Scouts Canada

Scouts Canada
The Scout fleur-de-lis and the maple leaf of the flag of Canada with two sticks to create a stylized tent or campfire.
Headquarters	Ottawa, Ontario
Country	Canada
Founded	1910, incorporated June 12, 1914
Founder	Baden-Powell
Membership	73,947 youth 26,873 volunteers 296 employees
Patron Scout	David Lloyd Johnston
Chief Commissioner	Andrew Price
National Youth Commissioner	Kaylee Galipeau
Executive Commissioner and CEO	Michael McKay
Affiliation	World Organization of the Scout Movement
Website Scouts Canada

Scouts Canada is a Canadian Scouting association that, in affiliation with the French-language Association des Scouts du Canada, is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Scouts Canada provides programmes for young people, male and female, ages 5 to 26.

Programs

File:ScoutsYorkminster.jpg

Canoeing, Scouts Canada, Toronto Troop, 1st Yorkminster, Toronto Ontario, 1978. Photo by Wayne Ray.

Full-time programs

Scouts Canada has five full-time program sections:

• Beaver Scouts, ages 5 to 7
• Cub Scouts, ages 8 to 10
• Scouts (also Sea Scouts), ages 11 to 14 (optional to 16)
• Venturer Scouts (also Sea Venturers and various vocational programs), ages 14 to 17
• Rover Scouts (also Sea Rovers and various vocational programs), ages 18 to 26

Programs are open to males and females.

Vocational programs

• Medical Venturers/Medical Rovers (Medvents/Medrovers) is a new program that consists of Venturers and Rovers that learn and provide first-aid.
• Fire Venturers learn basic fire fighting skills while working with fire departments
• Police Venturers learn fire arm safety, crowd control, and similar skills while working with police departments

Part-time programs

Scouts Canada also has programs designated as Part-Time Programs.

SCOUTSabroad

SCOUTSabroad is a program which was created to support the Canadian Brotherhood Fund. Scouts in wealthier countries like Canada help Scouts in developing countries help themselves on the road to self-sufficiency. The Canadian Brotherhood Fund provides through grants, “seed money” for many community development projects.

Groups of Scouts in developing countries develop and carry out projects to improve their own lives and the future of their communities. In some cases, members of Scouts Canada participate in travelling abroad to assist in carrying out portions of a project.

SCOUTSabout

The SCOUTSabout program aims to fulfill Scouting's mission with those children who are not members of a Scouting organization. SCOUTSabout is implemented in 3-month long modules, often after school, to appeal to those families who do not want or can not commit to year-round activities. Theme based, the focus is on structured play and learning by doing without uniforms, badge programs and ceremonies. SCOUTSabout is for children between 5 and 10 years old.

Extreme Adventure

Extreme Adventure offers the opportunity for young people aged from 14 to 17, to plan and participate in a variety of short-term adventure-based activities. Example activities are: hiking, long-term camping and travelling abroad to participate in humanitarian projects. The program seeks to realise Scouting's mission with non-members. There is no uniform and are no ceremonies associated with this program. It is designed to include development of leadership skills and self-esteem and the particiaption in community projects that is also offered through the ordinary programs. Extreme Adventure is based on the Venturer Amory Adventure Award concept.

Major awards

Scouts Canada has several major awards:

• The Chief Scout's Award was established in 1973 as the top award in the Scout section.
• The Queen's Venturer Award is the top award in the Venturer section. In 1968, the normal upper age for members of the Scout section was reduced from 17 to 14 and the Venturer section was created for ages 14–17. As part of these changes, Queen's Scout rank was replaced with the Queen's Venturer Award.
• The Amory Adventure Award is awarded to the Venturer company that exhibits the most initiative in conceiving, planning, and executing an outdoor adventure.
• The Medal of the Maple was created in 2007 and is awarded for distinguished youth service and excellence within the Scouting Movement.

