Borduas’s revolution • Alzheimer’s dilemmas Spur festival Ottawa and Vancouver preview!
$6.50 Vol. 22, No. 4 May 2014
Lawrence Hill Uncovering the chains The black and aboriginal slaves who helped build New France.
ALso In this issue
Jocelyn Maclure Why democracy needs protests
Candace Savage A prairie pilgrimage
Jonathan Kay Reviving the Enlightenment
PLUS: non-fiction David Milligan on debunking our “historical illiteracy” + Christopher Dummitt on a West Coast riot + Molly Worthen on coexistence through religious limits + David MacDonald on a made-in-Canada church + Jennifer Jeffs on regulating the markets since 2008 + Denise Donlon on the Tales of Bachman
Publications Mail Agreement #40032362 fiction Claire Holden Rothman reviews Wonder by Dominique Fortier + Roger Seamon Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to LRC, Circulation Dept. reviews Life Class by Ann Charney PO Box 8, Station K Toronto, ON M4P 2G1 poetry Shane Neilson + Elizabeth Ross + Crystal Hurdle + Kayla Czaga
Literary Review of Canada 170 Bloor St West, Suite 710 Toronto ON M5S 1T9 email: [email protected] reviewcanada.ca T: 416-531-1483 • F: 416-531-1612 Charitable number: 848431490RR0001 To donate, visit reviewcanada.ca/support Vol. 22, No. 4 • May 2014 Editor Bronwyn Drainie [email protected] Contributing EditorS 2 Outthinking Ourselves 15 May Contain Traces Mark Lovewell, Molly Peacock, Robin A review of Enlightenment 2.0, by Joseph Heath A poem Roger, Anthony Westell Jonathan Kay Kayla Czaga Associate editor Judy Stoffman 4 Market Rules 18 Under the Volcano Poetry Editor A review of Transnational Financial Regulation A review of Wonder, by Dominique Fortier, Moira MacDougall after the Crisis, edited by Tony Porter translated by Sheila Fischman copy editor Jennifer Jeffs Claire Holden Rothman Madeline Koch 7 The Memory Thief 19 Making It Online Editors Diana Kuprel, Jack Mitchell, A review of The Alzheimer Conundrum: A review of Life Class, by Ann Charney Donald Rickerd, C.M. Entanglements of Dementia and Aging, by Roger Seamon ProofReaders Margaret Lock, and The Memory Clinic: Stories 20 Democratic Unrest Heather Schultz, Robert Simone, Rob of Hope and Healing for Alzheimer’s Patients Tilley, Jeannie Weese An essay and Their Families, by Tiffany Chow Jocelyn Maclure research Gregory Marchildon Rob Tilley Public Peace through Private Gods Editorial Assistant 9 Taking Care of Business 23 A review of Fighting over God: A Legal and Clare Gibbons A review of Tales from Beyond the Tap, by Political History of Religious Freedom in Design Randy Bachman Canada, by Janet Epp Buckingham James Harbeck Denise Donlon Molly Worthen ADVERTISING/SALES 10 Reluctant Nationalist Hero Michael Wile 25 Spiritual Rambling [email protected] A review of Paul-Émile Borduas: A Critical A review of The Road Is How: A Prairie Biography, by François-Marc Gagnon, translated Director, Special Projects Pilgrimage through Nature, Desire and Soul, by Michael Booth by Peter Feldstein Trevor Herriot Development Assistant Martin Laflamme Candace Savage Michael Stevens Chains Unearthed Educational Outreach Coordinator 12 26 Made-in-Canada Faith A review of Canada’s Forgotten Slaves: Two Mary Kim A review of A Church with the Soul of a Nation: Hundred Years of Bondage, by Marcel Trudel, publishers Making and Remaking the United Church of translated by George Tombs Alastair Cheng Canada, by Phyllis D. Airhart, and Growing [email protected] Lawrence Hill to One World: The Life of J. King Gordon, by Helen Walsh 14 An Able Physiologist 1: Robin Eileen R. Janzen [email protected] Pecknold Descends the Steps of David MacDonald Board of Directors John Honderich, C.M., Pennsylvania Hospital in 1786 28 Does History Matter? J. Alexander Houston, Frances Lankin, A poem A review of Canadians and Their Pasts, by Jack Mintz, Trina McQueen Shane Neilson Margaret Conrad, Kadriye Ercikan, Gerald Advisory Council Friesen, Jocelyn Létourneau, Delphin Muise, Michael Adams, Ronald G. Atkey, P.C., 14 Placebo Q.C., Alan Broadbent, C.M., Chris Ellis, David Northrup and Peter Seixas A poem Drew Fagan, James Gillies, C.M., Elizabeth Ross Ian Milligan Carol Hansell, Donald Macdonald, Following the Sheep P.C., C.C., Susan Reisler, Grant Reuber, 15 Ms. Letitia Henry, English Teacher, 30 O.C., Don Rickerd, C.M., Rana Sarkar, Marks Candace Hunter’s Haiku A review of Trouble on Main Street: Mackenzie Mark Sarner, Bernard Schiff, King, Reason, Race and the 1907 Vancouver Reed Scowen A poem Riots, by Julie F. Gilmour Crystal Hurdle Poetry Submissions Christopher Dummitt For poetry submission guidelines, please see
they began to look for alternatives. Enlightenment 2.0 The result is that, even to this day, Joseph Heath in liberal arts faculties, the most appal- HarperCollins ling sort of mystical, anti-rationalist 432 pages, hardcover gobbledygook often will get a respect- ISBN 9781443422529 ful reception if it is couched as a quasi-mystical alternative to dominant intellectual paradigms. (In this regard, n early 2014, when Canada’s min- Heath provides no better example than ister of state for democratic reform, the self-proclaimed “intergalactic” IPierre Poilievre, began making the truths of feminist guru Mary Daly. Her case for tightening the vote-eligibility “Gynocentric” intellectual method provisions contained in the Elections promised the “methodicide” of all Act, he cited the problem of voter “patriarchal disciplines” that interfered fraud, as described in a special report with her “entry into a New Realm of prepared by independent elections Qualitative Leaping through galaxies expert Harry Neufeld. of mindspace.” This is mind-blowing One problem, though: that report bullshit. Yet Heath tells us that when actually said the opposite of what he was in grad school, plenty of his col- Poilievre claimed. According to leagues took it seriously.) By the time Neufeld, “there was no evidence of Ronald Reagan became U.S. president fraud whatsoever” in the cases he had in 1980, and began reciting homespun examined. Poilievre was effectively just fairy tales as if they were true anec- making things up. What’s worse: even dotes, the anti-rationalists of the left when he got caught, Poilievre kept were in no position to complain. on spouting nonsense, and, indeed, In fact—putting aside Heath’s con- proudly proclaimed his intention to ventionally leftist positions on a long continue spouting nonsense. “We are going to keep Another example Heath supplies is 2012 list of contemporary issues—it is apparent that quoting Mr. Neufeld’s report because it contains the Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, the author has a healthy respect for the original facts that obviously support our position,” he told who told the party faithful: “In the Netherlands, principles of conservatism developed by Edmund the House of Commons, when confronted. people wear different bracelets if they are elderly. Burke in the shadow of the French Revolution. That This is the sort of thing that drives author And the bracelet is: ‘Do not euthanize me.’ Because revolution dissolved into chaos and terror, Heath Joseph Heath absolutely batty. The left-leaning, they have voluntary euthanasia in the Netherlands argues, because its engineers conceived of rational- hyper-rationalist University of Toronto philosophy but half of the people who are euthanized—ten ism in a sterile, individualistic manner: Robespierre professor looks around North America and sees percent of all deaths in the Netherlands—half et al. imagined they could create a perfect society dozens of important public policy problems that of those people are euthanized involuntarily at out of whole cloth. Burke correctly noted that this cry out for well-considered forms of collective hospitals because they are older and sick. And so sort of social engineering is doomed to fail because action. Instead, as he complains in his new book, elderly people in the Netherlands don’t go to the societies and economies are too complex to submit Enlightenment 2.0, we get simplistic solutions from hospital. They go to another country, because they to any one person’s overarching vision. As with intellectually dishonest politicians who dispense are afraid, because of budget purposes, they will the British parliamentary tradition, capitalism, the slogans instead of logic. not come out of that hospital if they go in there with scientific method and the two-parent family, suc- It is tempting to call Poilievre a liar. But I am not sickness.” This is, indeed, complete and total bull- cessful institutions emerge gradually over time. The sure that is the word Heath himself would use—for shit. Yet when a Dutch reporter pressed Santorum’s final product, as Burke noted, always “requires the he is careful to draw a clinical distinction between campaign team to explain his comments, one of his aid of more minds than one age can furnish.” lies and mere bullshit. “What characterizes the staffers simply shrugged and said, “Rick says what’s The “Enlightenment 2.0” that Heath has in mind bullshitter is that, unlike the liar, who at least main- in his heart.” is progressive in the sense that he wants to harness tains the pretense of telling the truth, the bullshitter But Heath’s book is not one long Rachel the power of rationalism in pursuit of government- has simply opted out of the truth-telling game,” he Maddow–esque debunking of right-wing BS. For led collective-action projects such as conquering writes. a man of the left, he is brutally honest about the global warming, regulating banks and banning degree to which leftists themselves have contrib- guns. But the flavour of his argument is conserva- Jonathan Kay is the managing editor for com- uted to the rejection of rationalism. Marx fash- tive in the sense that he believes every solution ment at the National Post. His book Among the ioned himself as a sort of scientist, and purported must be based, in large part, on the collectively held Truthers: A Journey Into the Growing Conspiracist to develop the principles of socialism through a wisdom of the past. Underground of 9/11 Truthers, Birthers, dialectical method adapted from Hegel. But by the A few paragraphs up, I described Heath as hyper- Armageddonites, Vaccine Hysterics, Hollywood latter half of the 20th century, progressives became rationalist. That is a fair description of his attitude Know-Nothings and Internet Addicts was pub- disgusted with the manner in which rationalism toward politics and policy making. But he also lished by HarperCollins in 2011. Follow him on and science had been put to the service of totali- understands that rationalism has its limits. Indeed, Twitter @jonkay. tarian creeds and industrial capitalism. And so much of his book is devoted to enumerating them.
