From: abc@a123.ca   
      
   Canada brings out big guns to mark War of 1812 bicentennial   
      
   Monument, fort renos and much more in the works for 200th anniversary   
      
   BY RANDY BOSWELL, OCTOBER 11, 2011   
      
   A line of British soldiers are obscured by smoke after firing on the   
   Americans during a War of 1812 re-enactment at Fanshawe Pioneer Village   
   in London, Ontario.   
      
   The Canadian government has unveiled an ambitious plan to mark the 200th   
   anniversary of the War of 1812 over the next two years, including a   
   proposed national monument in the Ottawa area, investments to preserve or   
   upgrade a half-dozen historic forts, and support for a series of battle   
   re-enactments.   
      
   The government also plans commemorative coins and stamps, educational   
   programs and a major new travelling exhibit on the conflict by the   
   Canadian War Museum.   
      
   The war's bicentennial, hailed in a government statement as a "defining   
   moment" for Canada that "helped establish our path toward becoming an   
   independent and free country," is also being remembered as the last   
   significant military clash with the United States before two centuries of   
   peaceful relations along "the world's longest undefended border" — a term   
   not often used in government parlance in the post-9/11 era.   
      
   "The heroic efforts of those who fought for our country in the War of   
   1812 tell the story of the Canada we know today: an independent and free   
   country with a constitutional monarchy and its own distinct parliamentary   
   system," said Heritage Minister James Moore, who attended an official   
   announcement Tuesday with Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, a Niagara-area   
   MP, at historic Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.   
      
   "Had the War of 1812 ended differently, the Canada we know today would   
   not exist," said Nicholson. "The war laid the foundation for   
   Confederation and the cornerstones of our political institutions."   
      
   He said additional aims of the bicentennial commemorations will be   
   "boosting tourism and strengthening our economy."   
      
   The government said it also plans to use the anniversary to celebrate the   
   roots of the Canadian Forces and to highlight the links between present-   
   day military regiments and key War of 1812 battles, most of which   
   occurred along the current U.S.-Canada border between Detroit and   
   Montreal.   
      
   "The war was instrumental in the creation of Canada's military," noted a   
   government background document on the bicentennial. "Many Canadian   
   reserve regiments in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada trace their   
   origins to the war."   
      
   And while bicentennial events in both Canada and the U.S. will emphasize   
   the long-standing peace along the border, the Canadian commemorations are   
   also clearly aimed at promoting national unity and honouring the   
   aboriginal fighters who were key to thwarting American invasion attempts   
   during the war.   
      
   "It took the combined efforts of English- and French-speaking militias   
   and aboriginal Canadians, together with British military forces, to   
   succeed in defeating the American invasion," the government stated.   
      
   "The regiments that defended Canada, local volunteer militias and First   
   Nations allies include a long list of Canadian heroes, including Sir   
   Isaac Brock, Tecumseh, John Norton, and Charles-Michel de Salaberry, as   
   well as others like Laura Secord, who helped defend our country in a time   
   of crisis."   
      
   Secord, perhaps the most legendary of all historical figures from the War   
   of 1812, is remembered for a daring nighttime dash through the woods near   
   present-day St. Catharines, Ont., to warn British-Canadian troops of an   
   impending American attack.   
      
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