Camps

Scouts Canada operates about 200 Scout camps across Canada. Well-known camps include Impeesa Extreme, Haliburton Scout Reserve, Camp Byng and Tamaracouta Scout Reserve. The Tamaracouta Scout Reserve is among the oldest continually operating Scout camps in the world.

Alberta

Camp Gardner

Camp Gardner is Chinook Council's Cub program base. Set within a forest of spruce and fir trees, and with the Rocky Mountains just a short distance away, a wide variety of activities are available at this facility from swimming and canoeing, to hiking and stargazing. Camp Gardner is open from February through November and also offers exciting weekly programming and fully catered meals for groups.

Camp Apistotoke

Camp Apistotoke offers a gentle, beautiful landscape of rolling hills and wind-swept prairies. Located within the picturesque Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, in the southeastern corner of Alberta, this area is famous for its wildlife, as well as, its lush forests. Moose, deer, and antelope are all common residents of this breathtaking area, along with more than 200 species of birds. Explore legendary Fort Walsh, canoe in Elkwater Lake, or take to the trails for hiking and mountain biking. Camp Apistotoke opens from February through November. Amenities at this facility include a commercial kitchen with lots of space for meal preparation

Camp Impeesa

Camp Impeesa, one of Canada's premier Scout camps, sits in the beautiful foothills of southern Alberta's Rockey Mountains. It is located 30 minutes from Pincher Creek, within the Castle Special Area Wilderness, which provides access to countless kilometres of trails for exploring. Camp Impeesa is open from May through October for regular programming and re-opens for the Senator Buchanan Winter Camp - a special challenge for Scouts and Venturers who want to experience winter camping!

British Columbia

Camp Byng

Located on the Sunshine Coast with almost a mile of ocean foreshore, this 200 acre camp is available to all sections, school groups and other non-profit groups. The camp offers large lodges with sleeping hulls, Wilderness tenting areas and Open-air "Troop" shelters. 1200 metres (3/4 mile) of ocean foreshore. 210 acres (85 hectares), 3 large lodges and tenting site sre available

Camp Whonnock

Camp Whonnock is modern camp located in a forested, rural setting. The camp managed by Fraser Valley Council.

Camp Whonnock is located in the Whonnock Area of Maple Ridge. The site is approximately 10 acres, and contain the Whonnock Scout Hall, and 7 cabins. It is close to Whonnock Lake and to the BCIT Woodlot, with a network of hiking trails. Whonnock has a two-story lodge with room for over 100 people. The lodge has a commercial kitchen with large gas stove and griddle, three large refrigerators, and a large freezer. There are indoor washroom and shower facilities, including wheelchair assessable facilities. There is a tenting area with fire pit and a picnic shelter.

Saskatchewan

Camp Seeonee (Pike Lake)

Located 20 minutes southwest of Saskatoon. Full service camp for year-round programs. Extensive treed program area with developed campsites available.

Anglin Lake Scout Camp (Christopher Lake)

Located 65 km north of Prince Albert. Presently open May–August. Contact the Scout Shop Store in Regina for bookings.

Camp Totowamihk (Moose Jaw)

Located 10 km south of Moose Jaw. Full service camp in close proximity to town. Treed and grassland program areas with some established campsites available.

High Hills Camp (Lumsden)

Located 10 minutes west of Lumsden. Semi-Wilderness camp with combination bunkhouse/kitchen. No power on property. Located in wooded area.

Good Spirit Camp (Canora)

Home to Campanoe. Located 35 minutes northwest of Yorkton in Good Spirit Provincial Park. Kitchen, dining hall, bunk houses, meeting hall. Waterfront wooded area camp.

Camp Thompson (Swift Current)

Located 30 minutes northeast of Swift Current. Kitchen and bunkhouse. Located in an open ravine setting with open areas alongside wooded areas.

Rowans Ravine (Rowans Ravine Provincial Park)

Located on Long Lake, 45 minutes north of Regina. Full service kitchen with power. Close to lake with marina facilities. No bunkhouse but building suitable for meetings and small groups. Grassland setting with some trees.