2 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada For millions of years, we evolved an “old mind,” as as cheering on a sports team that has both black mentalized. He is sober minded about the limita- Heath calls it, that focused largely on having sex, and white members. The existence of a common tions of rationalism. But he believes it can reassert stalking prey, avoiding predators and killing (or foe also helps: in an infantry platoon, the defining its place of primacy in the political sphere if we all fleeing from) anyone we did not know. By contrast, characteristic of all members is not their skin col- become self-aware of the manner by which we are our rational mind—which advances methodic- our, but the fact that they are all fighting the same seduced and entrapped by evolutionarily obsolete ally from evidence, to proposition, to conclusion, enemy. instincts. without bias—evolved only in the last 250,000 years Heath refers to this type of fix as a “kluge” or And, in fact—notwithstanding Heath’s own (and with no clear evolutionary purpose). Since the “kludge”—a rough-and-ready adaptation that pessimism—there is evidence that this already is time of the Greeks, we have exalted rationalism as allows us to avoid the ill effects of old-mind atav- happening. The author opens his book with a scene the very pinnacle of human mental function. Yet ism, without actually curing the underlying anti- from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s 2010 “Rally in truth, modern experimentation shows that our rationalism (which is impossible anyway). Other to Restore Sanity” in Washington DC, which took hold on rationalism is irregular and fragile: we tend kluges he describes include the Olympics (which place at a time when the Tea Party was very much on to abandon it as soon as something stressful or channel warmongering nationalism into harmless the rise. Signs on display at that massive event (like interesting happens, like a terrorist attack, a crime cheerleading), the “house” system used to create Heath, I was there) included “If your beliefs fit on a wave, a hockey riot or even an encounter with an group solidarity and healthy rivalries in private sign, think harder,” “I have no problem paying taxes attractive stranger. schools, laws that protect gullible television viewers because I’m an adult, and that’s part of the deal,” The ultimate product of human rationalism is by prohibiting the dissemination of false news and “Gay without any real agenda” and “I may disagree the emergence of large, bureaucratized societies in restaurant regulations that discourage gluttony by with you, but I’m pretty sure you’re not Hitler.” As which millions of citizens can interact peacefully limiting beverage portion size. I wrote in my own book about America’s post-9/11 and engage in commerce with total strangers. We flight from rationalism, Among The Truthers: A have come to take this state of affairs for granted. espite the high-flown thesis, this is a book that Journey into the Growing Conspiracist Underground But as Heath notes, such artificial constructs are Dis really fun to read. Heath has a rare gift of of 9/11 Truthers, Birthers, Armageddonites, Vaccine completely alien to our old mind, which evolved soaring gracefully from high to low—from Freud to Hysterics, Hollywood Know-Nothings and Internet in tiny kin-based tribal societies. Many of the prob- Frasier, from Heidegger to Idiocracy (Mike Judge’s Addicts, there was real panic among America’s lems that plague modern societies intellectual class: apocalyptic terror, emerge from the conflict between the Iraq war, the 2008 financial crisis, the one and the other—such as when The rift valley between old mind and the rise of China and the election of modern humans are required to Barack Obama all had created a sort subsume their old-mind retributivist new mind is fertile political ground of End Times mentality. Back in 2010, urges into the impersonal, bureau- which is when, I gather, Heath began cratized procedures of the state-run for conservative politicians playing on this book, you really did get the sense criminal-justice system. “This is why our sub-rationalist fears. that the idiocracy was upon us. acts of vigilantism and, more broadly, Until it was not. In 2010 and then fantasies about punitive violence and again in 2012, whack-job Tea Party retribution … are ubiquitous in our society,” Heath excellent 2006 cult classic about a future America candidates cost the GOP dearly. Many analysts notes. “No matter how punitive the criminal justice ruled by morons). Along the way, he presents inter- believe the Republicans might have gained control system, and no matter how widely the net is cast, esting diversions into the Newfoundland fishing of the Senate but not for the likes of Sharron Angle a large segment of society will never be satisfied industry, the manner by which outfielders catch fly (“What we know is our northern border is where … because a civilized society is structurally incap- balls and the counting abilities of monkeys. There is the [9/11] terrorists came through”) and Richard able of satisfying the thirst for vengeance that many a Gladwellian tinge to this material, but Heath also Mourdock (who proclaimed a fetus, even one people find viscerally compelling.” supplies a fair number of new nuggets. It is rare that resulting from rape, to be a “gift from God”). This This rift valley between old mind and new mind more than a few pages go by without something resulted in a powerful backlash. As I write this, the is fertile political ground for conservative polit- genuinely interesting popping out at you. GOP establishment is feverishly working to prevent icians playing on our sub-rationalist fears. Here in Unfortunately, there also is an air of pessimism Tea Party blowhards from dominating the 2014 Canada, the Conservative government rolls out new about this book. More than just an air, actually: in midterms. It is their own backroom version of the “tough-on-crime” laws with clockwork regularity, the final chapter, Heath flatly declares that “writing Rally to Restore Sanity. along with a steady stream of propaganda claiming books about the decline of reason is not the sort of Moreover, many of the 2010-era generaliza- (falsely) that such laws are necessary to contain thing that is likely to slow the decline of reason. It is tions Heath makes already seem somewhat dated. a (non-existent) surge in violent crime across the simply preaching to the choir. Anyone who makes His claim that American conservatives “think that country. it to the end of a three-hundred-page book on the homosexuality is gross” is wrong. A full 40 percent Heath argues that such old-mind instincts are subject is obviously not part of the problem.” (You of Republicans now support gay marriage. And that so deeply embedded in our consciousness, and so might have told us this in the preface, Joseph.) number likely will top 50 percent within a few years: easy for opportunistic politicians to awaken, that But Heath felt compelled to write Enlighten in a straw poll among student attendees at the 2014 rationalists cannot simply ignore them: the elector- ment 2.0 anyway, because he is troubled by the Conservative Political Action Conference, 78 per- ate will never become so educated, so enlightened, trend by which modern intellectuals have come cent of respondents said their main motivation was so committed to rationalism that it will be immune to glorify the human subconscious as a repository reducing the size of government. Only 12 percent to such atavistic impulses. Instead, Heath argues of untapped energy and brilliance. (The “vulgar said their priority was a desire to oppose gay mar- that we must use our “meta-rationalism” (my term, romanticism” of New York Times columnist David riage and abortion. Even on the issue of global not his) to organize our society in such a way that Brooks—who once wrote that “if there is a divine warming, where conservative ideology has most our old-mind instincts are harnessed in a rational, creativity, surely it is active in this inner soulsphere, flagrantly been at odds with mainstream science, new-mind way. where brain matter produces emotion”—comes in there are signs of progress. Here in Canada, the idea By way of example, consider the problem of for especially forceful condemnation by Heath.) that climate change is a myth has been relegated to racism. The mental habit of classifying groups His book is meant as a reminder that, although fringe sources such as the Sun News TV network. In of people according to their appearance is deeply rationalism untethered by tradition can produce March 2014, Mark Steyn, the baddest ass in the U.S. ingrained in us through evolutionary programming: monstrous politics, so too can intuition unbridled conservative commentariat, emphasized on his on the African savanna, if you had a split second to by rationalism: “Relying on our gut feelings and blog that many climate skeptics are not actually flat- decide whether some interloper was friend or foe, intuitions gave us 200,000 years of hand-to-mouth out “deniers,” more like “lukewarmers.” He is not the best heuristic you could fall back on was the existence in hunter-gatherer societies, riven by about to join the Sierra Club anytime soon. But still. simple question: does this guy look/dress/act/ blood feuds, incessant tribal warfare, periodic fam- These things move in cycles. Traumatic cata- sound like me? The idea that we can simply turn off ine, an average life span of thirty, and polygamous clysms such as 9/11 or the real-estate crash inevit- this entire part of our brain is unrealistic. marriage based on what anthropologists now refer ably knock rationalism around for a few years. But For rationalists, that is the bad news. But the to, euphemistically, as ‘wife capture.’” when the fear subsides, our better angels take flight. good news, Heath writes, is that our natural ten- As Heath sees it, our old-mind instincts are That process is now unfolding in Canada and the dency toward racism and other forms of bigotry can forces to be managed, monitored and, where United States—even if Pierre Poilievre has not yet be diverted into “healthy” kinds of tribalism—such necessary, controlled and punished—not senti- gotten the memo.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 3 Market Rules New layers of complexity make international financial oversight more challenging every day. Jennifer Jeffs
for the recent expansion in the regulation of OTC losses became greater, the committee, which Transnational Financial Regulation derivative markets. For one, 2008 did away with the later became known as the Basel Committee on after the Crisis argument that direct buyer-seller interaction with- Banking Supervision, created the 1998 Bank Capital Tony Porter, editor out any use of a clearing house or exchange should Adequacy Accord. This was the first time that banks Routledge be free of regulatory oversight. The result has been were obliged to set aside capital to safeguard them- 248 pages, hardcover strong political pressure in favour of regulation in selves—and their clients—against potential losses ISBN 9780415822688 both the United States and the European Union, in their risk-weighted assets. That accord was the where public officials have responded with col- basis for the updated Basel II accord, which started laborative efforts to prevent the routing of trades to be implemented after the 2008 crisis, and now he financial crisis of 2007–08 gave through different national jurisdictions in order the more updated Basel III accord. Tony Porter everyone a crash course on how incredibly to discourage regulatory arbitrage, the play-off of shows how complex transnational financial govern- Tcomplicated the world ance has become when he notes of global finance has become. that while the Basel I agreement Financial products many people The Basel I transnational financial took up 30 pages, Basel II ran to had never heard of were sud- 347, and Basel III is 600 pages denly causing the entire system to accord took up 30 pages, Basel II ran to longer than Basel II. teeter terrifyingly on the brink of Under the umbrella of the collapse. 347 and Basel III is 600 pages longer. BIS, there are also task forces to The world survived that bat- deal with terrorist financing and tering, although six years later money laundering, as well as the many economies are still nursing their wounds and national regulations against each other in order to Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems. some remain too weak to get off the floor. achieve maximum profits. And the G7 set up the Financial Stability Forum in Why this is so and what can be done about it is The sea change in how markets work largely 1999, now expanded to the G20 countries as the the subject of Transnational Financial Regulation reflects a broad historical trend, rather than the Financial Stability Board. after the Crisis, a collection of essays by inter- handiwork of any particular group or regime. Rapid The 1998 capital adequacy rules were somewhat national political economy scholars, edited by development in technical and communications controversial in that they created a system that McMaster University’s Tony Porter, that delves deep technology is the common denominator. In the would allow those with the resources to put aside into the growing intricacy of financial markets and world of global finance, data and complex financial what is essentially the collateral necessary to par- the equally complex system of trying to regulate derivative products can travel faster and farther, ticipate in the largest markets in order to reap the them across borders. The question those contribu- and human beings can interact over greater dis- benefits of participation in those markets. This does tors attempt to answer, with some limited success, tances and with much more immediacy than ever protect the system from collapse, which is to every- is whether national and international regulators before. body’s benefit, but the structure may deny smaller, are doing enough to prevent another shock from These innovations have now become entrenched less wealthy market participants the opportunity to threatening the stability of the global system. in much of human reality, affecting our perceptions participate in the first place, except as participants Most of the book concerns itself with regula- of distance and connectivity. Governance mech- in syndication arrangements. tory issues. But it is interesting to look briefly at an anisms have flattened; hierarchies have become Indeed, some would argue that in contrast to example of the scale of what the regulators have to networks; and identities are more often multiple the international legal system, the mechanisms that deal with. A chapter by Eric Helleiner and Stefano and hybrid than singular and homogenous. And have evolved over time to manage global financial Pagliari focuses on the tremendous growth in the ever since capital started to become increasingly operations give too much power to private actors over-the-counter market in derivatives.1 This is mobile, the impetus has been on regulators to play and the most powerful states, and that these actors’ the kind of trading you can do from your home catch-up to ensure the stability of the system. influence over the direction of international rule- computer, without the use of an exchange or clear- making privileges the interests of those already ing house, as well as bank-to-bank trades or any So Who Are the Regulators? possessing power and wealth. trade done directly and without an intermediary. The oldest international financial organization in With the growth of the internet, this market has the world is the Bank for International Settlements New Layers Added to an Already exploded. In 2008 the notional value of outstand- in Switzerland. Set up in 1930 to handle repara- Complicated System ing OTC derivatives contracts was estimated at tion payments imposed on Germany at the end of If anything, regulation of the global financial system $592 trillion (the total U.S. government budget for World War One, it now acts as a bank for central has grown more complicated since the 2008 crisis. 2012, by comparison, was about $3.5 trillion). And banks and, more importantly, a place where central Some of this has to do with the popularity of some yet, prior to the crisis six years ago, the OTC market bankers and regulators can collaborate. In 1983, newer financial instruments, such as OTC deriva- was barely even considered from an international following several payment crises, the BIS created tives. But also new laws have been passed in some regulatory standpoint. a supervisory committee to bring together central jurisdictions and new powers have been given to Helleiner and Pagliari provide several reasons bank officials from eleven countries, including bodies that lack the clearly defined rules of the Luxembourg as an associate member, to establish International Monetary Fund or the BIS. Jennifer Jeffs is president of the Canadian rules for regulating and supervising banking activ- The most significant U.S. regulatory reform to International Council and a former professor of ities, acknowledging that financial practices in one come out of the crisis is the Dodd-Frank Wall Street international relations at the Centro de Estudios country could have effects on other jurisdictions. Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed by y Programas Interamericanos at ITAM in Mexico As financial markets became bigger and increas- the U.S. Congress in July 2010. As Kathryn Lavelle’s City. ingly complex and the extent of individual bank chapter points out, the Volcker rule, which is a
