Name/Title
To quell widespread fears of our being the hub of similar militant ambitions... Political cartoon for the Vancouver SunEntry/Object ID
2001.02.09Description
Drawing
UCBC publication header:
February 17, 1977 - The retiring secretary Paul Bissley removes the last visible evidence of gunboat diplomacy.
Full title lower centre:
"To quell widespread fears of our being the hub of similar militant ambitions...we are tucking the cannonballs out of sight in a cupboard."
This cartoon shows a crowded gathering of elderly gentlemen members in formal dress seated in a wood-paneled reading lounge at the "VICTORIA CONSERVATIVE CLUB" [Union Club of B.C.]. The members, mostly dozing in large upholstered armchairs, are depicted as wealthy look-alike men with substantial walrus moustaches. One man with a newspaper is turned to his neighbour commenting on the headline "TORY-SEPARATIST ALLIANCE IN QUEBEC BYELECTIONS?" and a Club official in the background is walking away with three cannon balls in hand.
Founded in 1879, The Union Club of British Columbia is a landmark institution in the heart of downtown Victoria., B.C., considered the foremost business, social and cultural club in the city. It is now located in its third venue on Gordon Street at Humboldt. In 2017, the building was declared a National Historic Site by the Government of Canada.Artwork Details
Medium
Pen and ink on paperSubject Place
Region
Pacific NorthwestContinent
North AmericaContext
The retiring secretary of the Union Club at the time, Paul Bissley, is seen to be removing the last visible signs of gunboat diplomacy - the cannonballs. This image refers to Québec politics of the day, specifically the issue of its separatist movement.
The Parti Québécois (PQ), led by René Lévesque, defeated the incumbent Québec Liberal Party, led by Premier Robert Bourassa in the 1976 election. This set the stage for Québec's two referendums (1980 and 1995), ultimately unsuccessful, on the PQ's controversial proposal for political independence in an economic union with the rest of Canada called sovereignty-association.
Note: See description of Paul L. Bissley, the secretary of the Union Club (1949-77) in Susan Mayse, "The Union Club of British Columbia - Our First 125 Years" (Victoria, B.C.: The Union Club of British Columbia, 2004); 89-91. Bissley served as secretary for 32 years, 1949 - 1977, and he wrote "Early and Late Victorians: A History of the Union Club of British Columbia" (Sidney, B.C.: Review Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd., 1969). Both publications are available in the UCBC Library. He is also the author of "The History of the Vancouver Club" (Vancouver, B.C.: Vancouver Club, 1971).Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Leonard (Len) Matheson Norris, OBE, RCA (1913-1997)Role
ArtistArtist
Vancouver SunRole
PublisherDate made
Feb 17, 1977Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
London-born, Leonard (Len) Matheson Norris was a popular and longtime editorial cartoonist for the "The Vancouver Sun" newspaper. He came to Canada with his family when he was 13, growing up in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. He moved to Toronto during the Great Depression, where he found work in ad agencies. He soldiered in the Canadian army during World War II, and later became the art director for "Canadian Homes and Gardens" magazine.
Pierre Berton, a nationally renowned historian and then-owner of "Maclean's" magazine credited Norris with "single-handedly changing newspaper cartooning in Canada," and introduced Norris into newspaper cartooning for "The Vancouver Sun" in 1950. Norris was won a National Newspaper Award for Top Canadian Cartoonist in 1952, and his work was so popular that 27 collections of his cartoons were published. Norris continued to draw for "The Vancouver Sun" in the editorial section for 38 years producing an estimated 8,000 cartoons. He officially retired in 1979, but kept producing until he finally hung up his pen in 1988, at age 75.
Norris' cartoons skewered the idiosyncrasies and flaws of British Columbia politics and social mores of the day with a sharp wit, clever satire, ironic dialogue and directed caricatures. Norris cartoons remain popular today even though much of the original context is gone. Norris received an honorary doctorate from the University of Windsor. In 1996 the Simon Fraser University Library became home to 1,660 Len Norris original drawings. Over time, it is planned that their collection will be digitized and the Editorial Cartoons Collection Online will showcase the chronicling of the province's history by B.C's finest editorial cartoonists including Len Norris.
PUBLISHER BIOGRAPHY
"The Vancouver Sun" (The Sun), is a daily broadsheet newspaper first published in British Columbia in 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. "The Sun", now combined with "The Province" newspaper, still has the largest newsroom of any newspaper in western Canada.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
InscriptionLocation
Text of newspaper headline in image: TORY-SEPARATIST ALLIANCE IN QUEBEC BYELECTIONS?
Inscribed “To Patty Cathurst with Best Wishes, Len Norris”
@ Vancouver Sun
February 17, 1977Acquisition
Acquisition Method
Legacy collection - detail unknownRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
By Leonard (Len) Matheson Norris:
2001.02.09 Political cartoon “To quell widespread fears of our being the hub of similar militant ambitions…”
2001.02.10 Political cartoon “..on second thought, Fotheringay’s suggestion that it's a jolly good idea if we also embarrass...”
