Militias didn't have anything to do with rights or freedoms in Canada, What they did had nothing to do with Canada's rights and freedoms. In Canada, Freeman-Thomas hosted members of Royal Family, including the King's .... and Commander-in-Chief of the Militia and Naval and Air Forces of Canada THE MILITIA History is a guide to enlightened citizenship. Fearing imminent invasion by American soldiers several years ago, the military government of Haiti endeavoured to create a 'rag-tag' army out of new recruits and con_script_s. In dirty overalls and tattered tennis shoes, this make-believe militia armed with bulletless rifles and menacing machetes was intended to intimidate anyone who might think an invasion of the island would be little more than landing on its beautiful beaches. The ramshackle regiment was not highly regarded by local critics, who doubted its effectiveness because their faces didn't appear serious. Using this as a criterion for judging fighting fitness, one wonders what onlookers might have thought of the demeanor of the men in Upper Canada's militia two hundred years ago. History has a number of things to say about those part-time soldiers who were also hastily assembled to repel an invasion by - you guessed it - the Americans. The Militia Act was passed in the second session of Upper Canada's First Legislature in 1793. It was Lieutenant governor John Graves Simcoe's plan to appoint lieutenants for each county who were empowered to call out, arm, array and train annually all males aged 16 to 50. Because the numbers were less than expected, the upper age was increased to 60 in 1794. Other provisions in the Amending Act required every man to provide himself with a sufficient musket, fusil, rifle or gun with six rounds of ammunition, and to be available when called out for review, exercise or actual service. Later, arms were distributed to members of the militia who were required to sign a general roll kept for that purpose. Record keeping was lax initially and some men sold or bartered away the equipment they received. This resulted in changes being made that mandated a penalty for militiamen who sold or bartered away any part of the arms or equipment they received. Lieutenants were directed to take due and reasonable care to ensure there was no careless or wanton destruction of the arms or equipment. Failure to enroll, disobeying orders or other unmilitary behaviour resulted in fines ranging from 10 to 40 shillings depending on the rank of the offender. Refusal to respond in time of war, rebellion or any other pressing state emergency resulted in a penalty ranging from 20 to 50 pounds.Defaulters served six months to one year in jail. Money raised from fines and penalties was used by the lieutenants to cover the cost of drums, fifes, colours, banners, regimental record books and other incidental costs. Monies remaining were used for prizes for merit or awarded to the best shot during target practice. While the manpower pool was sizable on paper, it was often small in actual numbers and wanting in enthusiasm. Militiamen could be called to serve on land or water anywhere in the province. Those on horseback served as cavalrymen and were armed with waist-belts, swords and horse-pistols. While the governor could employ the militia either alone or with His Majesty's regular forces, it was not normally to be marched out of the Province. In time of war or insurrection, however, it was lawful for the Governor to march such part of the Militia of Upper Canada as he might think proper to the assistance of the Province of Lower Canada. Those exempted from the draft included civic officials, clergymen, sailors, physicians, sheriffs, masters of schools, ferrymen and one miller for every grist mill. Members of the Assembly also thought it wise to exclude themselves for the time being. Quakers, Mennonites and Tunkers, who for certain scruples of conscience declined to bear arms, were exempted from military service. They were required to register annually by December with the treasurer and pay a fee of 20 shillings in time of peace and five pounds in time of invasion or insurrection. These were not token sums and would have proven a heavy financial burden to the average farmer, the former amount representing a week's wages for a day labourer and the latter a month's wages. The following is one of many patriotic ditties used to persuade men to serve their king and country during the War of 1812. The Bold Canadian Come all ye bold Canadians, I'd have you lend an ear Unto a short ditty Which will your spirits cheer, Concerning an engagement We had at Detroit town, The pride of those Yankee boys So bravely we took down. The Yankees did invade us, To kill and to destroy, And to distress our country, Our peace for to annoy, Our countrymen were filled With sorrow, grief and woe, To think that they should fall By such an unnatural foe. Come all ye bold Canadians, Enlisted in the cause, To defend your country, And to maintain your laws; Being all united, This is the song we'll sing: Success onto Great Britain And God save the King. When officers of the militia expressed a wish to have a uniform of their own, Simcoe approved their request providing they purchased it themselves and it satisfied the following specifications: scarlet coat with plain