4 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada provision of the Dodd-Frank Act, is turning out to difficult to design traditional evaluation models for of its reliability and stability, by its very nature it have significant transnational effects. them. (There is, however, a research group at the slows knowledge development: technocrats think Simply put, the Volcker rule segregates trad- University of Toronto headed by John Kirton, which in terms of their own specialized knowledge, pro- ing activities from bank deposits in U.S. banks. tracks the implementation of the policy recommen- ducing a “conservative and incremental dynamic,” The significance of the rule is that it separates dations of the G20 and, thereby, the effectiveness of which in turn can stall policy and institutional the significant risk taking that investment banks its member governments.) development which, ironically, macroprudential undertake from the deposit-taking activities of regulation is designed to propel. commercial banks. The goal is to protect bank We Don’t Want an International Lender Much technical expertise is the result of private deposits, which are insured by deposit insurance, of Last Resort sector innovation in pursuit of greater profits. As funded by taxpayers, and thus to minimize the The proliferation of regulatory bodies has yet a result, the regulators are put in the position of effect ontaxpayer-backed deposits in the event of another cause, which is both fundamental and “catch up” as they are not the ones who devised a crisis that necessitates a taxpayer-funded bailout. intractable: the world does not, and cannot have, the financial products in the first place. This means Lavelle shows how the Volcker rule affects out- an international lender of last resort. The presence that effective governance needs to combine private siders, such as Canadians. Every major Canadian of such a lender—an international fund that would sector expertise with public sector accountability. bank has banking operations located in the United provide liquidity in the case of a problem in the It means that effective governance needs to defend States, and the U.S. government holds a consider- payments system due to the troubles of an institu- itself against thinking that becomes boxed in. The able amount of Canadian debt in the form of bonds. tion that overextends itself, would create the risk work of research institutions, academics and think Implementation of the Volcker rule in the United of moral hazard. Moral hazard is the potential— tanks is absolutely vital for the generation of new States affects the price of Canadian debt, and indeed, the likelihood—of increased risk-prone thinking and fresh perspectives. The danger of the liquidity in the market for Canadian national behaviour in the presence of a body standing by to thinking in silos is increasingly accepted as real, debt in both Canadian and U.S. bond markets. supply the liquidity in case of a problem in the flow and real steps are being taken to guard against Furthermore, Canadian banks with affiliates or of payments. doing so by regulators. Mark Carney, for example, is branches in the United States can be prevented The world has moved far beyond debates of restructuring the Bank of England, warning against from purchasing Canadian federal or provin- the 1990s centred on whether the IMF should step working in silos and the danger of not recognizing cial government bonds for their own account. in as an international lender of last resort when threats outside one’s area of expertise. Canadian bankers and public officials have been sovereign countries experienced balance of pay- The G20 needs to pave the way for its survival vociferous in their objections to having their char- ments issues. With the prevalence of the “too big as a useful body beyond issuing bland recom- tered institutions subject to U.S. laws, which affect to fail” phenomenon due to the interconnected mendations for cooperation. At the last summit in market prices, spreads and liquidity. nature of the global financial system, we may need St. Petersburg, G20 leaders directed their finance On the regulatory side, the two newer trans- to acknowledge that moral hazard is endemic to ministers to “develop further comprehensive national financial governance bodies that have the system. This problem supports Porter’s central growth strategies for presentation to the Brisbane risen to prominence in the wake of the global assertion that more complexity, not less, is inte- Summit” next November. Really. In the absence of financial crisis are the G20, formed after the Asian gral to transnational financial regulation. In fact, a crisis, the G20 process seems in danger of losing financial crisis of the late 1990s, and the Financial complexity needs to be a defining characteristic of its credibility. Stability Board. the system due to the fact that the system cannot— In a world of shifting power dynamics, what These two bodies are very different from inter- and should not—simplify toward an international Canada—along with other G20 middle powers— national organizations that were pulled into the lender of last resort. needs is a G20 that fills a meaningful role forecast- various crises since the Mexican peso crisis in ing and preventing crises, stepping in to manage the 1990s. Unlike the IMF and the BIS, which have Where Do We Go from Here? crises that occur and fortifying the G20 network to clearly defined rules, processes and conventions, The answer to the question of whether regula- make the best possible use of its informal nature the G20 and the FSB have informal rules, proced- tors are doing enough is an emphatic no. There is to develop deeper understanding among member ures and relationships with national regulators and action—quite a bit of it, in fact—but more focus countries. G20 members should be thinking hard private actors. They also have very limited institu- is needed on big picture risks and better coordin- about how to enhance understanding of each tional memories. Interestingly, in the case of the ated strategies through a globally representative other’s national financial systems, structures and FSB, its chair is none other than Bank of England group such as the G20. regulatory frameworks. governor Mark Carney, who continues to serve in During a visit to Canada in 2012, Christine While the G20 is not institutionalized, its exist- his FSB role on a part-time basis. Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, referred ence offers opportunities for institutional learning. The G20 is an entirely new manner of organiza- to Canada as a leader when she talked about the For example, a residency exchange program for tion initially proposed by former Canadian prime “management of big picture risks, what we now call junior central bank officials could have a deepening minister Paul Martin, bringing together the finance macroprudential policies” to manage system-wide effect on working relationships between central ministers and central bankers of the 20 systemically risks related to the economic cycle, market struc- bank economists in various regions. most important economies. Responsible for about tures and to individual institutions. Transnational Financial Regulation after the 85 percent of the world’s total economic activity, Macroprudential policy emerged in the after- Crisis, while undoubtedly too dense for lay read- the very existence of the G20 demonstrates rec- math of the Asian crisis in the 1990s as an approach ers, is a first-rate contribution to both international ognition by its members that the world needed a to mitigating risk in the financial system. It arose political economy academic literature and to our new type of organization, one dedicated to helping out of the need that international economists saw understanding of the complexity and the urgency navigate the complexities of the global economy, to treat the financial system as a whole, inter- of crafting multifaceted regulatory mechanisms. and one that allows those responsible for economic preting risk as endogenous and systemic, rather The dreadful economic, social and political conse- and financial matters in the G20 members to have a than exogenous and due to individual (discrete) quences of a financial system collapse cannot be forum for meeting and discussion. activities. The focus of macroprudential regulation, overstated. Porter points out that the nature of these two therefore, is on maintenance of the stability of the Sir Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor for financial bodies makes it difficult to evaluate or assess their system as a whole, rather than on the soundness of stability at the Bank of England, summed up the performance in order to make them function better individual institutions in it. regulators’ dilemma rather well in an interview he than they do. Their common fundamental goal is to In his chapter on this subject, Andrew Baker gave the Financial Times in March. The failure of prevent financial crises, but that raises a question: refers to the emergence of a “macroprudential agencies to work together effectively could under- is the absence of crisis sufficient evidence that they paradox.” The paradox is that macroprudential mine regulatory standards and trigger a fragmenta- are carrying their work out effectively and suc- regulation is technocracy—rule by technical tion of global markets, he said. “If we don’t hang cessfully? And should we be so quick to condemn experts—yet technocracy is also the principal together, most assuredly, one way or another, we these organizations if or when another country is source of weakness in macroprudential regulation. will hang separately.” wracked by financial crisis in the future? It does Technocrats tend to become victims of their own seems surprising that, in a world so wedded to technical thinking, creating a path dependence in Note performance assessment, no international mech- regulatory thinking that could be dangerous as new 1 A derivative financial instrument is the combination of anisms have been constructed to evaluate organ- threats may lie outside the vision or consciousness two or more types of tradable financial products to create a new, unified one; for example, in a currency interest rate izations such as the G20 or the FSB. Their informal of the technocrats. Although technocracy rose future, you are betting on both the price of the currency in nature and lack of actual staff networks makes it to prominence after the 2008 crisis, and in spite the future and the interest rate it will earn at that time.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 5 “I’m working with the last living speaker of her language. I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a book on that?” A VOICE FOR MANY PEOPLES That question inspired a new series in which we will produce books on all of Canada’s sixty- plus Aboriginal languages.
“A voice for many peoples” is our motto. Our logo incorporates elements of Cree syllabics. This initiative goes to the heart of our mission.
The First Nations Language Readers are designed to help reverse the loss of Aboriginal languages experienced by so many indigenous peoples. Informative and playful, they offer real insight into First Nations cultures and languages.
Visit us on-line at UofRPRess.ca and check out Reality PUblishing the University of Regina Press world’s first reality show about publishing.
6 Aboriginal Reader series for LRC.indd 1 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review2014-04-10 of Canada 1:49 PM The Memory Thief Understanding and coping with Alzheimer’s disease. Gregory Marchildon
to succumb to Alzheimer disease” The Alzheimer Conundrum: when older, even though in many Entanglements of Dementia cases their autopsies showed all the and Aging telltale signs of the disease. Margaret Lock This is strong evidence in favour Princeton University Press of what is called the cognitive 310 pages, hardcover reserve hypothesis: that a rich intel- ISBN 9780691149783 lectual life can stave off the onset of Alzheimer’s for many years. The Memory Clinic: Now, lest you think that reading Stories of Hope and Healing the LRC well into your sunset years for Alzheimer’s Patients and is a natural prophylactic against Their Families Alzheimer’s, you need to keep in Tiffany Chow mind that the tangles and plaques Penguin Canada will eventually get to you if you 263 pages, softcover live long enough, even if scientists ISBN 9780143186236 vehemently disagree on the issue of whether the onset of Alzheimer’s is or is not a natural part of aging. have only known Alzheimer’s disease and decade or two, we are still in the dark ages when Trained as a cultural anthropologist, Lock is other dementia-related conditions at one it comes to understanding the brain relative to all the Marjorie Bronfman Professor Emerita in Social Iremove. The extended members of my family the other organs in the human body. We still do not Studies in Medicine at McGill University. Her book with dementia always lived so far away that I could know whether Alzheimer’s is a discrete disorder or is a dense and at times difficult journey through only see their decline from a distance, if at all. This a biochemical deficiency or simply “an exaggera- the current state of research and competing under- distance extended to my understanding of the con- tion or acceleration of the normal aging processes.” standings of Alzheimer’s disease. You have to be dition and its consequences because, in my mind, Moreover, we still cannot diagnose Alzheimer’s a determined reader to make it from beginning to even knowing about this terrifying disease might with certainty until a postmortem diagnosis is end but it is worth the effort. The difficulty is less be bad luck. And then there is my mother, currently conducted through autopsy. Nonetheless, during due to Lock’s writing style than to the inherent 84 years of age, who fears that each of her “senior’s life, clinical diagnoses are made—indeed, have complexity of the subject matter, much of which moments” is a symptom of the beginning of the to be made—based on psychological tests and deals with the cutting (and highly contested) edge disease. While these are irrational reactions to professional judgement of a patient’s decline in of science. While not a research scientist, Lock has Alzheimer’s and dementia-related conditions, they cognitive capacity. (As a side note, a survivor of spent her life analyzing, interpreting and explaining are probably typical. the concentration camps, Vojtech Adalbert Kral of our social constructions of “medical” conditions Margaret Lock, in her book—so appropriately McGill University was the first to use standardized and interventions. Her past work exhibits aston- entitled The Alzheimer Conundrum: Entanglements psychological testing to assess the condition of his ishing range, including prize-winning books on of Dementia and Aging—quotes from a famous patients in the 1950s.) biomedical technologies and their impact, organ Alzheimer’s researcher, Zaven Khachaturian. There is a puzzle, however. The neurofibril- transplants and the mythologies of menopause. He provides the most succinct and unflinching lary tangles and plaques in the brain that can be The conundrum Lock refers to in her title is, in description of the disease I have come across: seen post mortem—the classic identifiers of the my interpretation, actually a policy conundrum of disease—do not exhibit anything close to a perfect whether to focus public resources—and those The disease quietly loots the brain, nerve cell correspondence with the clinical presentation of of the charities devoted to the disease—on an by nerve cell, a burglar returning to the same the disease during life. We learn this in Lock’s book amply financed research program exploring the house each night. Typically the first symptom from a study of 678 Catholic nuns in the United molecular aspects of the disease, or toward a public to appear is forgetfulness. Then comes more States known as the School Sisters of Notre Dame health approach that targets environmental factors severe memory loss, followed by confusion, whose brains had been examined after death. that can be changed more easily and at much lower garbled speech and movements, hallucina- Commenced in 1986, the study compared the cost. By environmental factors, Lock means the tions, personality changes and moods that symptoms they experienced in the late stages— material and social environment in which we live can swing from anger to anxiety to depres- from age 75 and older—of their respective lives to and work. Although she is not specific about the sion. As the brain loses mass the rest of the the condition of their brains after death. material factors that are highly correlated (or not) body gradually shuts down. This same study also found large discrepancies with Alzheimer’s diagnoses, it is clear that a rich between the clinical assessments during life and and meaningful social life and an active intellectual The overwhelming impression is that, despite the autopsy after death. Some of the nuns whose life and the challenge of creative work is associated some major scientific advances over the past autopsied brains had the unmistakable tangles with greater resilience to the disease. The main and plaques associated with Alzheimer’s showed dilemma from my perspective is that, in the long Gregory Marchildon holds the Canada Research very few symptoms of the disease in their lifetime. run, a “cure” will only be possible if we continue Chair at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of The researchers reviewed statements written by down the biomedical and clinical research path, Public Policy, an interdisciplinary centre for public the nuns when they first applied to enter the order yet because of its cost, that cure will likely only be policy research, teaching, outreach and training as young women. The results showed that those offered to a tiny minority of the globe’s population. with campuses at the University of Regina and the nuns who expressed “imagination and complex- At the same time, this research is driven by University of Saskatchewan. ity in their thinking while young” were “less likely the desire of pharmaceutical companies to make
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 7 a major breakthrough—with windfall profits that Toronto. Her book, The Memory Clinic: Stories of clinical judgement, survived for years after Chow might well exceed what they were able to reap in the Hope and Healing for Alzheimer’s Patients and told her she only had months to live. Clearly, Chow past on new anti-statin and anti-anxiety drugs. This Their Families, has an entirely different focus and was wrong and she has little shame in admitting has created an environment that has fused corpor- style from Lock’s. Presented in a highly accessible, this fact. ate interests with science in a way that confounds almost chatty format, Chow’s book targets two main In the self-help part of the book, there are useful good policy. The dilemma remains, however. We audiences: the principal caregivers of Alzheimer’s chapters on how to manage stress and relationships are still far away from a cure to Alzheimer’s, and patients in an attempt to explain how they can best and re-shape your diet, exercise and work regimens basic research, including pharmaceutical research, manage both the disease and their own lives, and so that you can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s dis- is clearly essential. Moreover, the amount of public all of us who want to do what we can to prevent—to ease or at least mitigate its consequences. Chow and private money spent on dementia research still some extent—the onset of the disease. then goes on to provide a basic introduction to pales in comparison with cancer and cardiovascu- Again, this was not a book I particularly wanted treatment protocols including some cutting-edge lar disease research, to say nothing of the paltry to read. In addition to the subject matter, this approaches and drugs. She then guides the reader sum devoted to research on the through the more speculative environmental conditions that can field of where the research, and exacerbate Alzheimer’s. Chow admonishes those doctors who perhaps treatment, of Alzheimer’s The perception of this for-profit will be going in the future. One of agenda polarizes researchers and refuse to take the time to listen carefully her appendices provides a self- experts who belong to at least and compassionately to their patients. administered questionnaire that one of three distinct groups. First, measures for risk factors. there are the basic scientists who I loved Chow’s explanation of are engaged full time in laboratory-style research, seemed on the surface like so many other self-help “hanging the black crepe,” an expression she picked specializing in one of the many areas (such as books that I detest. But while it does fit the self- up from a physician friend to describe the doctor’s pharmaceutical, protein and crystallography, cell help profile in some respects, The Memory Clinic role in telling family members that a loved one is signalling, genomic research) contributing to our goes well beyond that tired genre. In the first place, going to die. You get the impression that Chow has knowledge of Alzheimer’s. Second, there are the Chow is a notable clinician-scientist in the field had to hang the black crepe many times in her life. epidemiologists and population