Scoutdocs

Resources for Scouting in Canada
By Scouter Liam Morland

2020-06-14 Scouts Canada's finances

Year ending August 31, 2019

Here is a summary of Scouts Canada's finances for the year ending August 31, 2019. These are based on the Scouts Canada National Operation Summary Financial Statements, 2019. To create this summary, items which have both revenue and expense, such as fundraising, are shown only as their net amount. The bottom line is that Scouts Canada lost almost $3.5 million during the year, mostly due to employee future benefits. Their expenses are overwhelmingly related to staff and administration.

2007-01-22 Presenting Volunteer Recognition in Scouting

How to make honours and awards more effective

Effective volunteer recognition is an essential part of a successful volunteer organization. It is one important way that associations show veneration for the efforts of their volunteers. Volunteers who feel truly valued and who feel that their efforts are having a positive impact on the world will be encouraged to continue to give their time and effort. As well, public recognition holds up role models for all to see, encouraging others to follow the lead of those being recognized. The effectiveness of an award is impacted greatly by how it is presented to the recipient.

2004-10-12 How to Teach Semaphore

Scouts enjoy learning this visual communication method

The first step in teaching semaphore is to make some flags! Make enough that there are two flags for every two kids (or one each, which ever is easiest). Make the flags so that the handles are at least 12" longer than the width of the flag. The reason for this is so they will learn to make the handle an extension of their forearm, and not hold it by a short handle that can allow the wrist to turn and cause the flag to be pointing in any direction.

2004-10-02 WFIS World Conference 2004

Report on the World Federation of Independent Scouts meeting in BC

In 1996, some of the non-WOSM Scouting associations met in Laubach, Germany where they agreed to federate as the World Federation of Independent Scouts (WFIS). Six years later in 2002, they held their first World Jamboree in Denmark. There was a contingent in BC that was anxious to attend, decided not to because many members were from cattle producing areas, and Mad Cow and Hoof and Mouth diseases in Europe were in the news at the time. It was shame because it was a real deal financially. The registration fees for the entire Jamboree, including food and firewood, was 800 Danish Krona (about CA$125).

2004-08-03 Save Your Scout Camp

What to do before Scouts Canada tries to sell your local Scout Camp

Scouts Canada has started a process to sell many of the Scout camps in Ontario, a legacy that has taken over 95 years to accumulate. In the middle of the summer holiday they have announced that approximately 40% of Scouting's Real property assets are on the block. A short appeal period has been foisted on the unsuspecting. A national firm has been retained and will receive a handsome commission to flog this property. If there is an actual need to sell there are local firms available and a significant number with Scouting members who would take a special interest in obtaining the best price and charging the lowest commissions.

2004-05-17 Ontario Properties and Camps

The message is sell, sell, sell

The final session of the Conference was titled "Properties and Camps". Barry Hardaker introduced the session by describing the role of Ontario Council in property ownership. Ontario Council will formally cease operations at the end of August 2004. However, the "Incorporated Body" will continue to exist for the purpose of holding property in trust. Barry introduced Stu Eley who gave a presentation about properties. Stu is a director of the Incorporated Body. Other Directors are Ian Galbraith, Brian Anderson, John Edwards, Kim Derry and Brian Moore. The presentation filled the time allowed, leaving no time for questions.

2004-05-17 Keynote: Kenya Street Scouts

International Commissioner Tyler Arrell spoke about the Kenya Street Scouts

At the 2004 Scouts Canada, Central Division Conference, the keynote speaker was Tyler Arrell, Scouts Canada's International Commissioner. Scouter Tyler began by speaking about international child poverty. Many young people around the world do not have access to basic needs or the education that will allow them to contribute to society when they are older. AIDS has created thousands of orphans, many of whom now live in the streets.

2004-05-17 Program Updates

Julian Celms provided an update on the work of Scouts Canada's Program Department

Julian Celms, a staff member at the National office, gave a presentation about what the program department has been up to. Scouts Canada is cooperating with a Canadian Space Agency's Star Count program. The CSA is asking young people to perform a star counting experiment and compare the results with a similar count done by a Canadian Astronaut. The CSA and Scouts Canada have worked to create links with Cub and Scout space related badges.

