebec. Just because of what they wear.

Today, we see protests in Iran where a woman was killed (and others are getting killed), all because the government wanted to control what this lady was wearing. Our government, PM Justin Trudeau, was quick to announce new sanctions on Iran. Our leader of the opposition, Pierre Poilievre, was quick to denounce Iran. MPs from both parties were quick to participate in the protests in Canada.

Yet, what is our position on Bill 21? A province in our own country, possibly the most racist province of all, does not allow women to work while wearing the hijab. Justin Trudeau has been the Liberal Prime Minister for the last 7 years, and other than "keeping the door open", has not done anything. Erin O Toole, the last leader of the Opposition, did not allow his MPs to criticize this bill, despite many Conservatives wanting to.

It is time for a new direction. I hope the new leader of the Conservative party takes a more active role in opposing Bill 21 (and opposing Quebec in this). There is only so much the federal party can do in a provincial jurisdiction, but they do have some forceful tools in their toolkit. It is time to use them.

And it is also time to take action against other countries that try to regulate women's clothing. India is on its way there, and France already is there. If we are not having sanctions against these countries, why do we have sanctions against Iran?

But first, let's solve our own issue first. Time to deal with Quebec. 

Sudbury - Day 3 - A Railroad Museum & Return to Toronto

Continued from Day 2 ...

It was a Sunday, and it was time to return home. But there was one thing we wanted to visit before heading back towards Toronto. 

Northern Ontario Railroad Museum & Heritage Centre

This small railroad museum is half an hour north of the city of Greater Sudbury. The Victorian style house, built in 1916, is now home to a number of exhibits that pay tribute to the region’s rich lumber, mining and railroading heritage. 

The building also houses the museum’s gift shop, washroom facilities and quaint tea room serving hot and cold refreshments during the summer months.

The house had quite a good collection of antiques. It is also remarkable to think that a typewriter, which I had seen in offices while growing up, is now classified as an 'antique'.

As of the time of this writing, the museum is only open during the summer season, so do plan your trip ahead. 

Of course, we saw the sign "Do not touch the exhibits" only too late. No more on that :-)

Once you go outside the Victorian house, you can see the rolling stock, as well as homes of the train engineers and other personell.

The sheds and other exhibits showed the tools used in that era, as well spare parts, etc.

You can get inside some of the trains outside, and see how it was furnished back in the day.

Of course, you can also do your own Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge photoshoot here.

One of the most interesting exhibits was the teaching car. I wonder if that was ever a real thing.

Prescott Park, named for the former mayor of Capreol Harold Prescott, holds the museum's outdoor locomotive and rolling stock exhibits, as well as the museum's G-Scale model train outdoor layout and children's play structure. 

This is also home to the Garden of Life, a garden exhibit dedicated to the awareness and celebration of organ donation in Ontario, in association with the Trillium Gift of Life Network. 

The park is home to lush gardens and a very unique collection of rolling stock. There are picnic tables on site for visitors wishing to bring their own lunch

Overall, this was a great place for a quick 2 hour visit, and well worth the detour. It was not too expensive, and kids will love it. From here, back to Toronto, is about a 4.5 hour drive.

Overall, it was a great visit to Sudbury, which is not too far from the Greater Toronto Area (about 4 hrs drive). 

Sudbury - Day 2 - Dynamic Earth and Onaping Falls

Continued from Day 1 ...

After having spent time in Parry Sound, we drove on to Sudbury, an hour and half drive north. Not too many know, but Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population. By land area, it is the largest city in Ontario and the fifth largest in Canada.

Sudbury was once a major lumber center and a world leader in nickel mining. Mining and related industries dominated the economy for much of the 20th century. It is that mining history that we will take a look at, as we visit Big Nickel, and Dynamic Earth.

The Big Nickel is a nine-metre (30 ft) replica of a 1951 Canadian nickel, located at the grounds of the Dynamic Earth science museum. It is the world's largest depiction of a coin.