geneticists who and she gives us a broad-strokes view of the state of One of the most interesting chapters concerns work outside the laboratory in order to figure out research in the field. the doctor-patient-caregiver triangle. Chow gives the causes and distribution of Alzheimer’s among More unusually, however, she impresses with much useful advice, sprinkled throughout the various human populations. Finally, there are the her compassion and wisdom and I came away book, to caregivers on how to provide compassion- physicians who have specialized in the care of thinking that she is a remarkable human being— ate care to a loved one with Alzheimer’s without Alzheimer’s patients and their families, and among honest, funny and highly motivated to do the right becoming debilitated in the process. The first step is these are clinician-researchers who also contrib- thing irrespective of how hard it is or to what extent a clearer understanding of the disease and the way ute to research using their patients as the main it challenges the culture of her own profession. in which the patient sees the world. The second step subjects. Chow also appreciates the highly contingent nature is for the caregiver to know how best to care, when Into the third category falls Tiffany Chow, a of her own diagnoses and subsequent prognoses. to care and when to step back. She also provides a behavioural neurologist and senior scientist at She tells us about a misdiagnosis of one of her own bit of a guide to how caregivers can more construct- Baycrest’s Sam and Ida Ross Memory Clinic in patients who, contrary to her expectations and ively deal with the medical profession. She admonishes those doctors who refuse to take the time to listen carefully and compas- The LRC presents… sionately to their patients. She points out that the healthcare system is structured to revolve around Next in the LRC’s 2013–14 speaker series, produced doctors. First the patient waits for an appointment. in partnership with Spur—Canada’s national festival Then the patient waits in a waiting room. Then, after finally getting to see the doctor, the patient of politics, arts and ideas. gets a quick recitation of the diagnosis and its con- sequences with little or no opportunity to tell his or her own story. Rebuilding Ontario In most cases, the family and even the patient MATTHEW MENDELSOHN AND MIKE MOFFATT know the problem cannot be solved but they desperately need someone to acknowledge their Monday, May 5 | 7:00 pm situation with compassion and patience. In Chow’s Gardiner Museum words, “telling a person he has a progressive 111 Queen’s Park, Toronto dementia is a job that someone has to do, hopefully with the right amount of compassion and kindness The cities and towns of Ontario’s once-mighty for the circumstances. The other alternative is to manufacturing base face the fallout of global economic send patients away under- or misinformed.” I get change, shedding tens of thousands of jobs year after year. the impression that she is superb in this aspect of her job and, if I should ever develop the disease And while most people in major metropolitan centres are myself, I would want to be her patient and have her insulated from the full impact, they already catch glimpses talk my family members through the process. of this seismic shift. In the end, what I thought would be a depress- ing and distressing journey through a much-feared Join Mowat Centre director Matthew Mendelsohn and Ivey disease turned out to be a life-affirming experience. School of Business economist Mike Mo att for a lively Both these books allowed me to understand the disease and be better prepared to face its reality discussion on preparing the ground for good jobs to grow should I be put into the position of an Alzheimer’s in Ontario. caregiver or patient in the future. My personal les- To purchase tickets for this talk—or a discounted LRC son from this is that it is far better to face difficult subscription, which gets you FREE entrance to the event truths than live in ignorance and fear. While these —visit
8 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Taking Care of Business A surprisingly sober rock ’n’ roll memoir. Denise Donlon
skirt the trials of a chronologically ordered work. writes. When he yelled for help, his father ran to the Tales from Beyond the Tap Who has not burned through the “when I was two” rescue and “He looked at me, drunk and pathetic Randy Bachman childhood pages of other artists’ memoirs in search … and said ‘I’m ashamed to call you my son,’ I was Viking of the juicy heydays—perhaps eager to find out if devastated. That was the last night I ever drank.” 322 pages, hardcover the legend of the Mars Bar story was really true? And so, according to the book, while his ISBN 9780670067633 (P.S. Marianne Faithful insists it is not.) band mates in Chad Allen and the Reflections or It is also fascinating to read Bachman’s opinions the Guess Who or BTO were out partying after on the music business past and present. He is the show, Bachman was doing the accounting, andy Bachman’s Tales from Beyond the patriotic about CanCon (“gave Canadians hope banking, practising the guitar and writing songs. Tap is an atypical rock star memoir. It and an opportunity”), despairing of Modern Given the massive success of his hits over the years, Ris not a careening down-and-dirty kiss- Radio (“cobwebbing itself to death”), dismissive of not only has that paid off, but it is going to pay off and-tell-all (unless you count the story about digital recording studios (“you can make anyone for his seven kids and 26 grandchildren for lifetimes seeing Tina Turner naked). It is an open-hearted sound like Celine Dion”) and lamenting the loss of to come. collection of musical memories and opinion from creative packaging (“I used to pore over liner notes Many of us had thought his sobriety due to his one of Canada’s most beloved elder statesmen. The like they were some religious artifacts”). Still, he is Mormon faith, but Bachman does not go there in book reads the way Bachman’s CBC this book, which for me is a shame. Radio show Vinyl Tap sounds—full of Unlike every other legendary music I expect it would have added yet affable anecdotes, career backstories another dimension to his already and just enough celebrity name figure blazing a trail in the early prodigious character and I would dropping to bruise all of your toes. have liked to know how a practising It is an engaging read from an days of modern music, Bachman Mormon made out on the road. old friend with whom most of us As Bachman’s fans have aged with in the Great White North grew up. remembers. He was and is sober. him, it is no wonder he eventually Randy Bachman’s songs with the gets round to talking unabashedly Guess Who, Brave Belt and Bachman Turner optimistic about the do-it-yourself approach that about his health. We learn that it played a big part in Overdrive—“Taking Care of Business,” “American advances in technology are bringing as the modern why he left the Guess Who at such an inconceivable Woman” and about 120 more gold and platinum music world rebuilds itself from the wreckage. time, when “American Woman” was number one singles—were played so often, on so many radio He is pragmatic about the career events that lead and they had just headlined the legendary Fillmore. stations across the country, that they are bound to bumpy bits with his brothers (“bad blood between It seems unthinkable that anyone would walk within us like musical DNA. The risk, though, is that siblings is never easily assuaged”) and forthright away from that kind of success in America, but it these songs are all so familiar and ingrained that about the Guess Who (“the sad legacy of the Guess turns out he was dealing with acute gall bladder they might be in danger of being taken for granted, Who is the residue of bitterness and recrimination … problems and needed to get medical help. He so it is satisfying to see BTO being inducted into the everyone feeling as if they’ve been shafted”). rightfully bemoans the lack of a good, experienced Canadian Music Hall of Fame this year. Songwriters What Bachman’s Tales from Beyond the Tap does manager at the time who might have smoothed out who have achieved as much as Randy Bachman not have (and hence, why it is an atypical R’n’R the personalities and kept them together. deserve to be celebrated on a Canadian Mount memoir) is the sex and drugs part of rock and roll. Still rockin’ at 70, he is open about his health Rushmore. Unlike every other legendary music figure blazing problems, writing about his gastric bypass—a In this book, the second in his Tap series, he a trail in the early days of modern music, Bachman surgery known as a “miracle cure” performed in uses a unique memoir structure: he simply answers remembers. He was and is sober—eschewing 2001 when he weighed 173 kilograms—and perhaps his fans’ questions. They are keen for information alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and now even coffee in the “too much information” department we also about life on the road, Bachman’s guitars, the for his whole career. The sobriety club is slightly learn that he is fighting knee replacement surgery gadgets and gizmos, the inner workings of his bigger these days with stars such as Eric Clapton now, using a procedure called prolotherapy, which family, the stars he has met and, of course, the and David Bowie both famously bowing out of their injects your own blood back into the joints. He is answer to the eternal question about whether he dances with the devil late in the game. Still, there careful about diet and exercise, and focuses on and Burton Cummings will ever work together are very few internationally known rock stars who living longer, using some of the latest techniques, again—the answer to which is no, not until claim to have never used alcohol or drugs during including a silk parachute suspended by chains in Cummings “rights the wrong between us,” before their entire career. One notable exception is über his apartment that he uses to stretch his body but Bachman goes on to reveal a great deal about the Republican guitar slinger Ted Nugent. Still, given that is often co-opted by the grandkids. publishing woes between them. Can’t wait to read that wing nut’s penchant for loincloths, guns and Bachman is currently on the road performing, Cummings’s book, methinks. hunting animals trapped between fences, one hosting his long-running radio show on CBC and The fan-question structure allows Bachman to could argue that he was in a chemically altered state writing songs, even though he says “the odds of me of mind to begin with. landing another #1 at my age are slim.” According Denise Donlon is a former president of Sony Music Bachman’s comments on abstinence are also in to him, there is no off button, no retirement in sight, Canada, former vice-president of MuchMusic and answer to a fan question. He admits a “predilection and he wants to live to be a hundred. He has got the MuchMoreMusic, and former vice-president and for addiction” (he did collect some 380 Gretsch energy of a teenager and I expect he might be using executive director of CBC English radio. She is guitars after all) and recalls the moment his sobriety these next 30 years to give substance to the answer currently co-hosting theZoomer with Conrad Black began at a party at Jim Kale’s house in 1966. “I got of the ultimate fan question—What’s next, Randy? on Vision TV. paralytically drunk … I drove over my own foot,” he You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 9 Reluctant Nationalist Hero One of Quebec’s greatest painters sought artistic but not political fame. Martin Laflamme
ator from the same village. Leduc took Borduas was deteriorating fast and employment prospects Paul-Émile Borduas: A Critical Biography under his wing and made it possible for him to gain were uncertain at best. He returned to Montreal in François-Marc Gagnon practical experience and further his training at art 1930 to face a situation that was not much better. translated by Peter Feldstein schools in Sherbrooke and Montreal. Fortunately, Leduc was there to help, again, and for McGill-Queen’s University Press For the most part, the artistic world which a while, the aging master provided Borduas with 578 pages, hardcover Borduas discovered was French, conservative, religious commissions. But even that did not last ISBN 9780773541894 Catholic and very académique. The director of the and, eventually, Borduas was forced to fall back École des beaux-arts in Montreal, which Borduas on teaching drawing skills to children in primary joined in 1923, just as it was being established, schools in Montreal. Prospects for a full-fledged aul-Émile Borduas was anything but a was a Frenchman, Emmanuel Fougerat, who had artistic career were beginning to look remote. quitter. Like all good artists, he constantly developed a curriculum based on that of a similar By the late 1930s, however, some things began Ptried to push the boundaries, to change that would facilitate his and when he hit a dead end, he Borduas paid a very high price for emergence as a figure of historical looked for a different way forward. proportion. In 1937, he started teach- Forebears like Renoir, Degas and his convictions: he died in Paris, in ing at the École du meuble, an arts, Manet, he later wrote, had closed “the design and woodcarving school in cycle of naturalism.” Soon afterwards, exile, alone and bitter, his artistic Montreal. This helped stabilize his he felt, the Cubists had slammed the financial situation, but, crucially, it doors of individual expression shut. expectations unfulfilled. also allowed him to gravitate to the Eventually, he discovered André city’s intelligentsia. Perhaps even Breton and realized that Surrealism might offer an school he had headed in Nantes. For Fougerat, more importantly, it enabled him to connect with exit, perhaps the only one. He kept reading, think- the most important aspect of an arts education a younger generation of adult creators, some of ing, experimenting, discussing, further prying open was “drawing, more drawing, and still more draw- whom would eventually coalesce around him as the doors to “a vast domain hitherto unexplored, ing.” What of the Fauvists, Cubists and Dadaists? the Automatistes. Then, in 1939, he became the first taboo, reserved for angels and devils,” the own All “charlatans”! There was no room for them at vice-president of the Contemporary Art Society, inner world of the artist. By late 1941, Borduas was Fougerat’s respectable, no-nonsense art school, a group that would “play an important role in on the cusp of a major breakthrough. which aimed to provide students with marketable, spreading the renown of Borduas’s work.” Last but If his production at that time is anything to go industrial skills. After all, artists have to eat as well. not least: Alfred Pellan returned from France. After by, it must have been an exhilarating moment. As Soon after graduating, Borduas managed, again 14 years in Europe, the war had forced Quebec’s François-Marc Gagnon describes it in his authori- with the help of Leduc, to secure a scholarship to leading representative of the avant-garde to come tative Paul-Émile Borduas: A Critical Biography, in study in Paris, at the Atelier d’art sacré. He would back home and he lost no time organizing a large a very short period—legend has it that it happened also spend time at the Atelier Hébert-Stevens, where and audacious retrospective of his work. Borduas overnight—Borduas created some 60 abstract gou- he was able to pursue his interest in stained glass. In visited the show and, although his thoughts are aches (a kind of thick, opaque watercolour), the total, Borduas spent 18 months in France, between not recorded, Gagnon surmises that “it must have core of his first solo show, which he presented at 1928 and 1930, and there is no denying that this strongly impressed him.” the Théâtre de l’Ermitage in Montreal in the spring was a rewarding, pleasurable and highly forma- Around the fall of 1941, Borduas began experi- of 1942. For Borduas, a temperamental man “given tive period for him. In what was then the centre of menting with abstraction and soon produced his to fits of ‘destructive rage’ directed towards any of the arts world, he discovered Renoir, who would remarkable gouaches. He described his approach, his paintings that did not satisfy him,” this vast and remain a life-long influence, as well as Gauguin which drew heavily from Breton’s écriture automa coherent output was a seminal development. At 36, and Cézanne. Given his future role as a leader of tique, in the following way: “I begin with no pre- he had become one of the most important and dar- the Automatiste movement, however, it is surpris- conceived idea. Faced with the white sheet, my ing cultural figures in what was still a very conserva- ing—and highly ironic—that Borduas seems to mind free of any literary ideas, I respond to my first tive and inward-looking Quebec. have been utterly unconcerned with the Surrealists, impulse … Once the first line is drawn, the page has None of this had been preordained. Born in even though, by that time, the movement was in full been divided and that division starts a whole series 1905, Borduas hailed from a working class family swing; Breton had published his famous Manifeste of thoughts which proceed automatically.” of St. Hilaire, then a quaint village located approxi- in 1924. As it turns out, “Borduas awakened slowly The moniker had not yet been coined, but this mately 50 kilometres east of Montreal. It was his to contemporary painting,” in marked contrast with was the beginning of the Automatiste movement, good fortune however that, as a teenager, he met another Quebecer, Alfred Pellan, also in Paris at the which would go on to revolutionize pictorial art Ozias Leduc, a renowned artist and church decor- time, “whose omnivorous gallery visiting took in in Quebec. To take the historical measure of this Cubism, Surrealism, and all the avant-garde cur- development, it is worth remembering that it would Martin Laflamme is a Canadian foreign service rents.” Like his master and mentor, Ozias Leduc, be another five years before Abstract Expressionism officer who served in Japan and Afghanistan. He is Borduas was preparing for a career as a church appeared in New York. currently posted to China. He was born and raised decorator, and that is where his focus lay. As the leader of the Automatistes, Borduas now in St. Hilaire, Quebec. The views presented here are When his scholarship ran out, Borduas tried to took it upon himself to advocate, vocally, for a his own. remain in France, but the economic environment new way of looking at art, one that was free of the
10 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Michael Byers for International Law and the Arctic (Cambridge University Press)
Miranda Campbell for Out of the Basement: Youth Cultural Production in Practice and in Policy FINALISTS (McGill-Queen’s University Press) The Donner Canadian Foundation is pleased ron ellis for to announce the shortlist for the sixteenth annual Donner Prize Unjust by Design: Canada’s for the best public policy book by a Canadian. Administrative Justice System (UBC Press)
The winner of the $50,000 Donner Prize will be announced Jim Leech and Jacquie McNish for on April 30, 2014. The Third Rail: Confronting Other shortlisted titles will receive $7,500 each. Our Pension Failures (Signal) www.donnerbookprize.com
gregory Taylor for Shut Off: The Canadian Digital Television Transition (McGill-Queen’s University Press) BookS ThAT WILL ChANge Your MIND ABouT CANADA
