Chapleau despite 'wild surroundings' up-to-date community in 1939 Royal Tour booklet declares

A stranger might be surprised to discover  an up-to-date community like Chapleau considering its "wild surroundings", a booklet prepared for the Royal Tour of 1939 declared.

An excerpt from the booklet 'Across Canada - Commemorating the Royal Tour' was written out by either Mr. or Mrs. Richard Brownlee, and is included in the Brownlee Papers. If my memory serves me right this booklet was primarily prepared for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and the Royal Party who accompanied them on the Royal Train.

"Considering its wild surroundings, the stranger is agreeably surprised to find a spot so remote from what he calls civilization, anything so completely up-to-date as Chapleau.."

The writer, who would have made a trip across Canada before their Majesties paid a visit added, "...no shack-town but a busy railway divisional point, with electric light and power, three churches, public, separate and high schools, hotels, a library, a hospital, a YMCA, motion picture theatre  and bank  ---- and a nine-hole golf course."

As an aside, I have lost track of the number of times since I left the "wild surroundings" of Chapleau for so called "civilization" I have had to explain that the community was a most "up-to date" place and has been for more than 100 years. 

The writer also describes Chapleau's location most eloquently. 

"On the shores of Lake (he got that wrong) Kabequashesing (close) Chapleau is the pulsating heart of the Chapleau Game Preserve, which has an area of 5,000 square miles and is the loveliest many say in Ontario.

"Strict protection has enabled the speckled brook trout, lake trout, great northern pike. walleyes, moose, deer, bear and other game in the preserve to multiply so much that they have skipped over into surrounding territory. Countless lakes lead readily through these splendid fishing and hunting grounds."

The writer mentions canoe trips to the height of land, "the continent's backbone, dividing north from south bound waters", with"raging rivers through magnificent scenery..." This is only one of the similar journeys which may be made from Chapleau.

He seemed greatly interested in the "rolling school cars' operated out of Chapleau , and other Northern Ontario points with the "object of giving the children of scattered railway men and others remote from even the smallest educational centres an opportunity otherwise unavailable of acquiring not merely the three R's but high school standards."

The teacher and family lived on the car which also included a library, and there were between 30 and 40 pupils ranging in age from five to 20.

The article concludes by noting that Chapleau has a lumber industry  and is "situated in a rich gold, mica and copper district..."

Remember that this article was written mainly for readers, including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, who knew very little about Canada, In fact, as I was working on this column, I wondered if their Majesties had  read it.

Chapleau was not included for an "official" visit as the Royal Train was scheduled to arrive at two a.m. However, Chapleau Reeve George Fife wanted to meet the King and Queen, a message was sent to them, and they got up and met the Reeve, and other dignitaries.

Apparently, the King also conducted an inspection of 1181 Chapleau High School Cadet Corps who were on hand for the occasion.

Yes, Robert Fife, The Ottawa Bureau Chief of The Globe and Mail and host of CTV's Question Period is the grandson of Mr. Fife. Bob confirmed that his grandfather did indeed have Chapleau officially added to the Royal Tour.

Thanks again to Margaret Rose (Payette) and Bobby Fortin for loaning me the Brownlee Papers. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

King George VI meets George Fife at the Chapleau CPR station at two a.m. in 1939 without his chain of office

By Bill McLeod



In the late 1930s there was a lot going on in the world. King Edward VIII had abdicated in December of 1936 and was replaced by his brother Bertie who took on the new name of George VI. The official reason for Edward’s abdication was that he was messing around with an American divorcee named Wallace Simpson and wanted to marry her. Since the British sovereign is also head of the Church of England, whose crank was not turned by divorce, Edward chose Wallace over the throne.

But there were other issues that were causing great concern to the British establishment. Apparently Fast Eddie the King wasn’t too swift. War was looming on the horizon, and Eddie didn’t seem to be twigging to the gravity of the situation. Also, the British Government was worried that he was getting a bit too chummy with his German cousins and with senior members of the Third Reich. Getting rid of Eddie solved a number of problems but created some new ones. They sent him off to be Governor of the Bahamas – out of sight and almost out of mind. While Eddie was presiding in the Bahamas, Harry Oakes, the fabulously wealthy discoverer of Lakeshore Mines was murdered. No one was ever charged with Oakes’ death, but rumors swirled for many years that Eddie the Governor might have known a bit more about the case than he let on.

If all this seems like it has no connection with Northern Ontario, bear with me.

In 1939, the new King and Elizabeth, his Queen were sent on a tour of Canada. In addition to introducing the new royal couple to Canadians, the junket had another purpose. Since Bertie and Liz had not been trained or groomed for the throne, they needed to get accustomed to all the scraping and bowing. If they goofed, the bumpkins in the Canadian boondocks might not even notice.

Fast forward to July of 2000. The Queen Mother, now well into her nineties, gave a rather extensive interview to the Globe and Mail. One of the events the old Queen related to the interviewer was the 1939 tour of Canada. She specifically mentioned Chapleau.

Apparently the Royal train had to stop in Chapleau at 2:00 a.m. to take on water. The reeve of Chapleau at the time was a highly regarded man named George Fife. For many years Mr. Fife ran the town’s hydro generating plant and power distribution network. I remember him as a jovial man who liked to tease kids. He was the grandfather of Phyllis Crang of Sudbury, one of Northern Ontario’s best ever athletes. And one of his grandsons is Bob Fife, CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief.

When word came to Chapleau that the Royal Train would be stopping there, George Fife sent word to the crew that he would like to meet the King. Probably without much enthusiasm, George VI hauled his butt out of the sack, put on his suit and tie and went out on the station platform to meet Mr. Fife. After making some small talk, the King asked the reeve (mayor) if he had a chain of office. Not a man to pass up the chance to have a little fun at the expense of the sovereign, Fife replied that he did have such a chain “but he only wore it on special occasions”. That cracked the King up and, sixty-one years later, the Queen Mother laughingly told the Globe and Mail about her brief visit to Chapleau and about how funny the King found Mr. Fife’s comment.

There may well be another version of this story as I found out when I read Jean Chretien’s memoir, My Years as Prime Minister. Over his long career Mr. Chretien became quite close to the Royal family. One of the reasons they liked him and Mrs. Chretien was that they could speak French with them. On page 243 Chretien describes a January, 1994, luncheon with the Queen Mother at Sandringham. The old Queen got to reminiscing about the Royal tour of 1939. She recounted a dinner one evening with Camillien Houde, the colorful mayor of Montreal. She inquired as to why he wasn’t wearing his chain of office. Like George Fife, Camillien told the Queen that he did have one but wore it “only on special occasions”.

It’s difficult to figure out how the Queen Mother could confuse George Fife with Camillien Houde. But maybe this was an “all purpose” story she used whenever what she deemed an appropriate occasion arose. Who knows? It is a very funny tale.

On a more serious note, Camillien Houde was interned during World War II probably because he wasn’t as sympathetic to the war effort as he might have been. Something like Pierre Trudeau, only Trudeau wasn’t incarcerated. One of the jobs Houde was given involved dismantling some urinals to be melted down and used in the war effort. He was quoted as saying that he was required to “turn urinals into arsenals”. A pretty good line.

Bill McLeod has a new book coming out in 2010. For details email Bill at wemcleod@sympatico.ca