The Anti-Confederate: Albert The Smasher – Full Animation

In 1864, Canada East and Canada West are locked in a hot political dispute, and their proposed solution includes the Maritimes–a new broader Confederation for the North American British colonies. But a fiery New Brunswick politician named Albert James Smith resists the resolution, which he thinks will have dire economic and political consequences for his province. FURTHER READING Looking For …

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Why does the past matter?

I once pitched a full-length movie idea about New Brunswick historical politician Albert J. Smith to producers at a screenwriting boot camp a few years ago. The response was ironic (beyond the obvious—that historical movies are too expensive), especially given the subject matter. “It’s not a national story,” they said. Excuse me? Not a national story? How Smith represented the …

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The Anti-Confederate Update

This is a large project. To celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation, we put the Coffee Cafe on hiatus and decided to produce a modest 3-4 minute animation about New Brunswick’s history around Canadian Confederation. Our plan was to focus on Albert J. Smith who led an anti-confederate government in New Brunswick in 1865, thus holding up confederation for a …

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Looking For Bootstraps

Look what came in the mail today! An advance copy of “Looking for Bootstraps-Economic Development in the Maritimes” by Donald J. Savoie.I had the pleasure of speaking with Professor Savoie about one of the topics of this book–the anti-confederation movement in the Maritimes between 1864-66, led in New Brunswick by Albert James Smith. This will be the focus of Codepoet …

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