gilt _meta_l buttons, blue facings and a white waistcoat. Trousers could be either linen or woolen or breeches and leggings. Officers on half pay were authorized to wear the uniforms of their respective corps on military occasions. Militia manoeuvres were occasions for picnics and parties all across the province. They consisted of a little drill and a lot of drinking as well as horse races, wrestling, boxing and rifle shoots. On one occasion, a bever hatt was given to the best marksman. The day usually concluded with a feu de joie. Described by onlookers as laughter-stirring spectacles, the early militia musters were considered ludicrous in appearance and importance. Not one garment of the assembled soldiers was kin to the other. A few wore partial uniforms and the rest were in multi-coloured clothes of every de_script_ion. Their weapons were even more difficult to classify, including as they did whips, bludgeons, hoes, umbrellas, canes, sticks and pitchforks. No training was involved. The men simply formed the line, following which they dispersed to the pub. Those who ridiculed the event failed to understand that the training was not really training at all. A muster parade simply served to keep the battalion roles active and up to date. Musters also reminded every citizen that as a militiaman, he was liable to be called out in time of crisis to defend his country. A notice in the Niagara Herald dated May 23, 1801 inserted by Samuel Street, Deputy Lieutenant of Lincoln County, instructed the militia to meet at Chippawa Bridge on June 4th, King George III's birthday, a day of rejoicing in the health of His Majesty. Unlawful absence resulted in a 10 shilling fine. In 1807 the parade at Niagara included a reception by Lieutenant-Governor Gore, who first reviewed one thousand militiamen formed in line on the plains. The Governor expressed the highest satisfaction with their conduct and carriage and thanked them for their alert appearance. They were ordered to be ready to march when the exigencies of His Majesty's Service required. Actual militia training was not begun until 1808. Depending on one's age and physical condition, militiamen were divided into two groups: embodied and sedentary. The well-named sedentary militia was a very cheap force to maintain for it existed only on paper for 364 days a year. Actual bodies were expected to match the numbers on the one day a year when they were mustered. Members of the sedentary militia were unorganized and untrained and usually employed as military labourers or guards. The embodied or active militia was composed of volunteers supplemented by ballot, that is, men chosen by lot. They were in better physical condition, received training and were frequently good enough to fight on the flank or along side regular troops. Just prior to the commencement of the War of 1812, Lieutenant Governor Gore returned to England on leave. He was replaced by General Isaac Brock who became both administrative and military head of the province. In June 1812 before President James Madison declared war on Great Britain, the militia of Frontenac County was already drilling in Kingston. The Gazette reported The Militia formed with troops composing the garrison and went through firing and other military evolutions, which they performed with the steadiness and precision of old Soldiers. Brock agreed and stated In His Own Words The Militia from the Bay of Quinte to Glengarry is the most respectable of any in the Province. From 1794 until 1812 the militia was largely unchanged. Its basic unit was a company, comprised of 20 to 50 privates and three officers: a captain, a lieutenant and an ensign. At the commencement of the War of 1812, Major-General Isaac Brock had real reservations about the reliability of the volunteer force. In a letter to a friend he confided that militia officers had succumbed to the inevitability of an American conquest. They were, he said, sluggish and indifferent and he fervently wished for an additional regiment of regulars. But Brock knew the importance of praise and he never missed an opportunity to commend and congratulate the officers and men on their efforts. In His Own Words In the great points of our security and defence, I persuade myself one Heart and one Mind will actuate all. I trust the regular troops and the 'interior force of the country' shall be found equal to any attack that can be made on us. Animated by every motive that can excite them to
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Militias didn't have anything to do with rights or freedoms in Canada, What they did had nothing to do with Canada's rights and freedoms. In Canada, Freeman-Thomas hosted members of Royal Family, including the King's .... and Commander-in-Chief of the Militia and Naval and Air Forces of Canada You sure like to waste your time don't you? The militas back then were far different from the so-called freedomite protector of rights and freedoms in the United States. The private militias in the United States that exist today don't have any resemblence to the militias that existed in Canada during the 1800's. Are you actually that dense? There's no need for private militas in the United States in this day and age.  The National Guard performs that role as it is advocated by the United States Code.

