Archival Replica of a T-Shirt Worn during the infamous 'Coyne Riot' by an unidentified protestor.

Raw hem and sleeves. Perforated at left torso.

100% Cotton. Made in the USA.

Replica of a T-Shirt worn during the ‘Coyne Riot’ outside Parliament in 1961 following the forced resignation of the Governor of the Bank of Canada, James Coyne. Operating outside of the IMF Dollar system, Canada was the only major capitalist economy with a free floating currency, necessitated by a dependence on short term, often fickle, capital investments from the United States of America.

By the late ’50’s, as industrial demand from the Korean War disappeared, the dividend payments flowed south, the crisis-prone nature of the Canadian fiscal regime became rapidly apparent. Rising unemployment and steadily stagnating production set the scene in 1961 for a fiery confrontation between two opposing Canadian nationalisms, that of the western populist and conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s and the Liberal appointed James Coyne’s. Coyne, both in office and in a series of public lectures and rallies, advocated for tight money and making do with less as befits the morally upright Canadian stature in an international context defined by the gluttonous overproduction of America. Diefenbaker championed the small producer, farmer and fisherman, whose productive potential had been stymied by the miserly allocation of money by Laurentian elite of the federal government.

Through internecine subterfuge Diefenbaker forced Coyne out, allowing ‘the chief’ to devalue the dollar and generating a crisis in confidence that would end with the Canadian ‘diefendollar’ pegged to the American greenback at 92.5 cents.

A semi-organized rabble, attendees of the central banker’s public lectures and devotees of his tight money moralism, marched on parliament demanding the restitution of the Canadian dollar and a properly high interest rate befitting the scrappy status of Canada industry. The protest became a riot after the RCMP fired suppressive birdshot into the crowd, the incident becoming a tragic monument to the promise of Diefenbaker’s One Canada idealism. A T-Shirt preserved in the Archive of Canadian Cultural Nationalism is recreated here, complete with accurate perforations, facsimile handwritten scrawl and trompe l'oeil illustration of the various political pins adorning the chest of this righteous, unidentified, protester.

This garment reflects a time when a central banker could model the sober and righteous national path without giving into venal theatrics. By excavating the actual history of Canadian nationalism, The J.J. McCullough Collection corrects the record. 

4.3 oz. oz 100% Cotton

Made in the USA

Small | Width: 19in , Length: 23in

Medium | Width: 20.5in , Length: 23.5in

Large | Width: 22in , Length: 24in

Extra Large | Width: 24in , Length: 25in