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Cuts to 2025 Foreign Aid budget – what would Lotta say?

“Scientists tell us there is no longer any excuse for human starvation, yet 2/3 of mankind remain hungry, while the world spends 150 billion dollars a year on armaments.” [Lotta Hitschmanova, 1969]

During the spring 2025 federal election campaign in Canada, our now Prime Minister made it crystal clear to voters, “My government will not cut foreign aid.”

And yet, he and they have done just that. At the same time, they have called for massive increases in defense spending. How is this possible? Does it make any sense at all?

There was a time – thanks to the extraordinary efforts of humanitarians like Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova – when Ottawa was considered to be a Canadian centre for compassion and caring for those less fortunate around the world. That time, sadly, appears to be in the rearview window. Continue reading →

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Remembering Lotta on International Women’s Day 2025

Development often starts with a woman. Support leadership programs for women through the USC, 56 Sparks Street, Ottawa. [Lotta Hitschmanova, 1978.]

Today is International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate the achievements and lasting impact of remarkable women like Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova C.C. (1909-1990), whose message of compassion, hope and peace has never been more relevant than in 2025.

Dr. Lotta, as she was known, was a beloved Canadian humanitarian who arrived penniless in Canada in 1942, as a Jewish Czech WWII refugee. Continue reading →

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Remembering Lotta on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (2025)

“Now when I walk the fields of the camp and see the ashes coming out of the earth, another soul has a name.”

Today, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, is the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. It is a time to mourn and remember the six million victims of Nazi atrocities, as well as traumatized survivors and their families.

Many stories of remembrance are being shared today. One of these concerns beloved Canadian humanitarian, Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova, CC (1909-1990).

Lotta’s story

From the 1940s to the 1970s, Lotta Hitschmanova was perhaps the most famous woman in Canada. And yet, few today are aware of her tragic personal story. Continue reading →

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Terry Fox, yes! But no Lotta or Crowfoot?

On December 16, Canada’s Department of Finance announced the following:

“The 2024 Fall Economic Statement announces that Terry Fox will appear on the next $5 bank note. Sir Wilfrid Laurier will move from the $5 bank note to appear on the next version of the $50 note.”

There can be no doubt that the choice of Terry Fox is both inspirational and universally applauded. However, I have to express my disappointment with the decision to move Laurier over to the $50 note.

This was a missed opportunity. A full four years ago, after extensive consultations, a short list of 8 fully-vetted banknote candidates were submitted to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland for her final decision.

Three years later, given the slow decision making process, I proposed a radical makeover of our whole banknote system. Continue reading →

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Celebrating Lotta’s legion of loyal supporters: Helen Backhouse (1931-2024) and John Backhouse (1931-2023)

Being true to the “Lotta Hitschmanova” spirit, they decided to donate what would have been their airfare to the organization that Lotta had founded.

Today is the 115th anniversary of the birth of beloved humanitarian Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova, CC — a time to celebrate her life’s work, but also a time to celebrate some of the remarkable Canadians that she herself inspired.

Today I’d like to feature two dear friends who sadly are no longer with us: Helen Backhouse who died in February 2024 and John Backhouse who died in September 2023.

I owe a lot to Helen and John, as it is fair to say that if I had never met them, I don’t think I would have created this website in honour of Dr. Lotta. More on this later.

Continue reading →

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A radical new proposal: let’s give Lotta, Crowfoot and Terry Fox each their own banknote!

“Grouped together, their collective life’s work offers us the hope of a caring and reconciliatory spirit for generations to come.”

As fans of Canadian humanitarian Lotta Hitschmanova celebrate her 114th birthday today, they’ll be pleased to know her name is still on the short list of 8 notable Canadians to appear on our new $5 banknote.

It’s been a long time (over 3 years) since the short list was created, after more than 600 nominees had been submitted by Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

I suspect it may be challenging for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to choose a single individual to appear on the banknote, so a year ago I proposed a creative solution to the problem:

To select Terry Fox, Lotta Hitschmanova and Isapo-muxika (Crowfoot) to appear together on our next $5 banknote.

All three are iconic figures who lived in different time periods in Canadian history. Individually, each represents an important social element in our uniquely Canadian story.

While grouped together, their collective life’s work offers to us the hope of a caring and reconciliatory spirit for generations to come.

I think this idea still has merit. However, I do acknowledge there could be some design problems in blending all 3 heroes onto one banknote. So I have come up with an even better solution:

Let’s give Lotta, Crowfoot and Terry Fox each their own banknote!

With the changing of the $20 banknote to King Charles, here is the current situation of our 5 Canadian banknotes: Continue reading →

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Celebrating Lotta’s legion of loyal supporters: Dr. Vernon Burrows, OC (1930-2020)

Canadian plant breeder, Dr. Vernon Burrows, died peacefully in Ottawa on November 8, 2020.

He achieved world renown for his research on oats and was a pioneer in developing hull-less, “naked” oat varieties.

He was also a big fan of Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova, who inspired him when he first heard her giving a talk in the 1970s at the Unitarian church in Ottawa.

A year after Lotta’s death in 1990, he honoured her by naming a naked oat variety he had developed: AC Lotta! Continue reading →

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Addendum: Let’s put Lotta on a Stamp!

Today is World Refugee Day and I would like to share a new idea that goes well beyond my original “Let’s put Lotta on a Stamp” idea.

In short, I have proposed to Canada Post that they create an ongoing “Refugees to Canada Who Made a Difference” stamp series, launching this series in 2022 with a commemorative stamp honouring Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova.

You can read the reasons for my proposal below, in correspondence with the Director of Stamp Services:

Continue reading →

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Let’s put Lotta on a Stamp!

My sincere thanks go out to the more than 1,300 individuals who signed the “Let’s put Lotta on a Stamp” petition.

I have just written a letter to the Stamp Advisory Committee of Canada Post proposing that a commemorative stamp be made in honour of Lotta Hitschmanova.

I will keep readers updated on any developments, as soon as I learn of them myself.

Here is my letter:

It is my great pleasure to propose to you that a Canadian commemorative stamp be created in the name of Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova, CC (1909-1990).

Here are a few of the reasons why I feel Dr. Lotta – as she affectionately came to be known – should be honoured in this way. Continue reading →