It was now time to visit Dynamic Earth.

Dynamic Earth is an interactive science museum in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. It is a MUST VISIT if you are in Sudbury.

Did you know there are 4,800 kilometres of mines beneath and surrounding this city. That’s enough tunnel to stretch from Quebec City to Victoria.

Owned-and-operated by Science North, Dynamic Earth is an earth sciences museum which builds on the city's mining heritage, focusing principally on geology and mining history exhibitions. 

One of the problems of the website (as of time of writing of this article) is that you cannot book English language tours reliably. So your best bet is to visit the museum when it opens to get tickets for a tour. Definitely take the tour including the mine visit.

The tour starts with a seven-story elevator ride descending to a cavern. The mine's temperature are averages at 13°C (55°F) all year long. 

Then the tour goes through a demonstration mine to showcase the evolution of mining from turn-of-the-century to modern day. Here, we see various uniforms of miners (based on their roles), hung to dry near the lamps. In the early twentieth century, miners had to pay for most of their own equipment, and clothes, and these needed to be washed and dried every day.

As you step into the underground chamber, you need to select and put on hard hats (helmets). There's children sizes as well. I don't remember if you can take a stroller here, but I don't think it is advisable. If you have to carry a toddler, you shouldn't really be doing this tour. But with children who can walk, and especially who knows a bit about mining (perhaps from the game Minecraft), this is a must do.

Does it get cold inside? Slightly. We went on a hot summer's day (it was 32C outside), but underground was a cool 15C. We were fine in the beginning, but by the end of the tour (about an hour long), we began to wish we had brought a slight jacket for the kids.

Flipflops are also not a good idea. I normally wear sandals in the summer, but took care to wear sneakers, and boy was I glad. It IS a mine, just not a working one (thankfully lol). 

The tour guides keep it highly entertaining. It is also amazing to hear of how little was done in terms of safety a hundred years ago. Children as young as 10 or 12 used to work in the mines, sometimes preferred because they could climb into small pipes to dislodge rocks and boulders. And if they didn't get out of the way in time ... too bad. You read about such stories in Charles Dickens, and here you see examples of it.

The tour explains how standard slowly shifted as time went on, and more and more safety measures were put in place. There was also a (simulated) explosion showing how mines used explosives. The kids loved that experience (and so did the adults).

We also visited a Refuge Chamber (also known as Refuge Stations). These are sealed, secure, accessible rooms that preserve life through the monitoring and management of essential gas levels for underground mining. If something happens in a mine, such as a collapse, or power outage, you need to rush to these rooms. The guide told us about the Chilean miners, and how they stayed in one such room during their ordeal. 

She also assured us this was the deepest working Canada post letter box.

Overall, this was a highly educating, entertaining and somewhat different type of museum tour than what you normally are used to. I would highly recommend Dynamic Earth and the mine tour to anyone visiting Sudbury.

After lunch, it was time to visit Onaping Falls.

Onaping Falls is the name of a small town about 30 minutes drive from Sudbury, and the main attraction there is the eponymous Onaping Falls.

If you are with family that includes kids and seniors, you want to drive to the AY Jackson visitor centre site. You can park the car there, and take in the beautiful sight of the falls.

Unfortunately, some people still trying to express themselves with spray paint. Hopefully the officials can deter them and clean up.

If you want the best views and a good hike park down the road at alt parking and walk up the sand hill.

Alternatively, there is a 5 minute (or less) walk and you will see the falls from a distance. The first lookout is stroller-friendly, after which there's a lot of rocks if you wish to continue.

Onaping Falls is the place you can spend a couple of hours easily. I am told it's even better in the Fall when the trees get full colors in middle of October, and with no mosquitos to boot. Just walk up to any convenient place and watch.

We would head back to Toronto tomorrow. There's a couple of other places in Sudbury, especially for the evening, if you want to roam about. Bell Park is one. For us, we were still giddy about visiting a real mine.