What's the significance of the Franklin discovery to Canadians today?
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Introduction
The discovery this past week of one of the ships of the Franklin expedition in the Arctic, missing for nearly 170 years, made headlines around the world. What really happened to the two British naval ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror lost in the ice in 1846 is one of the great historical mysteries of Arctic exploration. The mid-19th century loss has been likened to losing an expedition to the moon today.
One person, William Battersby, who we will speak to later in the program wrote, "Today's announcement by Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, that Parks Canada have located one of the ships of Sir John Franklin's lost Expedition on the bed of Victory Strait, is the biggest archaeological discovery the world has seen since the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb almost 100 years ago."
It is indeed a spectacular find. In the days when Sir John Franklin set out from Britain to find the Northwest Passage, the Arctic was seen as a remote and dark frontier far beyond the reach of civilization. Only a few had the courage to pit their strength against the known and unknown dangers. It was the stuff of dreams and myth. Franklin was charged with finding and claiming the Northwest Passage for the British Empire. It was his third attempt ...and his third failure, the last one fatal.
As the years passed, many and all efforts to find the lost ships also failed, adding to the myth and the mystery.
Recently with new private and government support, Canada took hold of the quest, and with dedicated ships, a lot of technology and closer attention to the stories of the people who lived in the Arctic, this week it paid off.
And perhaps in the process, the find has bolstered Canada's own claim to its north and the famed passage. Prime Minster Stephen Harper made it something of a personal challenge. This week he gave credit to the cooperative effort of Parks Canada, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Arctic Research Foundation, the Canadian Coast Guard, the Royal Canadian Navy, and the Government of Nunavut. We want to know what you think.
What is it about this failed expedition that captures the imagination? Why has Canada taken such an interest in what was purely a British endeavour? Is the idea of exploring new frontiers something that is important to people ...perhaps something that is lacking today? Does history have lessons to teach about such early efforts to reach out and break new barriers?
Our question today: "What's the significance of the Franklin discovery to Canadians today?
I'm Rex Murphy ...on CBC Radio One ...and on Sirius XM, satellite radio channel 169 ...this is Cross Country Checkup.
- Andrew Campbell
Parks Canada Vice President. Researchers from Parks Canada led the search for the sunken Franklin ships. - Peter Mansbridge
Host of CBC TV's The National and Chief Correspondent of CBC News.
Twitter: @petermansbridge - Dorothy Harley Eber
Author of Encounters on the passage: Inuit Meet the Explorers. - Rob Huebert
Associate Professpr of Political Science at the University of Calgary; Senior Research Fellow for the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies; on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Polar Commission. - William Battersby
Franklin expedition researcher and author of James Fitzjames: The Mystery Man of the Franklin Expedition
Links
CBC.ca
- Lost Franklin expedition ship found in the Arctic
- Franklin ship discovery just the 'beginning'
- Franklin find as much about sovereignty as solving a mystery
- The Franklin Expedition - special feature
National Post
- Dive team rushing to site of newly discovered Franklin expedition ship before winter freeze
- Full Pundit: Sir John Franklin, I presume?
- Stephen Harper's Arctic ship comes in with Franklin expedition find
- Franklin expedition ship found, PMO says
- Harper uses mystery surrounding Sir John Franklin as symbol of Arctic development, by Michael Den Tandt
Globe and Mail
- Long-lost Franklin ship found in Arctic, solving 169-year-old mystery
- Fate of Franklin's ship and gold will be decided by 1997 Canada-U.K. deal
- The Franklin discovery's not about what, but where, by Ken McGoogan
- Unravelling the ancient mystery of John Franklin's lost ships
- Finding of Franklin ship fuels Harper's new nationalism
- Editorial: Why is the Franklin expedition such a Canadian story?
Macleans
- Face to face with a Franklin crew member, 140 years later
- Why everyone wants a piece of the Arctic, by Luiza Ch. Savage
Canadian Encyclopedia
Canadian Geographic