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150 Years Since Confederation

By: Graham Iddon


April 21, 2017
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This deserves a bank note

In 1967, the Bank of Canada issued a one-dollar bill commemorating the centennial of Canadian confederation. At a glance, it looked just like the existing one-dollar design but for a discreet Centennial logo on the front. An engraving of Parliament Hill’s original Centre Block replaced the Prairie scene on the back. It was a simple and elegant commemoration, but not one to embrace the evolving culture of a progressive, mid-20th century Canada. In the last 50 years, we have certainly become more aware that Canada’s cultural and regional diversity is a key part of our nation’s identity. However, it’s an enormous challenge to represent such concepts on a 7 by 15 centimetre piece of polymer. I’m afraid a fine old engraving of Centre Block just wouldn’t cut the mustard these days.

Some runs of the 1967 Centennial notes had their serial numbers replaced with “1867 1967.” Nowadays, the notes with serial numbers are rare finds.

This engraving was once used on the face of an 1872 Dominion of Canada $100 bank note.

On 7 April, the Bank of Canada unveiled the design of an upcoming bank note that commemorates Canada’s 150th birthday and I can safely say that the mustard has been definitively cut.

Compare the large number of visual elements of this note with those of the 1967 note.

Almost all Canadians should be able to discover pride in or be able to identify with one of the landscapes featured.

It’s a note featuring a number of Bank of Canada firsts among its imagery. The most obvious is that it has four portraits and among them is a First Nations person. In fact, it’s the first time that anybody apart from a prime minister or royalty has been highlighted on one of our notes.

The portraits on this note are of parliamentarians. All of them can be considered nation builders who have contributed greatly to the growth and maturation of Canada. They come from different backgrounds and represent different eras. Only Sir George-Étienne Cartier and Sir John A. Macdonald are contemporaries. Still, although they were close partners in Confederation, their differing cultures brought some often contrasting issues to the table. These two represent a foundation stone of Canadian identity: a single nation forged from diverse peoples, building a unique culture.

The journey of Canadian identity hasn’t been easy and, over time, more cultures and many more points of view have found voice. Agnes Macphail, as the first woman member of Parliament (elected 1921), and James Gladstone (Akay-na-muka), as the earliest First Nations person appointed to the Senate (appointed 1958), represent those milestones of inclusion that promote the ever-encompassing unity of the Canadian peoples.

John A. Macdonald was one of the Fathers of Confederation and Canada’s first prime minister. Under his leadership, the nation was founded and expanded.

A Father of Confederation, George-Étienne Cartier viewed Confederation as a safeguard for French Canada and other minorities.

A human rights advocate, especially for women, Agnes Macphail was elected to Parliament in 1921—Canada’s first female Member of Parliament.

Committed to the betterment of Indigenous peoples, James Gladstone (Akay-na-muka) became a senator in 1958.

Thousands of Canadians took part in a public consultation about what sort of imagery and themes would, for them, best celebrate the sesquicentennial of Confederation. One thing that was very clear was Canadians’ interest in and their identity with the land. Regional identities run deep and the landscape is where they begin. You can imagine that no single image could represent Canada for a majority of its people. So, on the reverse is another first: a portrayal of multiple facets of the vast Canadian landscape. Five beautiful vignettes of major Canadian landscapes from coast to coast and to the North span the back of this note. Like the face of the note, diversity is the underlying theme of the back, for few countries can boast a landscape of such striking variety as Canada’s.

Like the most recent series of Bank of Canada notes, this note is rich with all sorts of symbolic details. I will leave those as well as the landscape imagery to another blog but, enquiring minds can check out the Bank of Canada website where they can find details on the stories behind the Canada 150 note.

A good crowd and lots of media filled the Bank’s atrium to see the new bank note revealed.

Governor Poloz speaking

Governor Poloz wore a carefully chosen purple tie for the event.

Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde greets the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor.

The bank note unveiling ceremony was brief and to the point. The substantial turnout included guests representing the regions featured on the back of the note, First Nations and Inuit leaders, and family members of James Gladstone and Kenojuak Ashevak (who created Owl’s Bouquet, shown in the clear window) as well as stakeholders from universities, government, museums and archives. Sitting quietly in the crowd was the ever-modest Jorge Peral of the Canadian Bank Note Company—the immensely talented engraver and art director who was lead designer on this note.

