4th Halifax Highland Scout Troop Scots Highland Company

Introduction
The 4th Halifax Highland Scout Troop was a Boy Scout troop based in South End Halifax, Nova Scotia. Created in 1922 by members of the Halifax North British Society, the organization was part of Scouts Canada until 2001. The largest Scout troop in Nova Scotia for several decades, 4th Halifax played a significant role in the lives of thousands of young Nova Scotian men. In 2001 the troop broke from Scouts Canada and operated as an independent organization under the name The Scots Highland Company, a Scouts-like organization for male youths. The Scots Highland Company eventually disbanded in 2007.
4th Halifax Highland Scout Troop: 1922-2001
Following the First World War members of Halifax's North British Society wished to create a memorial to honour those from their organization who had died while serving overseas. It was initially suggested that the society erect a memorial statue or cenotaph. However, like many communities across Canada following the Great War, the City of Halifax had already erected a memorial to honour all of the members of the city who had died in the war. Instead, it was eventually suggested that the North British Society create a Scout troop as a living memorial to those members who had died.
Established in 1907, the Scouting movement reflected ideals of discipline, patriotism to crown and country, and the betterment of one's society - many of the same ideals which had driven many of the North British Society's members to enlist in the First World War. In fact, the organization, dress, and activities of the Scouting movement were based upon the military training program designed by Lord Baden-Powell, and which was initially used to train British military recruits the art of reconnaissance, independent thinking, and the skills needed to survive in the wilderness. Especially within the British Empire, the movement also borrowed numerous symbols and customs from the British military, resulting in a youth movement which very much resembled a kind of military cadet corps, but which did not have the aim of creating future soldiers, but simply creating resourceful, honest, and useful members of society.
The member of the North British Society most responsible for the creation of the 4th Halifax Highland Scout Troop was one of its former presidents, A. Murray MacKay. During the 20th century MacKay would act as President, and then Chief Executive Officer of Maritime Telephone and Telegraph, a prominent fund-raiser for local charities, and the first chair of the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission. As the chairman of the committee which established the troop, MacKay served in that role from the troop's inception in 1922 until 1977. Based at St. Andrew's United Church on Robie Street in South End Halifax, the troop typically numbered between 20 and 30 Scouts during the 1920s and 1930s. However, with the Second World War and the accompanying popularity of having youth reflect the discipline and resourcefulness of the military, the troop's membership rose to between 30 and 50 members.
From the outset, the 4th Halifax Highland Scout Troop had been established to be a kilted troop. The kilts were supplied by the North British Society, which encouraged its members to provide the funding for the purchase of a kilt. However, each North British member who provided such funding was allowed to choose the tartan of the kilt purchased. This resulted in the troop, the members of which were supposed to wear identical uniforms, wearing a wide range of different tartan kilts. This situation continued until the 1980s when a concerted effort was made to have the entire troop kilted in red Fraser tartan.
The Fraser tartan was selected as the troop tartan in honour of Sir Charles Frederick Fraser, one of the troop's first leaders. Fraser was superintendent of the Halifax School for the Blind (later Sir Frederick Fraser School), and it was after his death in 1925 that the troop adopted the Fraser tartan as "troop tartan" in recognition of his contributions to the organization. However, while the neckerchiefs worn by the troop were Fraser tartan, few of the kilts were of the same design. Recognizing this inconsistency, as well as the need to replace the troop's aging collection of kilts, the troop leadership began a fundraising campaign in the 1980s to gradually replace the troop's kilts with a new collection of all-Fraser kilts. Indeed, replacement of the non-Fraser kilts was just one of the improvements to the troop's equipment which the troop's leadership team wished to make. The collection of the necessary funds for these changes began with a donation by MacKay of $1000 in the late 1970s. Placed in a charitable trust and added to through various fund raising campaigns, the troop was able to accumulate approximately $100,000 over the next 20 years. This money was put towards purchasing and maintaining equipment, as well as paying for special activities.
A. Murray MacKay's tenure as Group Committee Chairman came to an end in 1972. Following his retirement from that position the troop ceased operations for a short period for want of leadership. However, in the later half of 1973 responsibility for the organization was given to a young Dalhousie University student, John K. Sutherland. Under Sutherland's leadership the newly reconvened troop was again based at St. Andrew's United Church.
In addition to trying to increase the troop's numbers and wishing to invest in new equipment, Sutherland also made organizational changes which were designed to foster pride amongst troop members, but which did not accord with the standards of Scouts Canada. For example, much to the displeasure of Scouts Canada, in the late 1970s the 4th Halifax created the unique position of Troop Scouter, which was first given to A. Murray MacKay. This honourary position, which was not one of the official Scout troop positions designated by Scouts Canada, was created by John Sutherland as a means of both honouring a distinguished member of the community who had a connection to the troop, and allowing that individual to inspire the young members of the troop to be active, responsible, and resourceful citizens.
