Neighbourhood clowns

Founded around 1952, the Brampton Clown Band was a regular at town parades, carnivals, and other events for children. Founded by Andy Cuthbert, and taken over by Vic Carter upon Cuthbert’s death. During its existence, which was at least until Brampton’s Centennial in 1973, the band won awards from the St. Catherine’s Grape Festival Parade, performed at the Minden Winter Carnival for over a decade, at hospitals as far as Orillia and Weston, and toured the senior’s home circuit. Consisting of fifteen members at its peak, by Centennial only the leader, bass, snare drum, bass drum, and banjo players remained.

The Etobicoke River: Contemporary appreciation (part 7)

Three deaths and millions of dollars in damage later, the Etobicoke River was diverted, no longer flowing through Downtown Brampton. Costing $1 million at the time, roughly $7.9 million with inflation, the diversion was paid for in full by 1973, nineteen years after being finished, but a full one hundred years after being approved by the province. While it’s doubtful you could catch a pan fish or trout, the dedicated nature lover can still spot a muskrat. Take a walk from the Brampton Mall, on Nanwood and Main, to Osler’s Peel Memorial Hospital, and appreciate the beauty of Brampton’s waterway.

The Etobicoke River: Finished just in time (part 6)

Almost 79 years after getting Provincial approval for a diversion of the Etobicoke, a concrete bemoth was put into construction, after the 1948 flood. Costing nearly $1 million (adjusted to $7.9 million in 2006), a quarter of the money came from Brampton, the rest from the Province. Notable local firm the Armstrong Brothers completed construction in November 1951. Two ceremonies were held, and a cairn still stands at Scott and Church Streets, to dedicate the diversion. This expense was proved justified the night of October 15, 1954, when Hurricane Hazel decimated areas from Mimico to Woodbridge. The structure held strong.

The Etobicoke River: The last straw (part 5)

Things were as bad as ever in 1946. A flood of the Etobicoke River cause $4.6 million in damages (adjusted to 2006), yet another man dead, and Downtown Brampton under six feet of water. To add a modern perspective to the situation, downtown New Orleans was under eight feet with Hurricane Katrina. It was clear the enclosed tunnel running under the downtown just couldn’t take such brute force. The newly founded Conservation Authority had already drafted a report that was sent into action, under the guidance of Mayor John S. Beck, during his sixth and final year in elected office.

The Etobicoke River: Coordinated action against the Etobicoke (part 4)

The city decided enough was enough, for the Etobicoke River. Too many lives had been lost, too many millions wasted on repairs. But, if anything were to be done with the Etobicoke River, it had to be done in proper co-operation with other municipalities. Otherwise, any actions would simply push the problem downstream. The Province passed an act in 1946, enabling the creation of conservation authorities. Now cities could coordinate and cooperate in their efforts against raging watersheds. A March 1948 flood, which caused $4.8 million damage, with today’s rate of inflation, put the downtown under six feet of water.

Where the girls are

In a couple of months, cable station TalkTV will be transformed into MTV Canada, sending many shows permanently to the archives of CTV. Among them is the recently cancelled self-titled Canadian talk show, hosted by Vicki Gabereau. Gabereau got her start in Brampton, as an announcer on CHIC radio, “Where the girls are”. Canada’s first radio station with only female announcers, before the 1970s it was CFJB, a station set up by Fenn Job in 1953. Two stations—one FM, one AM—catered to a variety of musical tastes. The station also featured Greek, Italian, Croatian, Macedonian, and Finnish-language programming.

(Note that if this ever is published, I'll have to revise it to bring it into the present.)

Premier Davis GOes to Brampton

While Pickering to Hamilton has been served by GO trains since 1967, Canada’s centennial year, an initial fleet of 40 coaches and nine engine cars soon had to be doubled to keep up with demand. During 1971 Tory election campaigning, Brampton MP and resident Premier Bill Davis promised development of a Georgetown line. Finally, in December 1973, the promise was a reality. Four new engines and 30 “new aluminium cars” were purchased, making six trips to Toronto daily. The service runs on CN rail lines, which were double-tracked in the 1960s, in anticipation of fifty freight trains daily through Brampton.

Beginnings of GO Transit

The year was 1964, and commuting began to take its toll on the townsfolk of Port Credit, Lorne Park, and Clarkson (now all Mississauga). The municipalities asked the provincial government to launch a study, looking at commuter transportation services. The Government of Ontario Transit, dubbed "GO-Transit" for short, was launched in 1967 as a result. The country's first made-to-order commuter service, it initially ran from Hamilton in the west to Pickering in the east, on CN lines initially laid by the Toronto Hamilton Railway in the 1860s. In 1973, the trains would finally arrive in Brampton, as the premier promised.

Failed suburban railway

Sir Adam Beck, the first chairman of Ontario Hydro, had the dream of connecting Toronto to the rest of southern Ontario. The year was 1917, and Beck quickly laid out plans for the Toronto Suburban Railway system. One of the many “radials” in his plan would head out from Toronto, through Churchville, Eldorado Park, and Huttonville. These towns have since annexed by Brampton. But Sir Beck had his dreams cut short, as the plans were soon taken over and sat on by Canadian National Railway. By 1931, the company officially scrapped the concept. Finally, in 1967, GO Transit service began.