From Ellesmere Island to Pelee Island, from Tofino to St. John’s, we’ll show you where it all happened. You’ve read about all kinds of interesting people and events in Kayak. Get clicking to see where in Canada you’ll find them.

Contrary Canadians

From serious resistance using weapons to small-scale protests, people all over the country have rebelled at different times.

Scroll down to read about these places, or click on the map for a more interactive Google map experience.



Pagnirtung, Nunavut

This tiny village is one of three that rejected daylight savings time and used their own system, Nunavut time, for local offices and schools.

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Starting last year, people in the Northwest Territories came out to protest plans to use fracking, a new way to get oil and gas that some say damages the environment.

Yukon Territory

The Yukon came into being because of a kind of rebellion. When the government of the Northwest Territories started charging a tax on liquor, the federal minister responsible for the area rejected the idea and created a new territory.

Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia

In the mid-1990s, there were fierce protests by environmentalists and First Nations who wanted logging of this ancient forest to stop. Today much of the area is protected.

Frog Lake, Alberta

On April 2, 1885, a group of Cree led by the warrior Wandering Spirit, attacked this settlement out of anger at the way the Indian agent, Thomas Quinn, provided so little food they were half-starved. Before chief Big Bear could stop them, they killed eight more white people.

Regina, Saskatchewan

In 1935, a group of men desperate for work during the Great Depression decided to ride trains all the way from B.C. to Ottawa to complain, but the trains were stopped in Regina. A huge rally turned ugly on July 1, with one police officer killed in nasty fighting in the streets.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

One of the most famous protests in Canadian history took place here in 1919, when nearly 30,000 workers walked off the job to demand better wages and working conditions.

Ontario

The United Farmers of Ontario — their abbreviation, UFO, is great! — formed in 1914 because so many farmers wanted better education and community services than the government was giving them. The group soon became a political party and won the 1919 provincial election.

Quebec City, Quebec

On the weekend of March 28 to April 1, 1918, protesters were so angry about the federal government’s plans to force all men to serve in Canada’s war effort that they started a riot in the streets. Four people were killed.

New Brunswick

Thousands of people loyal to Great Britain came to New Brunswick in the 1780s after the United States won the Revolutionary War against England. These Loyalists were controlled at first by a powerful few, but soon protesters appeared to demand shared power, eventually becoming violent.

Prince Edward Island

In the 1850s, most of P.E.I. still belonged to landowners who lived in Britain. They were supposed to provide land for schools and bring in settlers, but didn’t bother. Starting in the 1850s, the tenants — the people who lived there — tried to force change by refusing to pay rent and taking part in riots.

Nova Scotia

In 1776, a former American soldier named Jonathon Eddy had won some support for his idea that Nova Scotia needed to join the Americans’ rebellion against Great Britain, and become part of the United States. They attacked Fort Cumberland with a small force that was easily beaten back.

St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

A group of rebels believed to belong to the United Irishmen were planning to attack British officers and merchants in April, 1800, as had happened in Ireland two years earlier. The plans failed and the men, many of whom were in the military, were hanged or sent away.

Project partially funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage.
  • Canadian Heritage / Patrimoine Canadien
  • Government of Canada
  • HBC: Hudson's Bay Company
  • ecentricarts inc.