cultural and religious blinkers then imposed by the committed and had nothing but contempt, Gagnon clergy and the bien-pensant. But his intransigence, writes, for Mexican muralism, American social real- which, at times bordered on the messianic, became ism and Russian realism. Still, Borduas could not Coming up a growing source of tension within his social circle. ignore the political consequences of his acts and he It reached a climax in 1948 with the publication of paid a very high price for his convictions: he died in in the LRC Refus Global, a poorly written and somewhat ram- Paris, in exile, alone and bitter, his artistic expecta- bling manifesto that nonetheless had a very clear tions unfulfilled. gist: tradition and the church can both go to hell. In It is difficult to imagine a scholar more know- their place, Borduas and his collaborators encour- ledgeable and more qualified to write about Does the CBC aged readers to “Make way for magic! Make way for Borduas than François-Marc Gagnon. The found- have a future? objective mysteries! Make way for love!” Today, this ing director of the Institute for Studies in Canadian Barry Kiefl may sound a little funny, but in 1948, it was revolu- Art at Concordia University, Gagnon spent much tionary stuff. of his career writing about Borduas and the Canadian gothic The reaction was swift: only a few weeks after the Automatiste movement. In fact, this vocation manifesto hit the press, Borduas was denounced in appears to run in the family: his father, Maurice, Yvette Nolan the media and dismissed from the École du meuble, was an art critic and, until 1948, a close friend at the personal request of no less than the Quebec of Borduas—it was he who had made possible What MPs think deputy minister of social welfare and youth. In the the ground-breaking exhibition at the Théâtre de of Parliament run-up to the publication of Refus Global, Borduas’s l’Ermitage in 1942—and Gagnon met the artist on activism had led to a painful break with several several occasions as a child. His book, however, Ken Dryden friends and collaborators, including with John adopts a resolutely academic approach, one that Lyman, the founder and first president of the CAS. focuses squarely on the artist’s pictorial and aes- Local Customs But now Borduas was without a job; he also lost his thetic evolution, and this will unfortunately limit by Audrey Thomas pension since he had refused to resign voluntarily. its appeal. Many aspects of Borduas’s personal Until his death in 1960, he would have to rely on his life such as his rocky relationship with his former Sandra Djwa art alone to survive. It would not be easy. student Jean-Paul Riopelle, his daughter’s mental Despite the kerfuffle, the political impact of illness, the tension in—and subsequent break-up Birds on the page Refus Global was, at first, extremely limited. It was of—his marriage, the anguish and frustration of Bridget Stutchbury only several years later that the manifesto acquired his last years in exile, all these are merely glossed a much broader significance and that it came to rep- over, when they are mentioned at all. Gagnon, for Stealing an island resent the first salvo of the Quiet Revolution. In the instance, does not even state the cause of Borduas’s process, Borduas also became a kind of nationalist death, a heart attack. Those already familiar with Stephen Kimber hero. The irony is that this is not what the painter the painter will find much food for thought in this from St. Hilaire had envisaged. In fact, Borduas well-illustrated volume. But those approaching Trending news saw himself as completely “apolitical” and had very Borduas’ life and work for the first time may prefer Tony Burman little sympathy for nationalism, whatever its kind. to use Gagnon’s book as a companion to a more He consistently refused to see his art as politically standard biography.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 11 Chains Unearthed A ground-breaking work on the black and aboriginal slaves who helped build New France, finally translated into English. Lawrence Hill
Finally now, more than half Canada’s Forgotten Slaves: a century after Trudel’s ground- Two Hundred Years of Bondage breaking work was first brought Marcel Trudel out in French, it has been capably translated by George Tombs translated by George Tombs and Véhicule Press published by Véhicule Press in 323 pages, softcover Montreal. In its title, the new ISBN 9781550653274 English work employs “Canada” instead of a literal translation of “Canada français.” Tombs explains s recently as the third that Trudel means “French Can- quarter of the 20th cen- ada” when he uses the term Atury, just a few substan- “Canada.” To be clear, apart from tial books existed about the history one or two brief references to slav- of blacks in Canada. Two scholarly ery in Upper Canada, this transla- works—The Blacks in Canada: A History by Yale Quebec society were slave owners in the 18th cen- tion focuses exclusively on the history of slavery in University’s Robin Winks and The Black Loyalists: tury. This included Governor James Murray, who in New France. The Search for the Promised Land in Nova Scotia 1763 wrote the following request to a slave trader It must be said that the writing in this book is and Sierra Leone, 1783–1870 by James W. St. G. in New York: “Black slaves are certainly the only highly repetitive. And the terminology is archaic: Walker—could not be overlooked. My own father, people to be depended upon … pray therefore if terms such as mulatto, savage and Eskimo abound. Daniel G. Hill, raised eyebrows with his ground- possible procure for me two Stout Young Fellows Black slaves are occasionally referred to as “ebony breaking PhD thesis accepted in 1960 by the Uni- … [and] buy for each a clean young wife, who can wood,” “ebony” or “ebony slaves.” I chafed at Tru- versity of Toronto, which was called “The Negroes of wash and do the female offices about a farm. I shall del’s occasional, defensive efforts to characterize Toronto: A Sociological Study of a Minority Group.” begrudge no price.” Canadian slavery as somehow having had “more My father and mother (Donna Hill), who each As it turns out, much of the writing about black of a humane nature” than its counterparts in went on to write their own books about black his- history and slavery in Quebec, including my fath- the United States and the Caribbean. And I was tory in Canada and to co-found the Ontario Black er’s popular history, The Freedom Seekers: Blacks in enraged by some bits that were offensive in their History Society, had an odd, slim, well-worn French Early Canada, perched on the shoulders of Marcel euphemistic quality, such as this reference to sex volume on their shelves dating back to my earliest Trudel. The Québécois historian documented the between masters and subjects: “we identified four childhood. My father’s French was abominable enslavement of both First Nations and African slave owners who yielded to the charms of their so I wondered why this book was so central in his peoples in Quebec long before it was popular to slaves.” Yielded to the charms of? How about raped? personal library. He let me know that Marcel Tru- do so. Indeed, Trudel’s Deux siècles d’esclavage However, it is important to recognize that Trudel del’s Deux siècles d’esclavage au Canada français au Canada français—first published in 1960—so was working with the language and thinking of his was a detailed, vital, scholarly work about a piece rankled his peers that he was forced to leave Que- time. It is vital to push past his words and ideas, and of Canadian—and African-Canadian—history that bec and take a position teaching at the University to appreciate the depth and the courage of his work few Canadians knew a thing about: the history of of Ottawa. in meticulously documenting the nature and extent blacks and of slavery in New France. The Quebec historian’s influence is not limited of slavery in New France. I learned, at the kitchen table, a number of fas- to English-Canadian works published decades ago. Trudel offers a clear picture of the early, middle cinating stories. For one, the first documented slave For example, in the last decade, two key publica- and end game of slavery in French Canada. The in Canada dated back to 1628, when a young boy tions about the life of Marie-Josephe Angélique owe book commences with Canada’s first known slave, from Madagascar was passed from British hands a debt to Trudel. In 2004, the Québécoise archiv- Oliver Le Jeune, who was brought to New France and came to be owned by a French trader in Que- ist and historian Denyse Beaugrand-Champagne in 1629 by the British privateer David Kirke and bec City. I learned of Marie-Josèphe Angélique, the published Le procès de Marie-Josèphe Angélique, was sold for 50 écus (the equivalent of six months’ Montreal slave who was convicted of burning down which took the position that Angélique was inno- wages for a skilled person) to a French trader her mistress’s home in Montreal in 1734 in a fire cent of the crime of arson to which she was forced named Le Bailiff. Le Jeune was sent to school, that destroyed much of the small city. She was tor- to confess, under torture. Two years later, historian baptized and given the last name of his spiritual tured brutally (the bones in her legs were smashed) and poet Afua Cooper’s book The Hanging of Angé father, a Jesuit priest named Le Jeune. The slave until she confessed, and then she was hanged. And lique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and died, probably while still in his thirties, in 1654. I learned that many of the most powerful men in the Burning of Old Montreal appeared; it argued Moving forward, Trudel traces the enslavement of that Angélique was a rebel heroine, guilty of the First Nations people and blacks. From 1671, Trudel Lawrence Hill is the author of nine books, including crime. Regardless of whether the young woman notes, French settlers in Canada began to acquire The Book of Negroes (HarperCollins, 2007) and was guilty or innocent of arson, the important facts Amerindian slaves. The trafficking of First Nations Blood: The Stuff of Life (House of Anansi, 2013), are that Angélique was enslaved in Montreal, that slaves began in earnest in 1687 and continued until which formed the basis of his 2013 Massey Lectures. she was made to confess under torture and that she the early 19th century. More information about him is available at
12 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
THE NEXT CRASH CREATING THE HEALTH CARE VIKINGS How Short-Term Profi t Seeking TEAM OF THE FUTURE Life and Legend Trumps Airline Safety e Toronto Model for Interprofessional E G W, P A L. F Education and Practice P, M W “Amy L. Fraher’s accessible book provides deep S N, M T, insight into a socially important setting, reveal- B D. H F H M Q ing surprising and disconcerting fi ndings. It will M D “Once again, the educational team from the be of interest to a broad audience.” University of Toronto is providing cutting-edge “Vikings enables visitors to look beyond the —A¡ M , ¢ work. e authors combine up-to-date inter- almost cartoon image of the Vikings that has B¢ U professional education scholarship with practi- been prevalent since the nineteenth century. cal content expertise that will assist educators Although the Roskilde ship was launched a as they forge new IPE curricula and collabora- thousand years ago, the culture that created it tive care learning opportunities for health still lives inside our own.” profession students and clinicians alike.” —Financial Times (preview of the exhibition on —R D. K , I U which the book is based) e-books available through: S M
Caribbean did not exist, for reasons of our northwww.cornellpress.cornell.edu- to use the term slavery although • 1-800-666-2211the reality was legislative councils of Lower Canada were slave ern climate, in Canada. Here, Trudel explains, there for all to see.” owners, as were eight judges and 17 members of slaves were primarily put to work in businesses, It should be noted that the same reluctance has the House of Assembly. Merchants, military offi- factories, religious institutions and homes. The hobbled the English Canadian psyche. In my own cers, surgeons, carpenters, blacksmiths, bishops infamous French law known as the Code noir discussions with high school students and with and nuns all owned slaves. The ôH pital Général de (there were two, dated 1685 and 1724) likened adults from Dawson City to St. John’s, it is common Montréal owned slaves, as did its leader, Mother slaves to personal property and made various to find a person—aged 15, or 55—who can speak d’Youville. stipulations about slavery. For example, slaves who with ease about slavery, segregation and civil rights No wonder Trudel was chased from his province escaped for the first time were to have their ears cut movement in the United States but knows virtually and forced to resettle in Ontario. He linked dozens off, and third-time offenders were to be executed. nothing of their counterparts in Canada. We know of prominent French-Canadian family names (such Trudel says that the Code noir influenced the prac- all about the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln, but as Beauchamps, Beauchemin, Raymond, Sabourin, tice of slavery in New France, even though the law few Canadians call tell you that when Lieutenant- Villeneuve, Lachasse, Demers and even his own was not entrenched or formally adopted for use on Governor John Graves Simcoe attempted in 1793 to family, Trudel) to slave ownership and went on this continent. abolish slavery in Upper Canada, he was stymied by to tease his compatriots with the reminder that After the British defeated the French in 1760, slave-owning legislators who forced him to accept a many of them—including former premier Maurice slaves remained in bondage under the new polit- compromise that did not do away with slavery, but Duplessis—probably descended from slaves too. ical system. The institution of slavery continued in prohibited people from importing any new slaves Trudel delighted in asking questions that must have Lower Canada (as it did in Upper Canada) through- into the jurisdiction. seemed provocative in the extreme, when his book out the 18th century. Slavery dwindled in the early Trudel must be credited with addressing this was first published in 1960. He asks “Did Quebec 19th century in both Lower and Upper Canada and ignorance, and taking pleasure in challenging his men father these [slave] children?” and then pro- had almost entirely disappeared in both jurisdic- readers with uncomfortable, provocative facts. In ceeds to name the children and the fathers. He asks tions by the time the British abolished it in most of Canada’s Forgotten Slaves, for example, Trudel “Do Canadians have slave blood?” and goes on to their empire (Canada included) in 1834. based his observations and analyses on a close cite two contradictory edicts from the French rulers The translation of Trudel’s book is clear, detailed examination of records of 4,200 slaves in Quebec about interracial relations—one supporting and and engaged. Tombs has written an informative from the mid 1600s until the abolition of slavery another opposing sexual relationships between preface to the English language edition, contextual- in Canada (and in most of the British empire) in French and First Nations peoples. izing not only the book but the life and thoughts of 1834. Among the slaves Trudel studied, about 2,700 It is impossible to read Marcel Trudel—in his Trudel (who died in 2011, at the age of 93). were First Nations people (he called them “Panis”), original, or in this important new translation by Tombs writes: “I remember asking Trudel why 1,450 were blacks and the remainder who were of George Tombs—and not be struck by two things: [his] pioneering work had only just begun to spawn indeterminate racial origin. that slavery was fully anchored in Canadian society new studies and fiction about slavery in Canada. He Trudel went far beyond counting the number of from the earliest era in New France, and that Can- shook his head wistfully, replying that this subject slaves. He took pleasure in examining Canadians as adians have been denying it ever since. had long been a blind spot in the French Canadian slave owners. Who owned slaves in Quebec? Well, Let’s bring on more new research, and more his- psyche.” Having established that slavery existed pretty well everybody who had the means. Famous torical fiction, and more vital, engaged translations for two centuries in Quebec, Trudel takes aim at explorers such as Laverendrye held First Nations such as Canada’s Forgotten Slaves. We need all such French Canadians for refusing to face up to this his- slaves. Governor James Murray owned black slaves. books in Canada, so that we can know ourselves tory. “In Quebec,” he writes, “people were reluctant At one point, 23 members of the executive and and our history more profoundly.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 13 An Able Physiologist 1: Robin Pecknold Descends the Steps of Pennsylvania Hospital in 1786
… the only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments—Benjamin Rush
Always down. On the marbled steps I refuse to sing like the bird that is held in the cage it flew into, or made, and look back at the hospital: how long it was, a thousand years before, I came and beat my breast against bars erected to keep me safe, bars that predicted my arrival based on oncoming song. The doctor here mentioned the moon, used leeches and cups, forbade me to sing. Was my difficulty a woman? Or sexual inanition? I can’t remember, though I feel the same. All I hoped would change within me stayed. The breaks occur along faults that crack when no pressure is applied, merely light. Placebo
Tea, sex and whiskey. The dog’s snores I am not mad. It was a woman. She held me as a delusion does, as he runs through the field of my sleeplessness, seeking out weaknesses—in the morning the sufferer wakes up paws twitching over each blade of grass. enlightened and without distraction. I wandered the town for a week afraid to think or see and sung folk hymns to God. But even breathing pulleys my head The doctor suggests impiety is my problem. Madness from the pillow, my mind manifests as the representation of a man’s primary trouble. wedged open with stars. The field, its moon a husk, I told him I never believed and never would. He asked why I knew the words to the hymns. I said I wanted to believe, a tooth I run my tongue round but the holy spirit is a bird cloistered in the church attic, endlessly. Bordering a street refused flight, kept in the dark. We all hear the bird trying to escape. where night animals cross safely, And so I know the words, melody, and beat to the praiseful songs. And still the doctor would not let me sing, allowed no visitors either: where a couple travels the sidewalk, hand in hand. too fragile a case, quiet and dark my prescribed treatments. And my cheek, next to yours, slackens against To stay alive I dreamed of birds keeping a moon-lit exile on Lake Erie, no man or god troubling them because the birds are mute the pillowcase. What cures? and can never be heard. They exist in me. I turn now, the brittle steps enclosed in a canopy of green, the sun so rarely seen in my stay beating down upon all it can hit and flatten and make better, Elizabeth Ross all love turning towards the great light to disintegrate. A bird that sings or a bird that has no song: after all is said and after all is done, God only knows which of them I’ll become.