With the death of MacKay, Sutherland began to search for another distinguished Nova Scotian who had made significant contributions to his society to fill the role of Troop Scouter. He eventually approached Admiral Desmond William Piers who had been a Scout in the 4th Halifax troop between the wars before embarking on a distinguished naval career. Sutherland and Piers had met previously when both had served on the 1982 Pan-Am games board. Sutherland was able to convince Piers to take on the position after explaining that, as a former member of the troop and a Canadian of significant stature, he would make a valuable role model who could inspire the troop's members to fulfill their Scout promise to love and serve their Queen, country, and fellow man, and to live by their Scout law in both youth and adulthood.
With the changes made to the troop, its structure, its resources, and the absorption of the 36th Halifax Scouts, under Sutherland's tenure as Scout Master the troop grew to as large as 65 Scouts and 15 leaders by the late 1980s and into the 1990s. In addition, the troop benefitted from its location in a part of Halifax where there were many families with young children. Regardless, this growth was an anomaly during a time when membership in Scout troops across the country was falling.
Difference
As mentioned above, the 4th Halifax Scout Troop did not follow many of the regulations of Scouts Canada concerning badge/level requirements, ranks, uniform, or activities. In some cases this refusal to conform to Scouts Canada standards resulted in threats of discipline from the national governing body. For example, in 1990 Scouts Canada, reacting to 4th Halifax's determination to remain a kilted Scout Troop, ordered that, while the troop could wear its kilts in Nova Scotia, it was forbidden to wear them outside of the province. Indeed, this particular disagreement was so heated that it attracted the attention of the national press, including a story in the Toronto Star.
When asked in an interview why the troop leadership insisted upon defying the standards of Scouts Canada and incorporating many unique elements into its uniforms, organizational structure, and activities, the former Scout Master, John K. Sutherland, explained that he and other leaders of the troop believed that a sense of difference and uniqueness was important to allowing troop members to believe that they, as members of a different and unique organization, could do extraordinary things. Sutherland claimed that this approach to forming comradery, as well as group and individual pride, was influenced by his experience in the Canadian military during the 1970s. He argues that such organizational qualities are important to young males, who require inspiration, encouragement, and support. Simply following the standards of a national organization would not allow a child to feel that he was part of something unique and special, or that he and the other members of his troop could achieve things that other Scouts, and thus other members of his age group, might not.
While Scouts Canada did threaten to go so far as to shut down 4th Halifax if the troop did not comply with its standards and commands, the troop leadership was fairly confident that the national office would not follow through on such threats. At the height of these tensions, during the 1980s and 1990s, 4th Halifax was more than twice as large as any other troop in the province. With participation in Scouting declining across the country, the troop leadership believed that Scouts Canada would be unwilling to shut down the most successful troop in Nova Scotia for some of the very reasons that made it so successful. In addition, at the time, several 4th Halifax leaders (including John Sutherland, Alfred Dorey, Jim Murphy, and Duncan MacLean) held senior administrative positions in the Halifax district and regional branches of Scouts Canada. Furthermore, a number of members of the troop leadership team made significant contributions to the organization and running of regional and provincial events such as Operation Alert and Wood Badge leadership training courses (Wood Badge trainers included John Sutherland, Dan Harmer, and Alfred Dorey). Thus, as is argued by Sutherland, while the troop could be faulted for not following the rules and dictates of Scouts Canada, its leadership could not be accused of failing to work with different levels within Scouts Canada to benefit the Scouting movement throughout Halifax and the province. Yet, this approach of maintaining difference - a combination of defiance and appeasing Scouts Canada in other ways - would not succeed in the case of the mandatory admission of girls, for which the troop was compelled to choose between becoming co-educational or leaving Scouts Canada.
Activities
1970s to 2000
Camping
The 4th Halifax held a variety of camps throughout the year, including yearly fall, winter, and spring camps, all of which members were encouraged to attend in order to obtain various badges and levels. While available campsites varied from year to year, fall camps were often held at Laurie Provincial Park, winter camps near Halifax at either Soldier Lake or the troop's cabin on Miller Lake, and spring camps at various locations on Nova Scotia's south shore. Of these camping trips, the spring camp was typically considered the most rigorous, as it included a mandatory hike which increased in length as Scouts pursued higher Scouts Canada training levels. (Hikes increased from the 5 to 10 to 25 km.) Conducted in spring, often on rural logging roads, these hikes were often very muddy affairs, with some of the more hapless Scouts even getting stuck in the mud and requiring assistance to be freed.
