BOOK REVIEW COMPTE RENDU Iggy’s quest for Canadian identity

Michael Ignatieff. True Patriot Love: Four Generations in Search of Canada. Toronto Viking Canada ,2009.

Review by Emmanuelle Richez

he main purpose of Michael based on Canadians’ pride in the indi- the Empire at the battle of the Somme Ignatieff’s new book, True vidual and collective rights guaranteed during the First World War and cham- T Patriot Love: Four Generations in by the Charter of Rights. By exploring pioned the idea of the League of Search of Canada, is to show that he has the life and writings of his ancestors, Nations. Ignatieff is also proud to roots in this country. After having he is discovering a new Canadian point out the fact that his grandfather, explored his paternal side’s Russian patriotism to which he wants to who would later become principal of ancestry in The Russian Album (which adhere and contribute. This patriotism Upper Canada College in Toronto, received the 1987 Governor General’s is based on the idea that the Canadian wrote a high school textbook on Award for nonfiction), he now exam- experience is worth living for its own Canadian history that was among the ines his mother’s side: the Grants. sake and for what it can become. This most widely used textbooks of the The Grant family has been in vague concept of patriotism is a way 1920s. However, what will interest the Canada for four generations, and for Ignatieff to make his vision of reader more is his experience in the Ignatieff attempts to portray this side Canada as inclusive and thus as elec- trenches of the Great War and his love of his family as being a grand lineage torally advantageous as possible. story with his wife, Maude. of great patriotic Canadians. Ignatieff’s The journey starts with George George Parkin Grant, Ignatieff’s Canadian heritage is of utmost impor- Monro Grant, who was Ignatieff’s great- uncle, is the black sheep of the family tance to him since he has lived most of grandfather. In 1872, he was one of the and the last in the Grants’ official line. his adult life outside Canada, studying first Canadians to travel across Canada, Unlike his predecessors, George Parkin and working as a writer and scholar. along with Sir Sandford Fleming, to sur- Grant refused to support Britain’s wars Many pundits have argued that his vey the line for the transcontinental and was more of a Tory than a Grit. He long absence from the mother country railway. The construction of this rail- is famous for his book Lament for a may have cost him the Liberal leader- way system would be the condition for Nation: The Defeat of Canadian ship in 2006. This book reads like an the existence of a nation from ocean to Nationalism (1965), where he laments electoral pamphlet. It is thin for a ocean north of the 49th parallel. Later, the fact that as soon as Canada had hardcover book, and it is obvious that as principal of Queen’s University, gained independence from Britain, it his main goal here is to assuage linger- Grant, a staunch promoter of the fell under the domination of the US. ing concerns about his long absence Anglo-Saxon ideals of progress, He did not see a bright future for his from Canada, but it also marks a turn- Christianity and political liberty, was a country and this saddened him very ing or end point in Ignatieff’s intellec- spokesman for Canadian imperialism, much because he valued Canadian tra- tual development. promoting Canada’s British connection ditions greatly. However, Ignatieff In True Patriot Love we are far from and vociferously opposing annexation opposes his uncle’s pessimism about the cosmopolitan Ignatieff seen in to the United States. Canada. His uncle once asked whether Blood and Belonging: Journeys into the William Lawson Grant, Ignatieff’s or not Canada was possible, and New Nationalism (1993), where nation- grandfather, is probably the least inter- Ignatieff’s answer is yes. He believes alism is depicted in a dark light, as esting member of his family tree. this is doable by “narrow[ing] the gap being based on ethnic origins. In The However, Ignatieff was able to weave between the country we actually live in Rights Revolution (2000) Ignatieff tried together a narrative that leads us to and the country we imagine.” to reconcile his cosmopolitan leanings believe he lived an important life and In the end, we are led to believe with his Canadian nationalism by one of sacrifice for Canada. He taught that the Grants were Canadian patriots advocating that Canadian identity be British history at Oxford, fought for who shaped Canada as we know it