Militias didn't have anything to do with rights or freedoms in Canada, What they did had nothing to do with Canada's rights and freedoms. Whta they did do is have a role in domestic defence (which is far different from the so-called protector of rights and freedoms that the current U.S. private militas rant about). From the founding of New France until the establishment of a professional Canadian Army, the colonial militia played an extremely important role in the defence of Canada. Today, many citizen soldiers serve in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Forces. With Confederation in place and the British garrison gone, Canada assumed full responsibility for its own defence; it passed the Federal Militia Act in 1868 and Britain undertook to send aid in the event of a serious emergency, and the Royal Navy continued to provide oceanic defence. Small professional batteries of artillery were established at Quebec City and Kingston. In 1883, a third battery of artillery was added, and small professional schools of cavalry and infantry were created. These were intended to provide professional backbone for the much larger force of militia that was to form the bulk of the Canadian defence effort. In theory, every able-bodied man between the ages of 18 and 60 was liable to be con_script_ed for service, but in practice, the defence of the country rested on the services of volunteers who made up the so-called Active Militia, which in 1869 numbered 31,170 officers and men. During the remaining decades of the century, this force was consolidated, attending summer camps, parading about in colourful uniforms, and occasionally being mustered to serve in times of strikes and other civil emergencies. As British troops began to leave Canada in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the importance of the Militia (comprising various cavalry, artillery, infantry and engineer units) grew. The last Officer Commanding the Forces (Canada), Lord Dundonald, instituted a series of reforms in which Canada gained its own technical and support branches. These various services, called corps , included   a.. Canadian Engineer Corps (created July 1, 1903)   b.. Signalling Corps (created October 24, 1903)   c.. Canadian Army Service Corps December 1, 1903   d.. Permanent Active Militia Army Medical Corps July 2, 1904   e.. Ordinance Stores Corps July 1, 1903   f.. Corps of Guides 1902 In 1904, the appointment In 1904, the appointment of Officer Commanding the Forces was replaced with a Canadian Chief of the General Staff. On August 4, 1914, Britain entered the First World War by declaring war on Germany. The British declaration of war automatically brought Canada into the war, because of Canada's legal status as subservient to Britain. However, the Canadian government had the freedom to determine the country's level of involvement in the war. The Militia was not mobilized and instead an independent Canadian Expeditionary Force was raised, which eventually numbered four divisions which fought on the Western Front. In the later stages of the war, the four-division Canadian Corps was regarded as among the most effective and respected formation on the Western Front.[17] Because its component divisions were larger than comparable British formations (who were suffering manpower shortages by 1916), Canadian divisions came to be relied on as shock troops and used frequently in an assault role. This led to Canada's own manpower problems in the aftermath of the Battle of the Somme, and plans for a second Canadian corps and two additional divisions were scrapped, and a divisive national dialogue on con_script_ion for overseas service was begun.[18] Canadian troops were also employed to defend the British colonies of the West Indies from the German navy on the island of Saint Lucia, and later a contingent was sent to Siberia Following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Canada's Parliament supported the government's decision to declare war on Germany on September 10, one week after the United Kingdom and France. Canadian airmen played a small but significant role in the Battle of Britain, the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian merchant marine played a crucial role in the Battle of the Atlantic. C Force, two Canadian infantry battalions[19] were involved in the failed defence of Hong Kong. Troops of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division also played a leading role in the disastrous Dieppe Raid in August 1942. The 1st Canadian Division and tanks of the independent 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade landed on Sicily in July 1943 and after