Canada One, the canoe that represented our nation in the flotilla that went up the Thames to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June 2012, will be on display in the Great Hall at Champlain College until mid-October.

“This is a remarkable voyageur canoe of historical significance and a great educational opportunity for students,” said Dr. Michael Allcott, head of Champlain College.

On Thursday, September 20, eight students, Dr. Allcott and Jeremy Ward, curator from the Canadian Canoe Museum, paddled the voyageur canoe from the rowing house on the East Bank of Symons campus to the shore at Champlain College. They carried it into the Great Hall where it will remain on display until mid-October.

“It was an amazing experience,” said Latheesan Sutharsan, a third-year student from Champlain College in Politics and History who helped with the canoe. “I have never been in a canoe that big before. Paddling together with everyone was a lot of fun.”

For Dr. Allcott, “connecting such moments of discovery, adventure, and engagement to opportunities for reflection in a learning environment is a hallmark of a Trent University education.”

The 26-foot canoe will be on loan from the Canadian Canoe Museum, and will be here as a part of the visit of Canadian author, Joseph Boyden, Trent University’s Jack Matthews Fellow for 2012.

Mr. Boyden, will give his talk, “A Walk to Morning” in the Great Hall on Wednesday, September 26 at 4 p.m.

"A Walk to Morning" focuses on the challenges faced by rural and urban aboriginal youth in Northern Ontario and elsewhere. In this deeply personal talk on an at times difficult subject, Boyden will address the issues faced by these youth, and ultimately, by all of us. 

Giller Prize-winning author of "Three Day Road" and "Through Black Spruce", Joseph Boyden returns to Trent as the 2012 Jack Matthews Fellow.  A major voice in Canadian fiction, Boyden's writings are powerful, compelling, and often focused on the tensions between aboriginal identity and modern life--a duality he lives himself being at home in New Orleans as well as the gulf of the Arctic.

The Jack Matthews Fellowship annually honours the memory of the founding Director of the Trent International Program, who established the ideals of Canadian global citizenship at the core of undergraduate life at Trent.