Journeys: Celebrating historical BIPOC contributions to transportation in Canada

Journeys

Celebrating BIPOC contributions to transportation in Canada

Throughout Canada’s history, Black, Indigenous, and people of colour have made meaningful contributions to society often under less-than-ideal circumstances. The following stories celebrate some of these Canadians who were builders, engineers, executives, and users of Canadian transportation systems. Hopefully, their stories inspire us to learn more about our collective past and encourage us to pursue an inclusive future that acknowledges the strength of Canada’s diversity.

We invite you to explore some of the milestones in equity, human rights and anti-discrimination struggles and policy in Canada’s history to provide some context for these stories. The University of Alberta has assembled a timeline of events in this FocusonVisible Minorities:KeyEquity&Human RightsMilestonesinAlberta& Canada (PDF, 341 KB) where one can learn more about Canada’s progress. Follow the links in the articles to dive deeper into the stories, communities, and eras of these influential individuals. WESTERN CANADA

Growing up a Cowtown: Oliver Bowen and the Calgary LRT

Amber Valley, Alberta was founded in 1905 by black settlers from the southern states looking to escape racism and segregation and the violence that it brought. Oliver Bowen’s father, Obadiah, and grandfather, Willis, arrived in 1913, filed for their homestead then settled the land, becoming part of one of the original black communities in Western Canada. Amber Valley would send its sons to serve in the First World War with the No. 2 Battalion. Then, in 1942 during the Second World War, when Oliver was born, the town would send its sons again to serve. Oliver’s future, however, lay elsewhere. Maybe he figured the square mile homesteads ran on 80 x 80 chain lengths or that the imperial grid system would create spacing challenges in laying out a transportation network in metric. In 1965, Oliver had graduated from the University of Alberta’s civil engineering program and was hired as a special projects engineer at the City of Calgary with a population of about 311,000(PDF, 137 KB). The 1960s brought the construction of skeletal roads like Glenmore Trail, Anderson Road, and Shaganappi Trail, as well as the passing of Calgary’s streetcar era. The city was looking for a more balanced approach for the future of its transportation system, and the endeavour to deliver a new public transit system began in earnest. At the helm of the project was Oliver Bowen who took on the management of the LRT division with a $144M budget in 1977. Construction of the CTrain system began in 1978, with the first 10.9 km from Anderson Road to 7 Avenue S.W. officially opening on May 25, 1981. It was a city-shaping project that came with risks—both political and technical—at a time of growing economic uncertainty in Calgary. Nonetheless, Bowen was known for his strong work ethic and openmindedness when approaching challenges. He was well received and respected by his peers and the CTrain was completed under budget and on time. He remains an important figure along the continuum of black engineers, shining a light on black excellence.

Get to know Oliver Bowen in this CBC Calgary article and learn more about his contributions in this Calgary Public Library video.

Photo: City of Toronto Archives\Twitter CENTRAL CANADA

Moving the Six: Frederick Langford Hubbard and the Emergence of the TTC

Born in Toronto in 1878, Frederick Langford Hubbard was the son of Toronto’s first black elected official, William Peyton Hubbard. He married Grace Isabell Abbot, the daughter of Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbot, the first Canadian-born black doctor. His family roots trace back through the underground railroad to American slavery. Hubbard worked for the Toronto Street Railway from 1906 to 1921 and went on to serve as the chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) from 1929 to 1930, the vice-chair in 1931, and a commissioner from 1932 to 1939. The stock market crash of 1929 had a profound effect on Torontonians. By 1933, the unemployment rate in the city was 30 percent and those with jobs saw their wages drop by as much as 60 percent. Ridership at the TTC fell by some ten percent, while construction projects were initiated to provide work for employees. The transit workers’ union also made concessions by accepting pay cuts and reduced hours, which created workforce stability to avoid massive layoffs. To address the falling ridership, the TTC jointly developed the PCC streetcar. It was technically modern, comfortable, stylish and could compete with the emerging automobile. By the close of the decade when it started to roll out, it was a hit that brought riders back to the TTC. The TTC had also integrated fare systems, coordinated construction and operation schedules, optimized and modernized equipment, and developed progressive labour policies. These helped deliver a good customer experience on a system that was safe, speedy, and reliable. By 1936, there were 1,391 miles (2,239 km) of streetcar track, bus, and coaches in operation. Total revenue was $10,650,096 ($217M in 2022 dollars) and total assets were valued at $58,247,670 ($1.19B in 2022 dollars). The TTC were financially self-sufficient and had competitive farebox pricing. By the end of Hubbard’s tenure in the late 1930s, the TTC was viewed as a successful model of publicly run transportation service. Autonomy from city hall to govern and manage the system’s operations and finances played a large role in this success. Hubbard was one of three commissioners appointed by the Toronto City Council; all of whom were regarded as local businessmen of considerable ability. He has been honoured with a heritage plaque on his family home, where he lived until his death at age 93.