a 38-day campaign there, took part in the successful Allied invasion of Italy. Canadian forces played an important role in the long advance north through Italy, eventually coming under their own corps headquarters after 5th Canadian Armoured Division joined them on the line in early 1944 after the costly battles on the Moro River and at Ortona. and in addition to this, Mark, the Royal Canadian Army (Engineers) were a primary role in assisting with rescue and helping citizens cope with the 1948 Fraser River Flood, and the Canadian Forces (Land Force Command) served a primary role in the Red River Floods in the 1990's in Manitoba. There has not been any establishment of militias since the establishment of the RCA. The militia in Canada played a home defence force (as advocated by Parliament) and certainly was not the weekend hobby soliders seen in the United States today. Have yet to see these so-called 'protector of freedoms and rights' work within the realm of actually doing something useful other than parading around in t-shirts, jeans and year old runners. And getting back to the original post. If the citizens don't want some kind of yahoo militia around to protect neighbourhoods, why would the militia be around? Guess the rights of the militia goes above the rights of the citizens according to you, right? Sorry pal, doesn't work that way. and if there's irritation of the National Guard providing protection during the Boston Marathon, the Kentucky Derby, and during New Year celebrations in Times Square that irritates the supporters of these so-called militas, where were the militias themselves and why didn't they offer to provide the protection role? If they're not going to do it themselves, why complain that the National Guard is doing that?

of Canada You sure like to waste your time don't you? The militas back then were far different from the so-called freedomite protector of rights and freedoms in the United States. you still don't know the difference do you Kent or what freemen are about.....go away Kent you are a idiot...

BAxtor the death cult awaits... < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it wrote in message Dimwit Gerrald Arnasen < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it wrote in message Militias didn't have anything to do with rights or freedoms in Canada, What they did had nothing to do with Canada's rights and freedoms. In Canada, Freeman-Thomas hosted members of Royal Family, including the King's .... and Commander-in-Chief of the Militia and Naval and Air Forces of Canada You sure like to waste your time don't you? The militas back then were far different from the so-called freedomite protector of rights and freedoms in the United States. you still don't know the difference do you Kent or what freemen are about.....go away Kent you are a idiot... Mark, Freemen are those who are given honorary _title_s by the City for exemplary community service (which leaves you out for sure). It has nothing in this day and age to do with protection of freedoms and rights . The _title_ carries no special privilege, it is just an honourary _title_. Here is the explaination from the City of Victoria's Website: The Freedom of the City, the highest award conferred by the City of Victoria, is reserved for individuals who have brought recognition to Victoria through their achievements. It is also conferred upon military units. The City of Victoria began recognizing individuals with the Freedom of the City Award in 1927, after petitioning the Provincial Government to make an addition to the Municipal Act. The Municipal Act was amended on March 7, 1927 to read: For the purpose of bestowing honours upon any person distinguished for national or local services, it shall be lawful for the Council of any city municipality to confer, by resolution passed by unanimous vote of all the members of the Council, the freedom of the city on such person. Recipients of the award are recognized during a special ceremony at Council, which can comprise twenty-three parts, including of an address by the Mayor, a vote, taking of the Declaration and signing of the Roll of Freedom, march of colours (military) and taking the salute (military). Recipients also sign their names in the Mayor's Visitor's Book. The freedom of the city relates back to the medieval term freeman , meaning someone who was not the property of a feudal lord and who enjoyed privileges such as the right to earn money and own land. These were traders, merchants, and craftsmen, who were identified as those responsible for managing the City for the Crown . They had the right to set up the local court and the ruling council of the city