Shane Neilson
Shane Neilson is a poet from New Brunswick. He will publish Able Physiologists Elizabeth Ross has published poetry in literary magazines Discuss Grief Musculatures with Jackpine Press later in 2014. At present he is reading across Canada. Her work has been longlisted for the CBC the entire oeuvre of poet M. Travis Lane for the purposes of making a substantial selec Poetry Prize and selected for inclusion in Best Canadian tion of her work available for publication in The Fiddlehead. Shane is also reading Poetry 2013. This poem is from her first collection of poetry, Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan and Satire which Palimpsest Press will publish in 2015. She lives in and the Postcolonial Novel by John Clement Ball. Toronto, where she teaches English and creative writing at OCAD University.
14 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Ms. Letitia Henry, English Teacher, Marks Candace May Contain Traces In grade three I was jealous of the boy Hunter’s Haiku who had an EpiPen, Aaron. With it, he could survive peanuts. Like a videogame his golden hairs sit egg it was hidden elsewhere to be uncovered befurred by sweet goodness during moments of kingdom crisis. on my fingertips In China, workers weave through fields pulling paintbrushes across crops water pools gently for pollination, the bees gone, fallen on the small crab’s pincers onto sidewalks, a billion yellow blossoms on collective toes underfoot. Sadness crunches in me as my mind’s foot traipses over them, soft honey swells moans over my misinformation of them. brisk agitation now now now I am not okay. I am spooning chemicals go slow flow no no into my mouth and calling them food. My produce, hauled north for two weeks [clever girl clever from California, smells like truck stop— rich vocabulary deep and long this apple could actually be a candle. evocative, yes!] A classroom aid sprinted to Aaron when he fell from his desk choking as beautiful as on invisible intruders, his face swelling August’s meteor showers, fall purple. She crumpled him against her Perseid he says chest, plunging the pen in. The classroom held its collective breath. I wanted to be [(on the mountain top held like that, protected from some he kisses constellations trace threat. I am still so misinformed into my breastbone)] and selfish. See, I am tracing threats onto my placemat, spelling them out in the starry tent in 99¢ alphabet soup. Can someone please he kisses constellations tell me what’s going on? My mouth feels along my backbone like it’s hardened into plastic. I wish I could live quietly in China, painting fruit Letitia’s red pen stops onto trees, thinking of the preservatives moving her breathing sprinkled into me, thinking isn’t it lovely slows no no no no how someone wants to preserve me?
Crystal Hurdle Kayla Czaga
Crystal Hurdle teaches at Capilano University in Kayla Czaga is a British Columbia poet whose work North Vancouver and was the fiction editor of The has appeared or is forthcoming in The Walrus, CV2, Capilano Review, and now sits on its board of ARC, The Antigonish Review among others. She directors. The poem is from Teacher’s Pets, a novel was the recipient of The Malahat Review’s 2012 Far in verse for young adults, soon to be published by Horizon’s Award for poetry. Her first manuscript, from Tightrope Books. She has just finished reading the which this submission has been taken, will be pub 28th and final book in the Alice series by Phyllis lished by Nightwood Editions this fall with the title For Reynolds Naylor and The Guts by Roddy Doyle. Your Safety Please Hold On. Kayla is currently read ing Blasphemy by Sherman Alexie and Sun Bear by Matthew Zapruder.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 15 Canada’s national festival of politics, art and ideas
Spur 2014: Signal vs. Noise Join fellow citizens and great thinkers for some serious fun and add your voice to the conversation. Thoughtful debate, engaging ideas and intellectual challenges… Join today’s most provocative thinkers and scholars, artists and activists, journalists and entrepreneurs — from across the country and beyond — to share ideas worth spurring into action.
Event tickets and festival packages on sale now! Spur 2014 has already taken place in: Winnipeg (March 20-23) Toronto (April 3-6) Calgary (April 25-27) Upcoming: For tickets and information: Ottawa (May 8-10) Vancouver (May 22-25) www.spurfestival.ca @spurfest
www.thetyee.ca
16 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Ottawa (May 8-10) Vancouver (May 22-25) Featuring many events, including: Featuring many events, including: In Conversation: Heather O’Neill Signal&Noise.com thursday, may 8th friday, may 23rd 6:00 pm. knox presbyterian 7:00 pm. djavad mowafaghian cinema
Join us for an intimate conversation with In the era of the customized web, are we Heather O’Neill (winner of Canada Reads constraining the possibility of having 2007). A novelist, poet, short story writer, an original idea? Join technology writer screenwriter and journalist, O’Neill was Evgeny Morozov and the New York EVAN SOLOMON named one of the most influential women PAUL HOLDENGRÄBER Public Library’s Paul Holdengräber as in Canada by Chatelaine. they discuss whether connectivity is the new religion. The Language of Politics Books and Brunch thursday, may 8th 8:00 pm. knox presbyterian saturday, may 24, 11:00 am (steven galloway) sunday, may 25, 11:00 am (shani mootoo) Where does our politically charged language come from? This event will Join Canadian authors Steven Galloway SUSAN DELACOURT be moderated by Evan Solomon (host, STEVEN GALLOWAY and Shani Mootoo for an intimate CBC’s Power and Politics) and will feature discussion over brunch and to hear pollster and political strategist Dimitri excerpts from their upcoming novels. Pantazopoulos, Toronto Star journalist Susan Delacourt, and Brad Lavigne, Signal & Noise in the Brain Principal Secretary to the Leader of the Official Opposition. sunday, may 25th 2:00 pm. world art centre In Conversation: Rivka Galchen Our brains are constantly bombarded DIMITRI PANTAZOPOULOS saturday, may 10th SHANI MOOTOO by fresh stimulus: from our big screens, 2:00 pm. knox presbyterian from the chaotic urban environment and from our handheld devices. What This cozy conversation with Canadian- is this barrage of signals doing to our born novelist Rivka Galchen is moderated brain? Renowned science communicator by writer Marni Jackson. Rivka Galchen Chris Turner weighs in. Moderated by was named by the New Yorker as a top “20 broadcaster Paolo Pietrapaolo. under 40” novelist. The World in Seven Years Geopolitics and the Economy: sunday, may 25th RIVKA GALCHEN The World in Seven Years CHRIS TURNER 4:00 pm. world art centre saturday, may 10th Programmed in partnership with 4:00 pm. knox presbyterian HarperCollins, The World in Seven Years How will the balance of economic power invites prominent thinkers to address shift in the coming years? How big will the serious issues facing our world in China’s influence grow to be? JoinArmine a robust, solutions-oriented approach. Yalnizyan, senior economist at the This event will feature non-fiction writer Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Taras Grescoe. to tackle the puzzle that is politics, power ARMINE YALNIZYAN and money in the year 2021. PAOLO PIETRAPAOLO In Praise of Noise: That’s Punk Rock Spur Cabaret: Signal, Verse, Noise sunday, may 25th 7:00 pm. djavad mowafaghian cinema saturday, may 10th Writer and punk rocker Chris Walter, 8:00 pm. national archives documentarian Susanne Tabata, and Held under dimmed lights and radio host Tim Bogdachev explore accompanied by cocktails, this late- the Punk Aesthetic and the role of the BRUCE COCKBURN night series features Spur speakers and TARAS GRESCOE renegade artist in society. In partnership artists telling stories, giving readings with the National Music Centre. or performing pieces still in progress or just out of the vault. Participants include Bruce Cockburn, Steven Heighton, Rivka Galchen, Anne Fenn and Doug Gibson.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 17 Under the Volcano Geology and love are linked in Dominique Fortier’s three-pronged tale. Claire Holden Rothman
but the location this time is New Orleans, during Fortier makes him out to be an amiable guy, and Wonder the American Civil War. English readers can hope follows him across the ocean to the United States Dominique Fortier, that Fischman, who translated Fortier’s first two after he is recruited by the Barnum and Bailey translated by Sheila Fischman books, will soon be at work on it. Circus. Thanks to his burned black skin he becomes McClelland and Stewart But back to Wonder. The novel’s first section, “The Man Who Lived Through Doomsday,” one 295 pages, softcover “Monsters and Marvels,” opens prophetically of the circus’s prize attractions, and tours with a ISBN 9780771047695 on Ash Wednesday, 1902. It is carnival time in caravan of exotic animals and human “phenom- Martinique, which the local islanders celebrate ena,” falling in love with a stunt rider and possibly by turning their lives upside down. Masters and fathering her child. n the spring of 1902 on the Caribbean servants trade places for the day, dispensing with The second part of the triptych, “Harmony of island of Martinique in the town of St. Pierre, habitual hierarchies. During their revelries, how- the Spheres,” features another real-life character, Ia man named Baptiste Cyparis survives a dev- ever, strange noises are heard on nearby Mount British mathematician A.E.H. Love, best known astating volcanic eruption. Meanwhile, across the Pelée (Bald Mountain). Although the authorities for discovering the most murderous waves during Atlantic Ocean in England, at more or less the same insist there is no danger, a layer of fine white ash an earthquake, which now bear his name. In inter- moment, mathematician Edward Love proves the falls from the sky belying their words and fore- views, Fortier has admitted that this man, whose existence of the surface seismic waves that cause shadowing the blast of Nature that will obliterate name and accomplishments she first heard about the Earth to shift during earthquakes. A century distinctions of status and race once and for all. on Jeopardy, was the spark that inspired this book. later in Montreal, two people meet on She presents a fictionalized top of a mountain rumoured to be a account of Love’s childhood, his dead volcano and fall in love. Fortier has admitted that A.E.H. Love, unsettling precocity and propensity What, if anything, links these three to “press his ear against anything that stories? Montreal writer Dominique whose name and accomplishments she interested him, as if he were trying Fortier raises the question by pre- to locate its breathing or its intimate senting them as a triptych in her first heard about on Jeopardy, was the palpitation.” He ends up studying second novel, Wonder (ably trans- spark that inspired this book. mathematics, and falls in love with lated by Sheila Fischman from the Garance, a musician who listens, just French original, Les larmes de Saint- as he does, for “the secret song in all Laurent). While she declines to answer the question The lead-up to the eruption is described with things.” Early in their marriage the couple travel directly, she does provide clues allowing readers to arresting sensuality. Smouldering Mount Pelée is to Italy and visit Pompeii, the ancient Roman city formulate their own hypotheses. “pierced with vents from which escaped now and destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in In French-speaking Quebec, Fortier is a rising then putrid fumes that smelled of eggs left out in 79 AD. Pompeii piques Love’s interest in the Earth’s literary star. Her first novel, On the Proper Use of the sun. Those stinking holes were lined with the crust. It is also where he learns that his adored wife Stars (Du bon usage des étoiles), recounts the final prettiest lace: festoons of red or ochre, concretions is pregnant. voyage of 19th-century explorer Sir John Franklin similar to those that grow secretly in the silence Fortier packs the novel with facts about volca- as he tried to navigate the Northwest Passage of grottoes, drop by drop, but here, in the sun of noes and earthquakes, and the science underlying through the Arctic. Upon its release in 2008, it Martinique, they appeared overnight.” them. We learn about the excavations at Pompeii, was widely praised and eventually shortlisted for The scene turns increasingly biblical, an apoca- and techniques used by archaeologist Giuseppe a host of prestigious prizes including a Governor lyptic vision reinforced by Fortier’s omniscient Fiorelli, who, in 1863, filled the spaces between ash General’s Award for French fiction. Film rights were voice: layers with plaster, creating casts of human bodies optioned by Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club, in the exact positions in which they had died. (The C.R.A.Z.Y.), who invited Fortier to co-write the Creatures never before in human memory casts, by the way, can still be viewed in the “Garden script with him. seen in broad daylight—hairy spiders that of Fugitives” at the Archaeological Museum of Les larmes de Saint-Laurent followed in 2010, lived in burrows, eyeing their prey; red scor- Naples.) We are also told about Pliny the Younger, again to great acclaim. Fortier’s timing was eerie, pions; foot-long millipedes that didn’t hesi- who witnessed and wrote about the destruction for that year turned out to be a record breaker for tate to attack the hens … fearsome carpenter of Pompeii, and about his uncle who died trying seismological disasters. In January, a powerful ants, green grasshoppers with legs like twigs, to rescue others. But for all this accretion of fact in earthquake ripped through Haiti, killing more than innumerable cockroaches, all came down the these pages, Fortier is actually more interested 200,000 people. In February, a second deadly quake mountain slopes to storm the streets of Saint- in magic—those invisible forces of chance and con- hit Chile, and in April a volcano erupted in Iceland, Pierre. nection at work below the surface of our lives. covering northern Europe in ash and causing havoc In the triptych’s final section, “Love Waves,” for air travellers. Not only could Fortier write fic- The central character in this drama is someone these forces become manifest in present-day tion, but she also appeared to have her finger on the who actually existed, Baptiste Cyparis. Fortier Montreal when two strangers meet. Fortier divul- Earth’s tectonic pulse. explains in a note at the book’s end that Cyparis is ges nothing of their past and little of their present This year promises to be another strong literary “the only human to have survived the deadly erup- beyond the fact that she is a circus performer year. Wonder has just been released for English tion of Mount Pelée on May 2, 1902.” Wikipedia recovering from a trapeze fall and he is passionately readers, and a brand new novel was launched in claims that there were, in fact, two other survivors interested in … earthquakes and volcanoes. What is French (La porte du ciel). Like most of Fortier’s fic- in St. Pierre, but we will allow for poetic licence. going on here? Fortier remains frustratingly coy in tion, this latest offering is set in the 19th century, Cyparis was in jail that day for wounding a friend the final pages ofWonder , leaving readers to do the with a cutlass (another fact culled from the inter- math and create meanings and stories on their own Claire Holden Rothman’s latest novel, My October, net). When Mount Pelée blew, he was locked away as they follow her unique trail of fact and fancy to its will be published by Penguin Canada in the in a poorly ventilated, dungeon-like, underground end. autumn of 2014. cell that undoubtedly saved his life.
