By DON GLYNN

NIAGARA FALLS — QUEENSTON HEIGHTS, Ontario — A cannon-fire booming across the lower Niagara River, a heated exchange between Fort George and Fort Niagara.

A re-enactment of the Fort Erie siege.

 The commander of the British forces dying on the slopes at Queenston Heights and some American militia refusing to cross the river to fight in Canada.

 That’s only a few glimpses of the War of 1812 — from the Canadian perspective — which the Bicentennial Legacy Council is planning to commemorate with a series of special events next year.

 The council unveiled the signature events for Canada during a presentation Friday at the Queenston Heights Restaurant. About 50 people, including regional and local government officials, Legacy Council staffers, educators and the media, attended the briefing.

A similar program will be held later on the U.S. side to outline border events, at Old Fort Niagara, Youngstown, the Village of Lewiston and near Black Rock and Buffalo.

“These six events (in Ontario) are going to be the larger-scale activities, amongst hundreds of event throughout 2012,” said Brian Merrett, chief executive officer of the Legacy Council.

Merrett said the VIP invitation list is expected to include Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and possibly President Barack Obama.

 John Johnston, chair of the Fort Erie Grand Parade, noted that Fort Erie was a major site in that war.

 “Were it not for the sacrifice of thousands of people, the conditions would not have been created whereby (decades) later, Canada was able to become an independent country,” he said.

 The motto for the bicentennial observance in Fort Erie is “1812: Canada’s First Step to Nationhood.”

 Friday’s program was held within a short walk of where Maj. Gen. Isaac Brock was killed on Oct. 13, 1812, as he tried to lead his troops up the hill in the legendary Battle of Queenston Heights.

 The general is buried in a vault beneath the 184-foot high monument that bears his name. The structure is now maintained by Parks Canada as a National Historic Site.

The Legacy Council is a cross-border not-for-profit organization established to commemorate the War of 1812 and celebrate 200 years of peace between the U.S. and Canada.

From the Niagara Gazette