Get a glimpse of street scenes in Toronto at the time of FL Hubbard’s tenure as TTC Commissioner in this Library & Archives Canada video footage from 1935.

FRENCH CANADA

The Original Skywalkers: Kahnawake Mohawk Territory and the Quebec Bridge

In 1907, ninety-nine men lost their lives in the collapse of the Quebec Bridge. It was, and still is, the largest truss bridge in the world, crossing the St. Lawrence River near Quebec City. The historic disaster is synonymous with “The Call of the Engineer” and is the mythic source of the iron ring that engineers wear. Thirty-three of the men who lost their lives were from the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory on the south shores of Montreal. The loss of their lives was devastating to their community, however, their legacy loomed large in the eyes of their kin, and the disaster called “Shontoskwenne” (when the bridge fell) also became synonymous with Kahnawake Mohawk’s proud tradition of bravery and independence. From the start, the Kahnawake Mohawks were noticed for their agility, grace, and apparent disregard for heights when they were walking on bridge spans. As described by one official of the bridge company, “They would climb up into the spans and walk around up there as cool and collected as the toughest of our riveters... They seemed immune to the noise of the riveting, which goes right through you and is often enough in itself to make newcomers to construction feel sick and dizzy.” This high level of skill exempted them from seeking government permissions to leave the reserve to work on bridge projects, which aligned with their preference to be self-sufficient. Kahnawake skywalkers continue in this tradition as steelworkers and have since worked on such famous projects as Montreal’s Place Ville Marie, New York’s Empire State Building, the United Nations Building in Manhattan, and skyscrapers in Detroit and Boston. A special thank you to Teiowí:sonte Thomas Deer for your help reviewing this article. Thomas is the Historical & Cultural Liaison with the Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language & Cultural Center, Mohawk Nation Territory.

Learn more about the Shontoskwenne Quebec City bridge disaster and the impact on the Mohawks of Kahnawake in this story from Canada’s History.

Photo: Canada Post/Canadian Press ATLANTIC CANADA

An Unfinished Business Trip: Viola Desmond in New Glasgow, NS

In 1946, Viola Desmond got in her car and drove the 400 km trip, alone, from Halifax to Sydney, Nova Scotia; only she never completed the trip. The infamy of her case helped to desegregate Nova Scotia and, 72 years later, there remains much to learn about her, and the events that led up to the fateful day at the New Glasgow movie theatre.

Viola was remarkable. Born in 1914 to a white mother and black father, she would have grown up watching the suffrage movement achieve the women’s right to vote, seeing the rise of women in the labour force through two world wars, and being part of the struggle for equal access and pay; but in many ways, she watched from the outside because of her colour. She had to train outside of Nova Scotia to become a beautician, after which she returned with the skills and business savvy of an undeterred entrepreneur. She manufactured her own products, taught and trained in her own school, and created a distribution network to sell her products across the province extending into New Brunswick and Quebec. She franchised herself and was successful at it. Successful enough that in early 1946, Viola bought herself a 1940 Dodge four-door sedan which sold for about $1,600, roughly 30% of the average annual household income at the time; she was among the 1 in 10 Canadians that owned a car at the time. Viola was ahead of the curve.

The auto industry knew that its future growth depended on female car ownership and catering to their unique needs, which included a reliable car, and paved infrastructure, and governments had turned to road construction to blunt the impact of the Depression. By 1938, all 804 miles of the Trunk Highway System were paved in Nova Scotia, and work had begun to pave the secondary County Roads. A 1944 map shows that paved alternatives around New Glasgow were likely unavailable, so Viola likely had to take Provincial Highway 2 and Highway 4 with sufficient money for repairs, a hotel, and a movie. By all accounts, she should have made it to Sydney, but instead emerges on our 10 dollar note as a reminder of the struggle that exists between point A and point B. Viola Desmond held firm convictions that Black women ought to have greater access to employment opportunities outside their traditionally segregated sphere of domestic service. By extension, Canadian women are equal partners in the shaping, planning, designing, building, and managing of Canada’s transportation systems, and ought to have greater access and employment opportunities to all the spaces that will help ensure the next Viola gets there.

Read about Viola’s entrepreneurship and community leadership, legal challenge, and legacy is this Canadian Encylopedia entry.

These historical profiles were thoughtfully contributed by Dale Lynch, P. Eng. Dale has held positions in the public and private sectors, across Canada, at all levels of government. His main areas of expertise are in land development, making streets more livable, and goods movement and supply chains. Dale also gives back to the community by volunteering with grass-roots organizations that help at-risk youth and speaking at elementary schools to encourage students to pursue higher learning. Dale lives in Montreal with his wife, two children, and their golden retriever.