18 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Making It A journey from Sarajevo to Montreal through the art world’s greed and ambition. Roger Seamon
ship-to-be with the owner of a small art gallery. ter: “I’ve been looking for a way to use perceptual Life Class At each stage of her journey Nerina has more or discrepancies and the fallibilities of memory to Ann Charney less unpleasant encounters, but she never lets her examine the way we construct what is real to us. Cormorant Books feelings trump her prudence. When Meredith treats The concept of hybridization struck me as a use- 232 pages, softcover her very badly Leo tells her, “Just think of your time ful paradigm for the exploration of consciousness ISBN 9781770862968 with her as valuable experience. It will open doors and the self.” Helena thinks vis-à-vis Christophe’s when you’re ready to move on.” True, but Nerina’s installation that “an impenetrable work is as good relentless practicality and ability to adapt without as a blank canvas, allowing critics to be as creative ife Class, Montreal writer Ann Char- apparent emotional cost do not make her a com- as they like without interference from the work ney’s fourth novel, tells the story of Nerina, pelling heroine. The most moving moment in Life itself.” We get a taste of that creativity from Theo- La young woman from Sarajevo who, in Class occurs when she is about to leave Manhattan dora Grimani, a critic who inflates Christophe’s response to the violence that work and herself, by proclaim- swept over the disintegrating ing that “all art is really a form Yugoslavia, dreams of a life Life Class mocks the self-indulgence, of memento mori, reminding us in America. We follow Nerina we must die. A doctor’s waiting on her journey from Venice to pretension and aesthetic emptiness of room can be seen as a contem- Montreal within the contem- porary version of one of the Sta- porary high-art world, a mildly the current high-art world, whose allure tions of the Cross along the Via unsavory community that she is that it confers status upon even the Dolorosa of life.” must learn to negotiate, and the Charney shrewdly portrays object of Charney’s satire. Life lowliest of its inhabitants, talented or not. the current art world as parasitic Class belongs to the large and on art’s past. It battens on the rapidly growing literature of dis- dying authority of the western placement, although the contemporary art world is for Montreal with Christophe, and Meredith tries tradition of elite art, which is represented by the a far cry from the stinking meat-packing district of to make her feel guilty about abandoning Edward, life class (in its second sense) for which Nerina Chicago where, in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, ear- Meredith’s dog, who is the most attractive creature poses in Venice and about which she has not a clue, lier Eastern European immigrants made their way. in the book. Edward’s sweetness and capacity for except that it is hard to hold still for a long time. The Nerina is serious, sensible, and capable. She is attachment rescue Nerina from a terror of dogs teacher tells the class: “You are here to participate both a self-starter and a good pupil, and attracts that had been triggered by Sarajevo’s feral packs, in a centuries-old tradition that goes back to the people who teach her how to get on, providing a the emblem of all that Nerina fears and flees. Faced very beginning of art. The nude figure can express life class in its first meaning. She gets her start when with separation Nerina becomes “jealous as she every aspect of humanity, from the heroic to the a college friend, Marco, invites her to Venice and pictures Edward with her replacement. For a crazy pathetic. Remember, it is the cornerstone of all art.” gets her a job at a hairdresser’s, from which she is moment she considers taking the dog along on the Was. Venice is now a museum and a tourist adver- plucked by Helena, who becomes her fairy god- trip, but she doubts Christophe would agree to it … tisement and Helena gradually loses her faith in the mother. Helena is a Polish Jew who has left her own Edward is no legend in any circle.” redemptive power of art that drew her there. past behind, which encourages Nerina to do the Soon, however, Nerina herself is abandoned by In the end, however, Nerina falls for the make- same: “Just because you’re born in some unlucky Christophe who wants to focus more seriously on believe that keeps the art world afloat. She sees place doesn’t mean you have to carry it with you for his art, for Nerina is no legend either. To the reader’s that the party at Christophe’s opening, “with its the rest of your life,” she says. dismay, Nerina sees being dumped as an opportun- seamy undercurrent of greed and ambition hidden Helena finds her work with a rich couple, which ity: “She likes the change, she thinks. For one thing, beneath the camouflage of glamour and the pursuit leads to an amicable marriage of convenience that it makes her want to be more serious about her own of beauty, casts even further doubt on Christophe’s takes Nerina to a small town in upstate New York future.” Months of intimacy vanish in an instant, but aspirations, as well as her own.” But she finds a way and a love affair with Christophe, a conceptual I cannot tell whether Charney finds this a melan- to make it all seem right: “And yet, through all of it, artist. That takes her to her final stop, Montreal. choly emblem of a society where ambition trumps life goes on, ordinary and mysterious, revealing the Between those moves, Helena finds a position love or a hopeful step in Nerina’s gentle ascent. It future in random slivers—odd jigsaw pieces with for Nerina at a Manhattan art gallery owned by cannot be both. no discernible pattern—as if the human eye were her cousin Leo, who, in turn, arranges for her to Life Class mocks the self-indulgence, pretension only capable of taking in the unknown one image become the assistant of Meredith Covington, a and aesthetic emptiness of the current high-art at a time. By the time Christophe is ready to leave, nasty but highly successful artist. In Montreal, world, whose allure is that it confers status upon Nerina has convinced herself she wouldn’t have it armed with her recently acquired confidence even the lowliest of its inhabitants, talented or not. any other way.” and savvy, she charms her way into a partner- Christophe, neither the best nor worst of them, is Once more I am confused. I do not know an intellectual airhead. “When I was in art school,” whether Charney wants me to be happy that Nerina Roger Seamon is a retired member of the he tells Nerina, “I became aware how many artists is on her way to fulfilling her dream of a life in the Department of English at the University of British in the past were known only by a single name— New World or sad that she has succumbed to Columbia who has written on literary theory and Michelangelo, Titian, Tintoretto, Caravaggio. I the nonsense. Life can, and perhaps even should, the philosophy of art. He is an honourary research decided to follow their example. ‘Aim high’ was my leave us perplexed, but novels should not leave us associate at the University of New Brunswick. motto.” Or low. His conceptual efforts are no bet- in an emotional limbo.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 19 Essay Democratic Unrest The case for protest, from Cicero to Occupy. Jocelyn Maclure
t is hard not to feel sorry about A third recent book on the subject is the state of our democratic life. Our Stephen D’Arcy’s Languages of the Unheard: Idemocratic institutions and processes Why Militant Protest Is Good for Democracy. have evolved in a way that makes rational Although I found it useful and persua- public debates unlikely. When I look at sive, I can only disagree with his version the Ottawa and Quebec City governments, of what he calls the “liberal objection” to I see parties seasoned in wedge politics and militant protest. Liberals believe, accord- strategic manoeuvring. Yes, Kevin Spacey ing to D’Arcy, that “by resorting to forceful is irresistible and Robin Wright magnetic, pressure, rather than consensus-building but that is not the only reason why House and reason-guided public discussion, the of Cards is the flavour of the week for TV militant protester in effect reverts to force, drama aficionados. The series magnifies the rather than dialogue, and in this way breaks cynical perception of political reality that with the democratic ideal.” Hence, “liberals” many have. And yes, I have heard about Rob think that “militancy is not a civic virtue, but Ford. The ongoing display of Fordian stu- a vice.” This is a surprising claim. In my view, pour has distracted me, a Montrealer, from very few liberal democrats doubt the value the corruption, collusion and complacency of contestatory politics in civil society. Or, if disclosed day after day in the hearings of the some doubt it, they are plainly wrong. Charbonneau Commission on the awarding Militant protest is necessary to put and management of public contracts in the pressure on elected officials, and to force construction industry. citizens to think about neglected issues It is no surprise that several books on and examine their own positions. As Alexis grassroots activism and political militancy de Tocqueville perspicuously saw it, civic have appeared in recent months. Many of complacency and apathy can lead to soft them, such as Joel D. Harden’s Quiet No despotism even under democratic insti- More: New Political Activism in Canada tutions. Liberals usually revere the great and Around the Globe and Henry A. Giroux’s Grassroots activism can be used by religious funda- social activists of the past who were instrumental Youth in Revolt: Reclaiming a Democratic Future, mentalist groups who want to crack apart the wall in overthrowing unjust institutions and policies, start from the premise that political action out- of separation between political power and religion. people like Rosa Parks. Very few liberal democrats side party politics and parliamentary institutions Protest groups include masculinists and neo-Nazis. appreciate vandalism, looting and hooliganism is the most promising, if not the only, route to In a pluralist society, political and legal institutions during peaceful demonstrations, but this need not meaningful social progress. As the Zapatista leader are necessary to arbitrate the competing claims lead to the total dismissal of protest politics. For Subcomandante Marcos once wrote, grassroots made by citizens and groups. Grassroots politics instance, it is hard to deny that the 1999 Seattle activists “are not those who, foolishly, hope that needs the formal institutions of representative and 2001 Quebec City protests against free trade from above will come the justice that can only come democracy if the goal is to make our society more agreements negotiated behind closed doors were from below, the freedom that can only be won with just and democratic, and citizens need to know instrumental in bringing more transparency and all, the democracy which is struggled for at all lev- that the coercive power of the state will be used to democratic oversight to the negotiations. Moreover, els and all the time.” In the wake of the Arab spring control illegitimate militant action. as D’Arcy himself reminds us, pre-eminent liberal and the Occupy movement, Time named “The That said, there is little doubt that militancy political philosophers from John Locke to John Protester” as the 2011 person of the year. Social and protest are essential ingredients of a healthy Rawls believed that civil disobedience could be activist Naomi Klein and the University of Victoria’s democracy. Political regimes can be radically morally acceptable and politically responsible accomplished political philosopher James Tully unfair, and reasonably just states are often slow to under appropriate circumstances. place more hope in grassroots activism than in respond to the legitimate claims and grievances institutional reform. of citizens. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson ne of the facts that is often neglected by those Promoters of social activism who write books Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi all had to engage with Owho have defected from formal politics and about grassroots democracy are almost always power outside formal institutions to advance their put all their eggs in the basket of grassroots mobiliz- on the left of the ideological spectrum. But mil- claims. In Canada, aboriginal activists, more than ation is that public norms and decisions create the itants can also protest in front of abortion clinics 30 years after the ancestral rights of their nations space wherein contestatory politics can take place. or against the legalization of same-sex marriage. were recognized in the 1982 constitution, still have At the very least, civil society movements need to block roads and defy authorities in multiple ways freedom of expression and freedom to assemble Jocelyn Maclure is a professor of philosophy at to assert their rights. It took the Idle No More move- peacefully and to demonstrate in order to organize Université Laval in Quebec City. He coauthored, ment and Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike to and voice their positions. They need to know that with Charles Taylor, Secularism and Freedom of force Canadian media and political elites to refocus their legal rights are protected so they will not be Conscience (Harvard University Press, 2011) and their attention on the ongoing struggles for dignity illegally arrested and that they will have a fair trial if writes for the public affairs blog In Due Course at and political autonomy of indigenous nations they are prosecuted. As Giroux and D’Arcy note, it is