Heritage Lake Camp (Candle Lake)

Located on Heritage Lake, 15 minutes northeast of Candle Lake. Wilderness lakefront setting. Accessible in winter months with appropriate all terrain vehicles. Bunkhouse available.

Camp Gilwell (Prince Albert)

Located 15 minutes northeast of Prince Albert. Tree’d area with segregated campsites. No building facilities.

Rangifer Canoe Base (Nemeiben Lake)

Located on Nemeiben Lake. Good starting point for canoe trips. Small shelter.

Esterhazy Scout Camp

Located in the Regional Park in Esterhazy. Some program area available within the Regional Park.

Estevan Scout Camp

Located southeast of Estevan just outside city limits. River borders the northern boundary in a wooded area. Bunkhouse available.

Gillis Lake (Moose Mountain Provincial Park)

Home to Pi-Anue.

Cypress Hills Scout Camp (Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park)

Located in the Cypress Hills Provincial Park. Kitchen & bunkhouses in lodgepole pine setting. Full access to park amenities.

Ontario

Camp Timken

Located southwest of Iona, on about 60 acres. It is the site of annual international camps, with Canadian and American scouts participating.

Camp Bel

Located in Dorchester, Camp BEL is named after the late Bert Elgin Langford who donated the property to Scouting "for the kids of Dorchester". The camp is about half wooded and half open. It backs on the Thames River, which is suitable for canoeing. There are two rappelling/climbing towers, a high wire, a fenced obstacle course, a craft barn, and first aid trailer. Three clearings on the edge of Thames River can accommodate 75 campers each.

The camp has one lodge with two halls, Langford Hall and the Grand Howl Hall. There are six bunk rooms for six people each, washrooms with showers, and a complete kitchen.

Four camporees are held annually at the camp: Dorchester International Brotherhood Camp, Dorchester International Cubboree Camp, and Genesis Venturee, and Dorchester Friendship Camp

Camp Samac

Located in Oshawa, Camp Samac has more than 30 species of trees an environmentally sensitive creek and good hiking trails. This property offers many secluded campsites and large open areas to accommodate up to 1,000 campers with 7 municipal water taps and flush privies. There are 11 cabins on site that will accommodate 10 to 80 persons in bunks with mattresses, all cabins are heated with separate kitchens and flush toilets. The largest cabin has 6 showers

Camp Samac Adventure Base

Located east of Haliburton, the camp is a beautiful piece of Haliburton Highlands wilderness with half the frontage on Lake of Two Islands. This property offers outstanding opportunities for wilderness camping from a base camp. Samac Adventure Base has many developed sites on the lake that date back to the 1960s. Canoes, kayaks, sailboats, and wind boards are available with a sand beach for an exciting water program. There is a 1.5 km mountain biking trail with hills.

Jamborees

Canadian Scout Jamboree

A Venturer receives an award at the 4th Pentathlon Jamboree Fredericton, New Brunswick in 1976.

The Canadian Scout Jamboree or CJ is a jamboree run by Scouts Canada for members of the Scout and Venturer sections. The Jamboree is well known on the international Scouting scene, and will usually have several groups from other countries attending, most notable from the United States. The CJ that would normally have been held in 2005 was cancelled shortly after CJ'01 due to concerns about volunteer burnout. In 2004, CJ'07 was announced. CJ'07 was the first CJ held at a Scout camp.