1,2,3…a perfectly synchronized pull! (and no rehearsal)

Keep in mind, of course, that the real bank note is much smaller.

The note was revealed by Bank of Canada Governor Stephen S. Poloz and the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. Ms. Petitpas Taylor spoke about the features and people on the face of the note while Governor Poloz described the process of developing this note and introduced us to the elements on its back.

Claudette Commanda, a First Nations elder, gives an eloquent blessing to the event.

The Kudlik (Qulliq), the traditional Inuit oil lamp, is lit by Inuit Elder Manotik Thompson during her blessing ceremony.

Governor Poloz ended the official speeches by saying, “I hope this bank note captivates your imagination and instills pride in who we are and how far we have come as a nation. It celebrates our land, our history and our culture.” Following the Governor were two blessing ceremonies performed by Inuit Elder Manotik Thompson and Algonquin Elder Claudette Commanda representing Canada’s Inuit and First Nations peoples. There was a substantial First Nations and Inuit presence at this ceremony, including Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde. It was apt. As Elder Thompson pointed out in her blessing, “We have made a very big statement with James Gladstone on there—to say that we are equal in Canada and we are moving forward with that relationship.”

Uh, Governor, we need that back!

We want to hear from you! Do you have an idea for a blog post you’d like to see?
Content type(s): Blog posts

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July 8, 2019

Landscape Engraved

By: Graham Iddon


Retaining the landscape format but showing human activity and intervention transformed the imagery into an extended portrait of Canada and Canadians.
Content type(s): Blog posts
May 24, 2019

The Hunting of the Greenback

By: Graham Iddon


During World War Two, the Bank created the Foreign Exchange Control Board (FECB). One of its major tasks was to find as many US dollars as possible to pay for American imports.
Content type(s): Blog posts
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What goes up…

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Economic bubbles continued to pop up regularly throughout history, and still do today.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economics, Social studies Grade level(s): Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
April 25, 2019

Welding with Liquid

By: Stephanie Shank


In heritage conservation, broken metal objects can be reassembled with an adhesive most commonly used for repairing glass and ceramics.
Content type(s): Blog posts
April 22, 2019

Conserving the Spider Press

By: Stephanie Shank


Used extensively in the 19th century, this type of hand-operated press printed secure financial documents using the intaglio method.
Content type(s): Blog posts
April 1, 2019

How Does $ = Dollar?

By: Graham Iddon


How on earth did an “S” with a line or two through it come to represent a dollar? Any ideas? No? That’s OK, you’re in good company.
Content type(s): Blog posts
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TTC Tokens and the Proposed 1978 Cent

By: David Bergeron


In 1977, the Royal Canadian Mint wanted to reduce the size of the penny in response to the rising price of copper. Little did the Mint know that the Toronto Transit Commission’s reaction would force the cancellation of the program.
Content type(s): Blog posts
March 8, 2019

The Vertical Note That Almost Was

By: Graham Iddon


The printing firms’ design teams went to work and came back with a surprising result: vertical notes.
Content type(s): Blog posts
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The Coming of the Toonie

By: David Bergeron, Graham Iddon


The life expectancy of a two-dollar paper note was about a year. But coins can last for more than 10 years.
Content type(s): Blog posts
February 8, 2019

The Canadian Roots of the “Greenback”

By: Graham Iddon


Successfully counterfeiting a bank note in the mid-19th century required an engraver with reasonably high talent and very low ethics.
Content type(s): Blog posts
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What’s Up Next for 2019?

By: Graham Iddon


Instead of bragging about our visitor statistics and the popularity our programming (both great!), we’ll talk about what’s coming up for early 2019.
Content type(s): Blog posts
January 24, 2019

Boer War Siege Money

By: Graham Iddon


As in any siege, Mafeking quickly began to run short of most things, not the least of which was cash.
Content type(s): Blog posts
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The first Canadian nickel

By: David Bergeron


The size of the 1-cent coin was reduced to save on the cost of copper. At the same time, there were proposals to mint Canadian coins out of cheap and abundant nickel.
Content type(s): Blog posts
December 28, 2018

A Good Deal

By: David Bergeron


In Canada playing cards were used as form of emergency money at a time when the colony constantly suffered from a shortage gold and silver coins.
Content type(s): Blog posts
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