The story goes that to honour the coronation of Canada's new monarch in 1953, Arctic explorer Lt-Col. Patrick Baird suggested that a peak that soared over Pangnirtung on Baffin Island be named Mount Queen Elizabeth. But, on further review, the proposal was turned down: in the estimation of Governor General Vincent Massey, it was said, the mountain wasn't quite mighty enough. That's not to say Canada's new Queen went uncommemorated in northern Canadian geography: Baird's recommendations for naming Coronation Fiord and Coronation Glacier did go ahead in '53. That June, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent's government announced a token of toponymic respect befitting the occasion, introducing Alberta's new Queen Elizabeth Ranges, comprising 15 mountain peaks around Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, the tallest of which, Mount Unwin, climbs beyond 3,200 metres.
NSTL