• 1949: 1st Canadian Scout Jamboree, Connaught Ranges, Ottawa, Ontario. 2,579 attend.
• 1953: 2nd Canadian Scout Jamboree, Connaught Ranges, Ottawa, Ontario. 1,196 attend.
• 1961: 3rd Canadian Scout Jamboree, Connaught Ranges, Ottawa, Ontario. 2,095 attend.
• 1977: 4th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Cabot Beach Provincial Park, Prince Edward Island. 16,000 attend.
• 1981: 5th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Kananaskis, Alberta. 19,000 attend.
• 1985: 6th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Guelph Lake Conservation Area, Guelph, Ontario. 12,000 attend.
• 1989: 7th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Port-la-Joye—Fort Amherst, Prince Edward Island. 10,000 attend.
• 1993: 8th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Kananaskis, Alberta. 12,000 attend.
• 1997: 9th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Boulevard Lake Park, Thunder Bay, Ontario. 13,879 attend.
• 2001: 10th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Cabot Beach Provincial Park, Prince Edward Island. 14,000 attend.
• 2007: 11th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Tamaracouta Scout Reserve, Quebec. 7,000 attend.
• 2013: 12th Canadian Scout Jamboree, Camp Woods, Alberta.

Pacific Jamboree

• 2011: 59th PJ, Camp Byng, British Columbia, Gibson. 5,000 attend.

World Jamborees hosted by Scouts Canada

• 8th World Scout Jamboree, 1955, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario; first World Jamboree held outside of Europe
• 15th World Scout Jamboree, 1983, Kananaskis, Alberta

The 24th World Scout Jamboree will be held in 2019 at The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in Glen Jean, West Virginia. Scouts Canada will co-host along with the Asociación de Scouts de México and the Boy Scouts of America.

History

In the spring of 1908, just months after the book Scouting for Boys was published in England, Scouting came to Canada. Robert Baden-Powell wrote to Earl Grey, then Governor General of Canada, in 1910 to ask him to organize Scouting in Canada. Scouting was carried on as part of The Boy Scouts Association Overseas Department until The Canadian General Council of the Boy Scout Association was incorporated by an Act of the Canadian Parliament on June 12, 1914. The Canadian General Council continued to be a branch of the Boy Scout Association until October 30, 1946, when it became an independent member of the Boy Scout World Conference, now the World Organization of the Scout Movement. A subsequent amendment to the Act of Parliament changed the name to Boy Scouts of Canada. In 1976 the Scouts Canada logo was introduced and the organization, by its By-laws, adopted the name Scouts Canada. In 2007 The Boy Scouts of Canada legally changed its name to Scouts Canada.

In 1972, Scouts Canada began accepting female members as part of its Rover Section. This was expanded in 1984 to include the Venturer Section. In 1992, co-ed Scouting was an option for all program sections and became policy for all sections in 1998.

Recognition

On 6 July 1983 Canada Post issued 'Scouting, 1908-1983' designed by François Dallaire, based on a drawing by Marc Fournier. The 32¢ stamps are perforated 13.5 and were printed by Ashton-Potter Limited.

Organizational structure

A Scouts Canada Council Service Team member.

Scouts Canada is divided into twenty Councils, formerly called Regions, each representing a whole province or large part thereof. Each Council is headed by a Council Commissioner appointed by the Executive Commissioner (the top staff member reporting to the Board of Governors), and a Council Youth Commissioner appointed by the National Youth Commissioner. Councils are divided into Areas, formerly called Districts, each headed by an Area Commissioner appointed by the Council Commissioner, and an Area Youth Commissioner appointed by the Council Youth Commissioner.

Scouts Canada has two affiliated Scout associations:

• Association des Scouts du Canada
• Salvation Army Scout Association

Canada is the only country with more than one Scouting association separately recognized by WOSM. Scouts Canada and L'Association des Scouts du Canada are divided by language. A number of other countries also have more than one Scouting association that may form a national federation to receive joint WOSM membership. Scouts Canada and L'Association des Scouts du Canada send a joint delegation to meetings of the World Organization of the Scout Movement; this is coordinated through the Committee on Cooperation.

Prior to the installation of David Johnston (who has been given the title of Patron Scout), every Governor General since Earl Grey has been either the Chief Scout for Canada (prior to 1946) or Chief Scout of Canada (after 1946).

