The following ramble is about the number of
Canadian provinces and Territories and how they figure
into the CQ/RJ WW RTTY DX CONTEST rule X.
It is a compilation of several e-mails I have written
in the past few days and I'm afraid has gotten rather
long winded with all the pertinent information, both
current and historical. Sorry for the bandwidth!
There has never been a province of Labrador (VO2).
====
In pre-confederation days with Canada the ownership of
Labrador was disputed between Quebec and Newfoundland.
In a 1927 British Privy Council ruling the sole ownership
of that parcel of land known as Labrador was given to
Newfoundland. Years later, after a referendum, Newfoundland
entered into confederation with Canada on March 31, 1949,
as Canada's 10th province.
In recent years there has been a push on to give the Labrador
name more prominence in Government particularly since the
discovery of a world class nickel deposit at Voisey's Bay, Labrador
The following are two excerpts from Government Press Releases
quote
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 29, 1999
(Executive Council)
The following statement was issued today by Premier Brian Tobin.
It was also read in the House of Assembly:
I will rise after question period today to put forth a motion to change
the province's official name from the Province of Newfoundland to the
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 26, 2001
(Executive Council)
Federal government moves forward with province's
request for provincial name change
Premier Roger Grimes, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister
Tom Lush and Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs Minister
Ernie McLean are pleased the Government of Canada has
introduced a resolution in the House of Commons today to
change the province's official name from the Province of
Newfoundland to the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The resolution was brought forward by Brian Tobin, MP for
Bonavista-Trinity Conception and Minister of Industry Canada,
at the request of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
end quote
In has been my understanding from several Newfoundland amateurs
the the callsign prefix of "VO" was/is to be reserved solely for
the use of the citizens of Newfoundland under Terms of Union written
sometime in the 1947 era. I do not know this factually.
VO1 has always been the island of Newfoundland in Zone 5
VO2 has always been Labrador and in Zone 2
BOTH of course in the "Province of Newfoundland"
now know as the "Province of Newfoundland and Labrador."
Now for the global picture.
The Offical Canada Post Corporation Province
and Territory symbols are:
AB = Alberta
BC = British Columbia
MB = Manitoba
NB = New Brunswick
NF = Newfoundland
NT = Northwest Territories
NS = Nova Scotia
NU = Nunavut
ON = Ontario
PE = Prince Edward Island
QC = Quebec
SK = Saskatchewan
YT = Yukon
10 Provinces and 3 Territories ( NT, NU, YT ) for a total of 13.
( source is the The Canadian Postal Code Directory 2002
published by Canada Post Corporation, page xiv )
The Offical Rules for the 2002 CQ/RJ WW RTTY DX Contest
as published in July 2002 CQ pages 92 and 93 under catagory
"X Multipliers:" contains two errors in the treatment of Canadian
areas. The first error is VE1 (NB, NS); actually VE1 can
be three provinces. Originally VE1 was NS, NB and PEI and at
the time(s) that VE9 for NB and VY2 for PEI were introduced
existing amateurs in the -new- call sign areas were permitted to
keep their original VE1 call if they so wished or to apply for a
new call with the new prefix. One of the reasons for the new
call sign prefixes was to give each province it's own prefix. As I
recall the main reason to allow the continued use of an existing
VE1 call sign in NB and PEI was to quell opposition for the change
from those who wanted to retain a VE1 call they may have held
for years.
The second error was the omission of the VE9 call area.
The above quoted rule ("X") says "Canadian areas" NOT
"provinces & territories". Was this deliberate wording or
was the writer simply not sure what to call Canadian regional
political entities. What is the significance of the bracketed
info (prov and terr.) after 5 of the prefixes listed? Is there any?
Four of those listed five are single political entity call areas any
way.
It seems to me that there are really only two choices here:
1) Call Sign Areas with fourteen multipliers as follows:
VE1 = NS (slim chance of being NB or PE)
VE2 = QC
VE3 = ON
VE4 = MB
VE5 = SK
VE6 = AB
VE7 = BC
VE8 = NT
VE9 = NB (missed in rule X)
VO1 = NF
VO2 = NF
VY1 = YT
VY2 = PE
VY0 = NU
or
2) Provinces and Territories with 13 multipliers
as documented by Canada Post Corporation (see above).
Just to complicate the issue we now use "VA" prefixes as well.
The question is raised as to what a VO2 station sends as his/her
area. They are in the "Province of Newfoundland and Labrador"
with an offical CPC symbol of "NF". What have they done in the
past? What should they do now and in the future?
It is now up to the contest organizer(s) to set the record straight
as to what their intentions are for this years contest (and re-write
Rule X for future contests).
73 Don -VE1AOE-
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