Scouting and Guiding in Ontario: Difference between revisions

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'''Scouting and Guiding in Ontario''' has a long history. Although there is some dispute about the founding of the first [[Scout Group|Scouting Group]], 1st St. Catherines Scout Group has a documented existence from 1908. In 1955, the [[8th World Scout Jamboree]] was held at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. [[Scouting]] continues in Ontario to the present day, serving thousands of youths in programs that suit the environment in which they live.

* [http://www.zhr-kanada.org/English.html ZHR Polish Scouts of Canada] (''Związek Harcerstwa Rzeczypospolitej w Kanadzie'') was founded in 1996 and has units in the Greater Toronto Area and Peterborough, Ontario and is not affiliated to [[Związek Harcerstwa Rzeczypospolitej]] in Poland.

* 1949: 1st Canadian Scout Jamboree, Connaught Ranges, Ottawa, Ontario. 2,579 attend.

* 1955: [[8th World Scout Jamboree]] Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

* 1985: 6th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Guelph Lake Conservation Area, Guelph, Ontario. 12,000 attend.

* 1997: 9th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Boulevard Lake Park, Thunder Bay, Ontario. 13,879 attend.

Because much of scouting's programs are focused on the outdoors, a large number of properties have been donated or purchased and developed as scouting campgrounds over the years. Driven by declining membership, increasing costs, and liability issues, Scouts Canada conducted a property review in Ontario which concluded that dozens of camps should be sold. This has resulted in legal action between the Scouts Canada Ontario Incorporated Body and local Scouters. Action was underway in November 2005 and is ongoing. <ref name="Property Review">{{cite web|url=http://cgi.bowesonline.com/pedro.php?id=5&x=story&xid=199066|work= stthomastimesjournal.com|title=''Legal action over Camp Timken''|accessdate=2007-09-17}}</ref> Scouts Canada's camps in Ontario are generally administered by one of the four Administrative Centres. The following list is as of May 14, 2007 <ref>[http://www.scouts.ca/media//documents/CANCAMPS07.pdf ''Scouts Canada, Canadian Campsites and Outdooor Programs''|accessdate= 04-05-2008]</ref>:

* Blue Springs Scout Reserve (near Acton, Ontario)

* Camp Char'Bro (near Owen Sound, Ontario)

* Camp Everton (near Rockwood, Ontario)

* Goodyear Memorial Scout Camp (near Orangeville, Ontario)

* Green Bay Scout Camp (Lake Cecebe, Ontario on the Magnetawan River system)

* [[Haliburton Scout Reserve|Haliburton Scout Reseve]] (near Haliburton, Ontario)

* Camp Manitou (near Campbellville, Ontario)

* Camp Wildman Scout Camp (near Midland, Ontario)  

* Woodland Trails Scout Camp (near Stouffville, Ontario)

* [[Camp Opemikon]] (near Perth, Ontario

* Otter Lake (Otter Lake, Quebec)

* Camp Samac (in Oshawa]], Ontario)

* Camp Attawandaron (near Grand Bend, Ontario and bordering Pinery Provincial Park)

* Barber Memorial Scout Camp (adjacent to the Eramosa River)

* The Bryson Centre (in the north end of London, Ontario)

* Camp Cataraqui (east of Chatham, Ontario)

* Camp Cedarwin (near Kingsville, Ontario)

* Camp Impeesa (near Brantford, Ontario)

* Camp Mohawk (in Kitchener, Ontario)

* Mount Nemo Camp (near Burlington, Ontario)

* Ragged Falls (near Dwight, Ontario)

* Camp Shegardaynou (near Woodstock, Ontario)

* Camp Sylvan (north of London, Ontario)

* Camp Timkin (near St Thomas, Ontario)

* Camp Wadiscoca (near Wallaceburg, Ontario)

* Camp Wetaskiwin (near St. Catharines, Ontario)

* [http://my.tbaytel.net/scouts Camp Bimoba] (on Scout Island - Middle Lake, Kenora, Ontario)

* [http://my.tbaytel.net/scouts Grey Wolf] (Thunder Bay, Ontario)

The ''129th Toronto Scouting Group'' (also known as the ''Queer Toronto Scouting Group'') was believed to be the first group worldwide exclusively for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths and adults. The group was founded by gay activist [[Bonte Minnema]] and chartered by [[Scouts Canada]] in 1999.<ref>{{cite journal |title=First gay/lesbian Scout troop  |journal=Perceptions |volume=P133 (v17n8) |date=December 8, 1999 |page=28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=James |last=Brooke |authorlink=James Brooke (journalist) |title=Gay and Lesbian Scouts Received With Open Arms in Tolerant Canada |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/070300-02.htm |agency=[[The New York Times]] |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=July 3, 2000 |accessdate=2009-06-26}}</ref> Consistent with Scouts Canada policy, the group was [[co-ed]]. It made world headlines, including the BBC World News, when a story by Reuters first brought attention to the group's existence.

In October 1999, American Pastor Fred Phelps and his congregation at the Westboro Baptist Church planned to protest outside the Ontario offices of Scouts Canada. However, Canada Customs denied them entry into the country. This prevented Phelps and his church members from appearing, and left supporters of the group to rally outside the offices without opposition.

The group folded in 2001 due to a lack of interest.

[[Mary Malcolmson]] organized the first Canadian Girl Guide Company to be officially registered in St. Catharines, Ontario; their registration is dated January, 1910. A park in St. Catharines was later named for Mary Malcolmson. Other Guide Companies were registered later in 1910, in Toronto. The First Toronto Company held the first-recorded Girl Guide Camp in Canada on the banks of the Credit River in June, 1911. By 1912, the movement had spread to all parts of Canada, and had become so popular that on July 24, 1912 [[Agnes Baden-Powell]] created Lady [[Mary Pellatt]] "[[Chief Commissioner]] of the Dominion of Canada Girl Guides". Many Guide events were held at her home, [[Casa Loma]], in Toronto. It is now a tourist attraction with a special Girl Guide display.

In 1955, the 8th World Scout Jamboree was held at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. This was the first World Jamboree to be held in the Western Hemisphere. The setting was a rolling parkland, and 11,000 Scouts attended this gathering, which was notable for the number of Scout contingents that crossed the Atlantic by air to attend—1,000 from Great Britain alone.

[[Scouting memorials]] include a Thompson Seton Park in Toronto, Ontario,<ref name="ETS Park">{{cite web|url=http://www.toronto.ca/parks/parks_gardens/etseton2.htm|work= toronto.ca|title=''Toronto Parks'' |accessdate=2007-09-17}}</ref> a historic plaque in Lindsay, Ontario and, the commemorative for the [[8th World Scout Jamboree]] in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario where the 50th Anniversary Plaque is located near Butler's Barracks.<ref name="50th Plaque">{{cite web |url=http://wj55.org/Plan_Your_Visit.php |work=[http://wj55.org/ wj55.org] |title=Plan Your Visit |accessdate=2007-09-17}}</ref>

[[Category:Scouting and Guiding in Canada|Ontario]]