118 OPTIONS POLITIQUES JUILLET-AOÛT 2009 Iggy’s quest for Canadian identity BOOK REVIEW today and had faith in its destiny. is also considering a new National Quebecers as a nation within Canada They were all linked in a way to impor- Energy Program. He does not under- may have served him well so far, but tant figures of the Canadian elite and stand why Canada is becoming one of his policies will have to be more in line history like Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir the world’s biggest oil producers but with this idea if he wants to win over Sandford Fleming, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, still has to import refined oil from other Quebecers’ hearts. Vincent Massey, Lester B. Pearson, etc. countries. He wishes that we could cre- So if no real political platform can They all lived and studied abroad but ate a petroleum reserve to protect our- be found in Ignatieff’s new book, what’s felt the need to come back to Canada selves from the fluctuations of the in it? It is his love of country and his because it was the place they called market. Pierre Trudeau paid the politi- nationalistic vision of Canada. He is one of the main proponents of By exploring the life and writings of his ancestors, he is contemporary Canadian ide- discovering a new Canadian patriotism to which he wants to alism. With the growing adhere and contribute. This patriotism is based on the idea Americanization of Canadi- an culture and the continu- that the Canadian experience is worth living for its own sake ous threat of Quebec’s and for what it can become. This vague concept of patriotism sovereignist movement, is a way for Ignatieff to make his vision of Canada as inclusive Canadian idealism has tried and thus as electorally advantageous as possible. to foster a national identity that celebrates diversity home, just like Ignatieff. Therefore, cal price for such a policy in the 1980s instead of trying to force conformity. the reader gets the sense that Ignatieff and alienation felt by western Canada Canadian idealists envision the country was predestined to play an important due to that era is still being felt by the as having a humanistic destiny: that of role in Canadian public life, as if he Liberals today. If Ignatieff wants to being a model for the world on the issue were the messiah we have been long- make inroads in the West, he will have of accommodation of diversity. Ignatieff ing for. The question is whether to seriously rethink his NEP II project. clearly subscribes to this idea. Ignatieff will follow in the footsteps of his ancestors by being a public intel- till with regard to energy, Ignatieff ust like his ancestors, Ignatieff tries lectual who impacts the Canadian S wonders why Canada does not J to distinguish Canada from the US, debate or whether he will shape it have a national energy grid system. He the external threat to Canada, by actively as its elected prime minister. celebrates the fact that Canada, or emphasizing the fact that we chose to Those looking for Ignatieff’s policy more specifically Quebec, is the largest embrace diversity instead of opting for platform in this book will be disap- producer of hydroelectricity in the a melting-pot approach, and that we pointed, since it is nowhere to be world. Yet he thinks it is a shame that have more progressive policies with found. He only hints at a revival of Hydro-Québec exports most of its regard to health care and gun control. Macdonald’s National Policy to energy surplus to the south instead of He tries to counter Quebec’s sover- strengthen the east-west linkages of supplying its neighbouring provinces. eignist movement, the internal threat Canadians. He deplores the fact that If this is the type of policy Ignatieff is to Canada, by accepting the fact that there are still major barriers to trade going to champion, he will surely hit a Quebecers’ first loyalty may lie in a dif- between the provinces and that no real wall in Quebec. ferent place than that of most other pan-Canadian transportation system Control over energy resources falls Canadians and that this does not pre- binds us together. He wants to break under provincial jurisdiction and vent us from sharing a common proj- the north-south economic flow that Hydro-Québec is a major symbol of ect. This is all possible for Ignatieff keeps integrating Canada more and Quebec’s Quiet Revolution and claim with the promotion of a civic culture more into the US. Here, he is borrow- to modern nationhood. Quebecers are that recognizes not only individual but ing the more left-leaning ideas of a always on guard against federal inter- collective rights, in general and for John Ralston Saul. He suggests we ference in provincial jurisdiction, and national minorities. should go ahead with the construction this would be no exception. This is Overall, Ignatieff’s book is well of a high-speed train system to connect also true for natural resources and for written and will please lovers of Canadians. This seems like an interest- education, which Ignatieff is making Canadiana. However, a bit more sub- ing nation-building project, but one is the centre of his vision, as seen at the stantive content would have made it left wondering if such a bold initiative Liberal convention in early May when much more interesting. could possibly be financially viable. he was confirmed as party leader. However, he needs Quebec’s support to Emmanuelle Richez is a Ph.D. candidate t a time when the world is trying win back a majority in the House of in political science at McGill University. A to secure access to energy, Ignatieff Commons. His idea to recognize [email protected]

POLICY OPTIONS 119 JULY-AUGUST 2009