Mission

To contribute to the education of young people, through a value system based on the Scout Promise and Law, to help build a better world where people are self-fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role in society.

Scouting’s Mission is achieved by:

• Involving youth throughout their formative years in a non-formal educational process.
• Using a specific method that makes each individual the principal agent in his or her development as a self-reliant, supportive, responsible and committed person.
• Assisting youth to establish a value system based upon spiritual, social and personal principles as expressed in the Promise and Law.

Principles

Scouting is based on three broad Principles which represent its fundamental beliefs. These include:

• Duty to God: Defined as, The responsibility to adhere to spiritual principles, and thus to the religion that expresses them, and to accept the duties therefrom.
• Duty to Others: Defined as, The responsibility to one's local, national and global community members to promote peace, understanding and cooperation, through participation in the development of society, respect for the dignity of one's fellow-beings, and protection of the integrity of the natural world.
• Duty to Self: Defined as, The responsibility for the development of oneself to one's full potential physically, intellectually, spiritually and socially.

New initiatives

Scouts Canada has begun a process of active growth with the goal of doubling its membership by 2014. This process includes more direct program support to leaders; building on such things as a partnership with the Robert Bateman Foundation, a program help line, an award-winning Climate Change program and a variety of camping programs across the country.

Good Turn Week

Scouts Canada has designated April 14–22 as "Good Turn Week", encouraging all Canadians to perform a good turn for someone else. The organization has set up a collection system available via SMS short code or a website.

2011 uniform redesign

As part of this plan, Scouts Canada re-designed its uniforms with models designed by Joe Fresh Style. Beavers uniforms changed only in colour and fabric. While the major changes in the uniform design are seen in the changes to the style of the button-up shirt and its colour from khaki to grey, green, blue, or red, for Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, Rovers/Leaders respectively. It also offers a technical t-shirts for moisture management. As part of the re-design the sash was eliminated as a uniform component The new design has received high marks from Fashion magazine Flare stating that the new uniforms are both stylish and comfortable

This also includes new programs, such as Schools and Scouting - a program that uses Scouting's methods in a school setting.

Membership growth

During Scouts Canada's Leadership Summit in October 2009, it was announced that a million dollars set aside specifically for supporting membership growth.

Controversies

Child protection

Main article: Scouting sex abuse cases § Canada

In 2012, CBC ran a documentary stating that Scouts Canada had not always reported leaders who had sexually abused children to the police, relating to incidents that took place between 1960 and 1990. Scouts Canada subsequently posted a video apology and requesting a review of cases by KPMG's forensic investigations unit. The report from KPMG subsequently "found no systemic intent to cover up or hide incidents of abuse"

Youth protection

In the late 1990s , Scouts Canada modernized its screening practices for adult members. Applicants must complete a Police Record Check with Vulnerable Sector Check (which would turn up pardoned sex offences). As well, local volunteers interview applicants and check the multiple references they must provide. Scouts Canada volunteers are prohibited from being with a youth member alone; two fully screened volunteers are required to be present at all times. In the event that volunteers are suspected of misconduct, policy requires that they are immediately suspended and the relevant authorities are notified with all information shared.

Scouts Canada provides with some of its handbooks, and online, a booklet called How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse: A Parent's Guide. In addition, it is a badge requirement in the Scout program for parents and youth to review a portion of How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse: A Parent's Guide

Relations with other Scout associations

In 1998, the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association of Canada (BPSAC) was established in Canada, rejecting the modernization of the Scout method by WOSM and Scouts Canada in 1968. Scouts Canada challenged the association and successfully argued that the word "Scout", in the context of a youth organization, is a trademark held by Scouts Canada. Following this decision the B-PSAC reformed as the Baden-Powell Service Association. The BPSA, a member of the World Federation of Independent Scouts, now has independent organizations in British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick.

See also

• Scouting in Canada
• Girl Guides of Canada

SCOUTS ARE AWESOME

External links

• Scouts Canada
• Camps operated by Scouts Canada