2004-05-17 Celebrate WJ’55

2005 will be the fiftieth anniversary of the Eighth World Scout Jamboree

In 1955, the Eighth World Scout Jamboree was held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. This was the first major international gathering of Scouts outside of Europe. Over 11,000 Scouts attended from 71 countries around the world. The Jamboree of New Horizons, as it was called, was held in a tent city next to the recently reconstructed Fort George National Historic Site. Today, nothing marks the spot of this historic event.

2002-11-05 Membership Retention

What we can do about membership decline

Membership decline has been a problem for Scouts Canada for over three decades, but what can we do about it? I visited many Scout troops to find out. I found that amid membership decline are many successful troops with healthy and growing membership. This essay examines what makes these troops successful so that we can follow their lead. Topics include the role of badges, outdoor activities, giving responsibility to the Scouts, and the Scout uniform. This essay was written as part of fulfilling my degree requirements at the University of Waterloo.

2002-02 Klondike, Ho!

Resources for running a Klondike Derby, including a new sled design

Klondike Derby is a winter competition event for Scouts during which patrols will pull their Klondike sleds along a course in the woods. Along the way, they will be tested on Scouting skills at various stations. A derby is usually a day-long event involving a route of 7-8 km and about 20 stations. The event finishes with a formal banquet and the awarding of trophies. Klondike Derbies provide an opportunity for Scouts to apply their Scouting skills in a fun competition. The event can be made to come alive with the use of the lore of the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon.

2002-02 Klondike Derby Sled Plans

A new design for a strong, light, and inexpensive Klondike sled

Dissatisfied with previous designs for Klondike sleds, we set out to make a new design. We wanted a sled that was strong, light, inexpensive, and something that the Scouts could build themselves. The distinguishing feature of this design is that it is held together with rope lashings rather than with metal screws. In this way, the design is not really new. The Inuit have used flexible sleds for much longer than Scouts have been around.

2002-02 Scout Patrol Flags

Patrol flags are fun to make and help identify a patrol

Scouts may wish to make a flag for their patrol. Deciding on a design is a good teamwork activity, as Scouts will have different ideas which can be put together to create a single design. When the flag is done, it helps the patrol to feel like a team. A patrol flag is normally carried on a staff by the patrol leader. A flag can help the patrol to get organized. Scouts can easily find their PL in a group by looking for a flag held in the air. The flag staff can be put in the ground to mark where a patrol should pile their kit when leaving for camp.

2001-09-19 A Rover Ramble to the birthplace of Scouting

A journal entry from Kandersteg International Scout Centre, Switzerland

I am sitting in the staff room of the Kandersteg International Scout Centre 95 km South of Bern, Switzerland. A train is just going by on the track outside, having just emerged from the Lötschberg Tunnel, a 15 km train tunnel which houses the main line between Germany and Italy. The tunnel was built between 1906 and 1912. In 1908, a chalet was built to house the workers and their families. The chalet was abandoned after the tunnel was complete. In 1923, Walther von Bronstetten, Chief Scout of Switzerland, suggested to Baden-Powell that the chalet would make a great international home from Scouts. Impressed by the international friendship shown at the recent world Jamboree, B-P had been looking for a place where Scouts from all other the world could gather on a permanent basis. Thus, Kandersteg International Scout Centre was founded.

2001-05 The Hunt for Captain Rasputin’s Treasure

A treasure hunt program for Scouts

Many years ago, a band of pirates under Captain Vladimir Rasputin set sail to plunder on the seven seas. Eventually, they spied a Spanish merchant ship. They raised their Jolly Roger and prepared to fight. After the battle, the pirates sank the merchant ship and made off with a great treasure. But Captain Rasputin had been injured in the battle. They sailed to their hideout near Berlin, Ontario where Captain Rasputin died. In accordance with the captain's wishes, he was buried near their hideout, the treasure along side of him.

2000-10 Personal Camp Kit List

What a Scout needs for a weekend camp

Below is a personal camp gear suggestion list. This is an all-season list. You need to think about the weather and type of activity when choosing what to bring. Talk to your Patrol Leader or Scouter if you are unsure about what you need. You are responsible for making sure that you have everything you need and that it is properly packed. Your parents must not put things into your backpack for you. You need to know where things are packed so that you can find them quickly.

2000-09 The B-P Kit

This First Aid/Emergency Kit helps Scouts to Be Prepared

When in the outdoors, every Scout must Be Prepared for both ordinary camp activities like lighting a fire or cutting rope, as well as emergencies like getting lost or severe bleeding. The items below form a good kit to help a Scout to Be Prepared. These items should be packed away in a container that is easy to carry around, such as a waist pack. Carry this kit with you always when in the outdoors. It could be useful anytime.