The fall, winter, and spring camps typically lasted two to three days (one to two nights), and required Scouts to be able to survive and perform various tasks using the small amount of equipment and provisions they brought with them. Economy and organization in the packing of those supplies was viewed as an important skill for Scouts to learn, and leaders not only discouraged members from bringing large amounts of unnecessary supplies, but demanded that what was brought was packed correctly for the situation. Above all, a Scout's pack needed to be waterproof, a goal which was usually accomplished by packing clothes, supplies, etc. in sealed plastic bags or containers. To encourage this means of packing, Scouts were often threatened with "the water test," where a Scout's pack was thrown into a river or a lake to test whether it was packed correctly. While often threatened, this test was rarely used, and then only on the most cocky or annoying of Scouts.
In addition to short fall, winter, and summer camps, the troop also organized a week-long summer camp each year. First held in a wooded area near Caledonia (at the farm with the big red barn), the camp moved to Jake's Landing in Kejimkujik National Park in the late 1980s. Activities at the summer camp included hiking and canoeing, as well as an elaborate night-time "war game," which was often loosely based upon capture the flag. (N.B. The term "war game" was replaced by "wide game" in the late 1980s as a result of complaints from parents that "war game" seemed too militaristic and violent. With the change in terminology, Scouts were no longer allowed to employ the traditional fake guns, smoke bombs, and other militaristic paraphernalia as part of the activity.)
Move to St. Matthew's United / Fall in membership
During the mid-late 1990s the 4th Halifax Scout Troop began to suffer a decline in membership. This fall in numbers has been blamed upon several factors, including a Canada-wide decline in membership in Scout troops and similar organizations, as well as the 4th Halifax's relocation to St. Matthew's United Church in downtown Halifax during the mid-late 1990s.
Having been based at St. Andrew's United Church Hall since its inception, the growth of the troop and its demands for space during the 1980s and 1990s had fostered discontent among some members of the St. Andrew's Church community, who recognized that the large youth organization was permanently occupying an increasingly large portion of its church hall. This position was not unfounded since by the 1990s the troop had taken over separate rooms for its camping/equipment Quarter Master Store, an administrative office, a kilt Quarter Master Store, as well as the entire back stage area of the church hall auditorium/gym and the storage space underneath the stage. The troop's small fleet of canoes also took up a large portion of the parking space in the church's rear driveway. Furthermore, apart from the troop's weekly Thursday night meetings, which made use of multiple church hall rooms and the main gym, additional space was needed for weekly Leadership Corps/Drill Corps training sessions, weekly pipe band practices, as well as occasional camping and fundraising related events throughout the year.
Being instructed to scale back on how much of the church hall it was using, the troop was given a deadline by which time it needed to find other locations to store equipment. Since external storage could be expensive and logistically complicated, it was decided that the troop would relocate to St. Matthew's United Church on Barrington Street. However, while St. Matthew's offered the troop the space it required, its location on a busy downtown street with limited parking did not allow parents to easily drop off, pick up, or wait for their sons by car. St. Matthew's, unlike St. Andrew's, was also not located adjacent to the residential section of the city where many of the troop members lived and went to school. Although only a few kilometers away from the old location at St. Andrew's, many members now had to travel through business, entertainment, and inner city sections of Halifax in order to attend troop meetings - a prospect which worried some parents whose children walked to Scout meetings.
Two other factors which influenced the drop in membership were the declining number of school aged children in South End Halifax in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as well as the declining popularity of youth organizations in general. While once heavily populated with the children of the baby-boom generation, by the mid-late 1990s the number of school aged children on Halifax peninsula was falling, as was evidenced by the closure of several elementary schools. In addition, although 4th Halifax was able to sustain high numbers of members during the 1980s and 1990s, when membership in most Canadian Scout troops was in decline, the general decline in outdoor, physical activity among all Canadian youth during the 1990s and 2000s likely also affected the troop's membership numbers.
Dispute over Co-Education/Creation of the Scots Highland Company
After its move to St. Matthew's United Church Hall the leadership of the 4th Halifax Scout Troop was forced to make a decision to either remain a part of Scouts Canada, or separate from the national organization. In 1992 Scouts Canada had offered troops the option of admitting girls. Prior to that time the Scouting Section of Scouts Canada was a purely male movement. In 1998 the co-educational policy was extended to not just allowing girls to join specific troops, but forcing troops to admit girls who applied to join. While this did not force the 4th Halifax troop to become co-educational immediately, the policy change meant that the troop would need to become co-ed should any girls apply to join. Given this situation, many within the troop leadership argued that they not only did not want the troop to become co-ed, but also that the troop would not be able to supply, and would not be comfortable with supplying, the leaders necessary to run an effective and properly balanced co-ed troop. Although some of the leadership team did believe that the troop should become co-educational, so as to reflect the ideals of inclusion, fairness, and non-discrimination which all of the leaders unquestionably supported, making the troop co-ed was not supported by the majority of leaders, especially the most senior leaders.
