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TECHNOLORE: Banting birthplace creates Canadian shame
When non-Canadians ask 'what are the great contributions Canada has given the world', what is the first thing that flashes through our minds? Some might suggest Alexander Graham Bell – famed inventor of the telephone. However, Bell was born in Scotland and did a good portion of his work in the United States. For me, I reflexively think of insulin and Sir Fredrick Banting. I think of the five people I personally know who use insulin injections to keep themselves alive, people I wouldn't know if not for the work of Sir. F. Banting and Dr. Best. What makes Banting a true Canadian legacy is that he was born Canadian, stayed Canadian, and died Canadian – and undeniably improved the human condition while doing so. In 1999 Edward Banting bequeathed the 100-acre farm and birthplace of Sir Fredrick Banting to the Ontario historical society for $1. The town of New Tecumseth and the Sir Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation made a proposal that would have had 70 acres of the property to be designated as heritage property and turned over to the Foundation for creating a camp for youth with diabetes, an interpretive centre and museum, along with funds to restore the buildings. The remaining 30 acres would be sold for a million dollars, through the OHS (a tidy profit from a gift given in good faith for the sum of $1). The OHS decided to develop 96 acres of the land for more than 2 million dollars creating a unique (and embarrassing) situation. The Ontario Historical Society was now fighting against the heritage designation of the birthplace of the man who, in a 2004 CBC poll was designated one of the greatest Canadians in history, so that they can sell the land to developers for millions of dollars. When we look at the list of Canadian Nobel Laureates, a list which is often claimed to consist of 10-18 men (depending on how you count) we see that only 7 of these men spent the majority of their lives and working careers in Canada – Drs. MacLeod, Banting, Herzberg ,Polanyi ,Smith and Brockhouse along with Lester B. Pearson . How many of those seven were born in Canada? Sir Fredrick Banting, Dr. Brockhouse and Lester Pearson. Isn't the birthplace of one of these three men worth fighting for? London Ontario is the proud home of the Banting House National Historic Site of Canada. The bedroom there is carefully preserved and is where early on Oct. 31, 1920, Banting scribbled notes that would eventually lead to the discovery of insulin. That is a significant part of the story, but only part of the story. The beauty of the Banting Story is that they are a family born in Canada and remaining in Canada. The Banting family could easily be one of the richest families in Canada right now, and they could easily be able to purchase this land and build the center with the proceeds and profits from insulin except for one thing: Banting sold the patent for insulin for $1 so that it could be made affordable to diabetics. It is the Banting family that bequeathed the property in good faith to the Ontario Historical Society. Banting, when he found out his collaborator Dr. Best was not to be awarded the Nobel prize, gave half of his award to Dr. Best in great demonstration of his integrity. Where is our integrity? Where is the media outrage in all of this? Where is our Canadian pride? Where is the respect that Sir F. Banting deserves? I'm not sure - I am still looking. Hopefully we just momentarily lost our focus, and soon we will apologize to the Banting family for the disrespect we have shown to a man we consider one of the greatest Canadians. -- -- -- -- Dave Machacek is a London resident and writer with a PhD in neuroscience and is presently studying Science Education. Contact Dave by e-mail (see link) or visit online (see link). Opinions are those of the author. E-MAIL: Dave Machacek WEB: Scientificfoundation.com |
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