2000-02-26 Extreme Adventure: Extremely Easy

All fun and no learning is not Scouting

In the past couple of years, Scouts Canada has started offering two new programs, ScoutsAbout (ages 5-10) and Extreme Adventure (ages 14-17). The new programs are intended to help "Scouts Canada reposition itself and expand its products" (Scouts Canada 1999:17). The programs are intended to "increase membership and involvement in Scouting". They are not "intended to compete with existing core Scouting programs, which will continue."

2000 Can the Rover Scout Vigil Change the Community Which Values It?

An analysis of the Rover Vigil as ritual

At the turn of the twentieth century, Lord Robert Baden-Powell of Gilwell saw a need to create a youth organization in which the youth could grow up to be a productive, responsible citizens within their communities. He created the Scout Movement, which has spread all over the globe. Certainly Canada is no exception. Through the aid of a resource, Rovering to Success (Baden-Powell 1922), Rover Scout communities have developed all over this country. The Rover Scout movement is based not only on Baden-Powell's proposed knighthood theme, although it is the most common. By employing the methodologies of Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner, it is the intent of this paper to explore a certain ritual in the Rover Scout Community, the "vigil," and to assess its potential to promote change within the Rover Scout community which values it.

2000 What is a Scouts' Own?

A Scouts' Own is an important part of the spiritual life of any Scout section

A Scouts' Own is an important and often misunderstood part of a Scout program. Most of the Scouts' Owns that I have seen are essentially distilled church services which do little for the spiritual life of those present, particularly those who do not regularly attend religious services. This essay is intended to help Scouts and Scouters run effective Scouts' Owns by providing a definition of Scouts' Own, some things that follow from the definition, and examples of how this can be put into practice. While I will use Scouts section terminology for this essay, Beavers' Owns, Cubs' Owns, Venturers' Owns, Rovers' Owns, and Scouters' Owns are important parts of their respective sections.

1999-09 Structured Play is not Scouting

Scouts Canada’s new program potentially to be operated by paid leaders

Recently, Scouts Canada has been quietly taking some initial steps down a new path. Those of us who read the Scouts Canada web site in detail ran across the mention of a project to develop a "play with a purpose" program in minutes of the May 1999 national meeting. I spoke on the phone with Ian Mitchell of the National Office who provided me with some details about the Structured Play program, now a pilot project in Toronto. This new program is in a new direction is two major ways. First, the program does not use the Scout Method and therefore is not a Scouting program. Second, there is the potential for the program to be delivered by paid leaders, rather than by volunteers. This essay, which is based on my August 1999 conversation with Ian Mitchell, will describe the program and offer some commentary.

1996 What does Scouting mean by Duty to God?

Scouting embraces diverse spiritual expression, theistic or not

One of Scouting's three Principles is titled "Duty to God." This statement has been interpreted in many different ways, some of which have lead to religious discrimination, a violation of Scouting's fundamentals. What does Duty to God really mean to Scouting? Duty to God is about the development of the spiritual values of life and is not a statement about any required beliefs about the material world. This essay is based on the World Organization of the Scout Movement's (WOSM) document Fundamental Principles which contains "the only authoritative statement agreed upon by more than one hundred member organizations of WOSM" (WOSM 1992:1). All quotations in this essay are from that document.

1996 Scoutmaster Investiture Ceremony

Recognizing a new Scouter at the front of the horseshoe

In this ceremony, a new Scoutmaster takes the place of the old. The two are referred to as Scouter New and Scouter Old in this description. The Officiate is usually a senior member of the group or a Commissioner, but any member of Scouting can be the Officiate. Adaptations of this ceremony can be used to install people into other positions within Scouting. This ceremony best takes place at an opening of a meeting or camp.

1996 The Uniform IOU

Loan uniforms to those who cannot afford them

The Scout uniform is too expensive for many people. In order to ensure that no one is deprived of Scouting due to financial considerations, the Uniform IOU was developed. A Scout and their parent/guardian will sign the form and be lent a Scout shirt until the Scout outgrows it or leaves Scouting. Scouts are encouraged to buy their own sash and, if this is not affordable, the group will buy it for them. This is done because a sash is a personal record of achievement and should not have to be returned. Here is a sample Uniform IOU.