The position of the majority of the leaders not to admit girls was partially based in their belief that, prior to the Scouts Canada co-educational policy change, Scouting had been one of the few all male environments in which young males were able to participate in organized activities. The way in which the boys interacted with each other, their focus while participating in the activities, and the manner in which they approached those activities would significantly change with the introduction of young girls into the organization.
In terms of leadership, many of the existing leaders believed that it would be difficult to recruit enough female leaders who could find the time to participate in all of the same activities as the male leaders. This view was not based upon male chauvinism but the shear availability of prospective female leaders. While there existed a very active Girl Guide program at St. Andrew's church, the Guide program did not hold week-long summer camps or other extended activities. The reason for this difference was that many of the female Guide leaders claimed their family responsibilities kept them from participating in such activities, a situation which they claimed would continue should they opt to help lead a co-educational 4th Halifax Scout Troop. This situation would not have allowed the troop to offer truly gender-balanced leadership to its members.
In addition to the concern over not being able to recruit a sufficient number of female leaders for all troop activities, the admission of young girls heightened the possibility of sexual abuse by leaders. While the possibility of sexual abuse had always existed, it was decided that heightened precautionary requirements, such as police background checks and ensuring the presence of male and female leaders in all situations, would place too many limitations upon the troop to allow it to carry out many of the same activities it organized as an all-male organization.
Rather than disband as a result of its disagreement with Scouts Canada regarding the admission of girls, in 2001 the 4th Halifax leadership merely converted the troop into a new organization called the Scots Highland Company. As the Scots Highland Company, many of the same group activities were continued, although it was necessary for the organization to differentiate itself from Scouts Canada youth groups. Given that the 4th Halifax Scout Troop had already augmented and altered many of the symbols and activities prescribed by Scouts Canada, it was not difficult for the new Scots Highland Company to design a program and group structure which offered members something different from the standardized Scouts Canada program.
As a Scout troop, the 4th Halifax had differed from most Scouts Canada troops by being kilted, having a drill corps, having unique badges and other uniform elements, having a pipe band, and requiring that its members complete additional tasks not prescribed by Scouts Canada in order to earn various badges and ranks. (For example, to obtain the highest Scouts Canada level - Pathfinder - in the 4th Halifax troop, members were required to complete a 25 km. hike - significantly longer than the mandatory distance demanded by Scouts Canada.) In addition, rather than relying upon Scouts Canada as a model for its outdoor program, the Scots Highland Company based its camping and hiking requirements upon the original Scouting program developed by Baden-Powell in the early 20th Century and abandoned by Scouts Canada in 1967. Furthermore, the Scots Highland Company used its connection to the North British Society and its Scottish lineage to form a close working relationship with the Halifax Citadel and its highland regiment, the 78th Highlanders. Given that the Scots Highland Company, unlike Scouts Canada troops, was a unique organization, the Citadel was able to offer it privileged access to the fortress, George's Island, and MacNab's Island for training, camping, and other activities.
Disbandment
In approximately 2003, with the retirement of John Sutherland as the main leader of the organization, leadership of the Scots Highland Company was assumed by Tim Shutt. Shutt continued to run the organization for several more years before having to leave Halifax to pursue further academic studies. With declining numbers, the organization was next led by William Sommerville. However, in May 2007 the Scots Highland Company was forced to shut down as a result of a significant decline in membership. Whereas the 4th Halifax Scout Troop once had a membership of 40 to 50 Scouts and more than a dozen leaders, by 2007 the Scots Highland Company's numbers had fallen to less than ten.
With the demise of the Scots Highland Company, the Scots Highland Company Society, which had overseen the group’s creation and was its legal/administrative branch, established the Scots Highland Company Army Cadet Corps. Formed as a corps of the Royal Canadian Army Cadets and based out of the East Dartmouth Community Centre, this organization continues activities and traditions similar to those of the original 4th Halifax Scout Troop and the Scots Highland Company, while also having the resources to offer a co-educational cadet program. As part of the federal government's army cadet program, the Scots Highland Company Army Cadet Corps has trained and paid leaders, as well as the legal backing of the Crown to deal with any potential cases of abuse - resources which the 4th Halifax Scout Troop lacked and which ultimately led to the decision to leave Scouts Canada.
With the disbandment of the Scots Highland Company, the new cadet corps was given all remaining camping and ceremonial equipment, including all of the kilts that had been such a defining feature of the original 4th Halifax Scout Troop. However, while the cadet corps accepted most of the remaining equipment, it did not take the records of the 4th Halifax Scout Troop or the Scots Highland Company. Instead, most of the documentation regarding the history of the Scout troop and the Scots Highland Company, their administration over the decades, and even framed photographs, were shredded and destroyed. According to John Sutherland, there existed "probably a truck load" of such documentation, but with nowhere to store the material, and no one interested in archiving it, the records were discarded.

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