ST HOUR - Winston Churchill

Tl H REAM IN ONT.NiaTEXT BY JOHN G.ALTHOUGH Winston Churchill did notvisit Toronto often, his two visits werenot without fanfare. In 1900 he threatenedto quit his lecture series across Canadaand the United States because of a dispute withhis agent, Major Pond, whom he called "a vulgarYankee impresario." His Toronto lecture, at historicMassey Hall, was so popular that it wasrepeated a week later and he gave complimentarytickets to all veterans of the Boer War (savingeach of them 25 cents). In 1929 he spoke in thenewly-opened Royal York Hotel (in the veryroom of our Friday evening dinner), drawing alunch-time audience of over 3,000 people.The ICS Conference in Toronto drew equalpublicity. The Toronto Star featured the story ofChurchill the Artist: "Blood, toil, tears...andart." Two Canadian TV networks, CBC Newsworldand Global TV, featured the conferenceand CBC Radio One's "This Morning," whichcovers all of Canada, featured interviews withorganizers, presenters and a number of studentswho attended, thanks to the sponsorshipof Churchill Center and Society members.Toronto, Ontario is now the financial, cultural,and some would say the real political capital,of Canada. It has the relationship toOttawa that New York City has to Washington.This was not always the case. In the early yearsof the 20th century it was a provincial, staidAnglo-Saxon city with little influence beyond itsown immediate area. That is perhaps why itwas not often visited by Winston Churchill, whousually came to Ottawa and, twice during thewar, to Quebec City.Toronto has, however, been a growing influencewithin the International ChurchillSocieties, particularly ICS Canada. Itsmetropolitan area is the home of Randy andSolveig Barber, (Randy is President of ICSCanada); Bernie and Jeanette Webber (Bernie isl^JkurcliRJU15-19 OctoW 1997FINEST HOUR 96/14President of the Other Club of Ontario); thiswriter, a former President, now ExecutiveSecretary and a Governor of the ChurchillCenter; and his wife Ruth. We six, along withGlynne Jenkins, another Torontonian when notin England, and his wife Bev, organized the1994 Conference in Calgary and Banff.The Barbers, Webbers and Plumptonsbrought Churchill Society and Center membersto their home city with the aid of HenryRodrigues, Charles Anderson, John Hewson,Bill and Marjorie Williams, Brian Winter, DavidHarlton, Peter Smith, Bill Milligan, and and oureditor, Richard Langworth, President of TheChurchill Center. Together we hosted over 200Churchillians from Canada, the United Statesand the United Kingdom at the Fourteenth InternationalChurchill Conference. They comprised,in Randy Barber's words, "The DreamTeam," because Churchill's short story, TheDream, was the theme of our gathering on theshores of Lake Ontario. We also wish to thankGail Greenly and her daughter, who drove allthe way from New Hampshire, bringing withthem a wide assortment of "Churchill Stores."The weather was spectacular as Canadiansshowed off their beautiful city and its environs.The Conference began with a journey to theneighbouring city of Waterloo, Ontario, and thefirst Canadian Churchill Lecture, sponsored byWilfrid Laurier University. Professor BarryGough, a Churchill Center Academic Advisorand Professor of History at Wilfrid LaurierUniversity, introduced Professor David Staffordof the University of Edinburgh, who presentedthe fascinating story on which he elaborates inhis new book, Churchill and Secret Service. Itwas a homecoming for Professor Stafford,whohad lived in Canada twenty-three years beforereturning home to Great Britain.continued on page 16...