20 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada curtailed by police forces, but it is because such defying the police or disrupting a business are the illegal migrants, disabled citizens and workers on rights exist in the first place that practices such as kind of “insistent and unruly civic engagement” temporary contracts, as well as removing some unlawful arrests or detention can be criticized and that weaken “the capacity of elites and institu- state subsidies to the Roman Catholic church. Pettit challenged before the courts. Protestors’ rights are tions to thwart reason-guided public discussion reflected later, perhaps a little too enthusiastic- often infringed upon, but only the most determined from dictating the terms of social co-operation.” ally, that the whole experiment had “made Spain and courageous would organize and protest in the Militancy is, for D’Arcy, a civic virtue, but a “remed- into a model for how an advanced democracy can absence of the rule of law. ial” one: “it proceeds only when nonmilitant tactics perform.” Activists cannot logically be political nihil- have proven fruitless.” Pettit understands that a robust and active civil ists; they need to support, at least minimally, the Militant actions are democratically legitim- society is a necessary but insufficient condition of public norms, policies and institutions that allow ate, according to D’Arcy, when they 1) create new a just and vibrant democratic regime. A republican for grassroots actions. Militants need citizens who opportunities for resolving pressing grievances, theory of democracy stipulates that “a state will are civically literate and who can support them or 2) encourage the most affected people to take be legitimate just insofar as it gives each citizen be moved by their arguments. In addition, social the lead and have political voice, 3) favour wise an equal share in a system of popular control over activists cannot do otherwise than ground their tactics that do not have the undesirable effect of government.” Citizens should ideally all have the militancy in a more or less explicit conception of enhancing the capacities of the social movement’s same capacity to influence the collective decisions social justice. If you militate for gay rights, you have adversaries, and 4) are defended publicly and that will have an impact on their life. Republican to prefer a country wherein same- democratic institutions will also sex couples can marry to one be designed in such a way that where they cannot. Institutions Very few liberal democrats doubt the citizens will be protected against and policies matter. I must say that the evil of “domination.” Freedom I am baffled by those who extol value of contestatory politics in civil as “non-domination,” for Pettit, is the virtue of civil society activism the “freedom that goes with not but ridicule political action within society. Or, if some doubt it, they are having to live under the potentially formal institutions in the same plainly wrong. harmful power of another.” If we breath. The American essayist do not have the same capacity to Chris Hedges, for instance, opined orient political decisions, we are a couple of years ago that Barack Obama was the plausibly as promoting common decency and the likely to be dependant upon the will of others. “poster child of the hypocrisy of the liberal class” common good. The exemplar of virtuous militant While that might sound like the more radical and that engaging with formal politics was now action, for D’Arcy, is the resistance of Kanehsatà:ke strains of American libertarianism, in fact it is pointless. We should all retreat, he said, into small Mohawks in 1990. In his depiction of the events, not. Pettit wants to revive what he calls “Italian– self-governing and self-sustaining communities. the Mohawks, who were opposing the expansion of Atlantic republicanism,” a tradition that goes back Yes, American political institutions are defective a golf course on a parcel of land that had long been to Ancient Rome (Polybius, Cicero, Livy) and that and the Obama administration has fallen short set aside for them, had a legitimate claim that they includes Machiavelli, the 17th-century English many times, but should we not recognize, as pro- justified publicly, and maintained a disposition to republicans (Harrington, Milton, Sidney) and gressives, that the United States is better off with negotiate in good faith throughout the crisis. The some of the founders of the independent American Obama than with Mitt Romney in the White House? Mohawks broke the law by setting up a road block- republic. This is a different tradition from the later Obamacare had a rough start, but is it not better ade when construction machines were preparing to but very influential “continental” strand of repub- that millions more Americans now have access to proceed, and launched an armed, albeit defensive, lican thought, often associated with Jean Jacques health insurance, or to a better plan than the one resistance. A police officer tragically died in a brief Rousseau. they had before? exchange of fire. The standoff lasted more than two The most significant points of divergence Although Harden asserts that activists are months, until the Mohawks decided to end the between the two traditions are their respective “thinkers who see beyond the assumptions of main- blockade and the federal government purchased stances on what Pettit calls the “mixed constitu- stream politics and the limited horizons of progres- the land. The land claim was not resolved, but the tion” and the “contestatory citizen.” Whereas sive groups and thinkers,” I am inclined to think that golf course was not expanded. Rousseau thought, to simplify, that nothing should activists suffer from a parallel, if different, brand stand between the citizen and the “general will” of political myopia than the one afflicting citizens ne of the greatest current challenges for pol- and that the general will was infallible, Pettit’s who take formal politics seriously. All egalitar- Oitical thought and action is how to connect republicanism is of the view that individual free- ians are indebted to the protestors of the Occupy grassroots action in the civil society with the pol- dom and democratic equality require a complex and Indignados movement for putting the issue of itics of our formal democratic institutions. D’Arcy’s institutional design made of checks and balances wealth distribution back on the political agenda, essay is a useful contribution, as it first sets out a as well as an active civil society that invigilates the but this also entails that we need to support social broad democratic ideal that should orient both duly elected government. Pettit—and I strongly reforms such as making child care affordable so formal and grassroots political action. He force- concur—believes that democracy requires a “dual single mothers can decide that it makes sense to fully shows that militant protest is an indispensable process”: citizens need to have influence over who go back to work or as making our taxation scheme aspect of democratic politics, without succumbing represents them and over how decisions are made, more progressive. to the illusion that we can do without formal polit- via both formal institutions and political contesta- ical and legal institutions. tion in the civic sphere. ’Arcy’s Languages of the Unheard has a What is also needed is a reflection on how the The two traditions, however, both value the civic Drare quality among the books on political institutions of a constitutional democracy should participation of all and believe that citizens should activism: it fully accepts that this genre of politics be reformed in a way that would make them more develop the capacity to switch from the perspective needs to be justified and that criteria for distin- legitimate and responsive. Philip Pettit’s On the of their self-interest to the perspective of the com- guishing “sound from unsound militancy” are People’s Terms: A Republican Theory and Model mon good when they deliberate with their fellow required. He does not equate democracy with of Democracy is a remarkable contribution to this citizens. For republicans of all stripes, individuals politics outside official institutions. D’Arcy is both complementary strand of the project of revitalizing should take their identity as citizens seriously and an academic political philosopher and a long-time democracy in the 21st century. Pettit is a leading care about the common good. social activist; he believes that democracy requires political philosopher based at Princeton University In addition to the revitalization of republican “the self-governance of people through inclusive, and known for, among other things, his plea for philosophy, Pettit devotes several chapters of his reason-guided public discussion.” Citizens and a renewed republican political philosophy and book to the institutions through which citizens groups should favour rational and good faith public model of government. can influence and control political power. His key discussion and be disposed to make reasonable Unlike many academics, Pettit has actually notion, as we saw, is the mixed constitution. Unlike compromises, but be realistic enough to realize that seen his ideas put into play. The Spanish social- Plato and Aristotle who used that notion to desig- elites or institutions often act in ways that hinder ist politician José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who nate the constitutions that incorporated aspects genuine public deliberation and collective decision was prime minister of Spain from 2004 to 2011, of different kinds of political regimes (essentially making. Political action outside the official chan- embraced Pettit’s form of republicanism and used monarchy, aristocracy and democracy), Pettit nels is often necessary to put reason-guided public it to install a number of national initiatives dealing champions the democratic mixed constitution. The discussion back on track. Riots, general strikes, with the vulnerabilities of women, homosexuals, people are sovereign. A democratic constitution
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 21 is mixed when powers are separated and shared post electoral system would be a major step in the ization of non-governmental organizations and in a way “that would deny control over the law to right direction. public intellectuals made the contestatory politics any one individual or body.” A mixed constitution As I mentioned above, the contestatory citizen is championed by D’Arcy and Pettit possible. As both requires the coordination between mutually check- the necessary complement to the “mixed constitu- suggest, grassroots activism and institutionalized ing centres of power. tion,” the institutional re-engineering proposed by politics stand in relationship of complementar- Given the farce that the Canadian Senate has Pettit. Without politicized and vigilant citizens, a ity and mutual dependence. This needs to be become, the spirit of the mixed constitution incites truly republican mode of government is not pos- recognized by the political animals on both sides us to look closely at the possibility of refurbishing it sible. In the end, democratic legitimacy demands of the fence. In this case, the opposition was able so that it would be truly capable of fulfilling its role “a rich array of popular controls on government,” to weaken and neutralize what was supposed to as a high chamber where bills drafted in the lower including militant protest and grassroots activism. be the PQ’s main asset in the election, which helped chamber can be studied and discussed in a dispas- the Liberal Party win a landslide victory. sionate way. Perhaps the Senate is in such a bad do not think that there is any plausible way to There are good reasons to feel discouraged by state that we should abolish it, as the NDP wants, Isignificantly improve our democratic life that the state of our democratic life. But one can be but one can argue, as the Conservatives and the does not involve a mix of institutional fixes and critical without opting out of formal politics, as the Liberals do, that we should rather try to reform it. heightened civic mobilization. Unless one is ready activists of an anarchist bent claim we should do. A competent and efficient second chamber could to wait for the complete overhaul of our democratic Not everything is equal. Egypt is in a constitutional be democratically useful given the highly partisan system, we will still need to think hard about insti- quagmire, but Tunisia now has a democratic con- nature of the debates in the House of Commons. tutions and policies and we will still need scratchy stitution that affirms gender equality and freedom Although Pettit’s theory is what academic phil- militants who bring neglected issues or claims to of worship. Canadian parliamentary democracy osophers call a normative theory of democracy—he public attention. has a very poor track record in terms, for instance, sets out an ideal view of what a democratic regime From August 2013 to the April 2014 provincial of establishing fair relationships with the hun- should look like—his goal is to advocate for reason- election in Quebec, I was involved in the “secu- dreds of aboriginal nations spread across Canada, ably realistic and feasible institutional reforms. He larism charter” debate forced upon us by the partly because control over land and resources is therefore rules out the idea of a “plenary assem- Parti Québécois minority government. We can be involved. But sound ethical principles and political bly” in which all the citizens would deliberate and thankful that we have a mixed constitution and a courage gave us the “Peace of the Braves” in 2002 legislate. Direct democracy is not on the table. He contestatory citizenry in my province that allowed between the James Bay Crees and the government instead settles for what he calls the “responsive formal institutions and civil society organiza- of Quebec. Parliamentary democracy also gave us assembly” made of elected representatives. The tions to go toe to toe with the government and its the “dying with dignity” draft bill that emerged out responsive assembly is a legislative assembly just supporters. The PQ decided to make freedom of of an itinerant and a parliamentary commission like the ones that we are used to but that would go religion for minorities a wedge issue and to har- as well as from respectful dialogue between the through a series of reforms and nudges in order to ness the rampant fear or anxiety regarding Islam two main parties in Quebec. It is expected that the be more responsive to the claims of citizens. Many for partisan purposes. Although the Liberal Party bill will be passed in the next parliamentary ses- of the fixes, too wonkish to describe here, would official opposition was off its game, the existence sion. Parliamentary democracy gave us fair pay for make our institutions and representatives more of autonomous public bodies such as the Quebec women. There are enough political victories that transparent, accountable and attuned to the will of Human Rights Commission, universities and public have real impact on flesh-and-blood human beings the people. In Canada, for example, adding a touch broadcasters, the parliamentary hearings on the out there to carry on the fight for better democratic of proportional representation to our first-past-the- charter at the legislative assembly, and the mobil- institutions.
DISCOVER CANADIAN LITERATURE AT ITS BEST SUSANNA MOODIE MIRIAM WADDINGTON Sed ut perspiciatis, unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque Flora Lyndsay is Susanna Moodie’s prequel to Roughing it in the Bush and Life laudantium, totam rem aperiam eaque ipsa, quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi THE COLLECTED The Collectedin the Clearings Poems. Though Moodie fictionalizes herself,Flora of Lyndsay remains FLORA LYNDSAY; Flora Lyndsay; or, Swinging the Home Ground and architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt, explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem, quia a close personalized record of her family’s experiences in planning their voluptas sit, aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos, POEMS OF emigration and crossing the Atlantic. OR, PASSAGES IN qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt, neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, Home Ground quia dolor sit amet consectetur adipisci[ng] velit, sed quia non numquam [do] eius Despite the limited critical attention it receives, Flora Lyndsay reveals and MIRIAM Moodie’s style, her sense of form, and her distinctive approach to writing AN EVENTFUL LIFE modi tempora inci[di]dunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Passages in an Maelstrom: ForeiGn TerriTory Foreign Territory Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit Miriam Waddingtonfemale autobiography. This edition, complete with a wide corpus of WADDINGTON Essays On Early laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure endnotes, an extensive list of emendations, and a critical introduction, By Susanna Moodie Canadian litEraturE reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel by Miriam Waddington helps address this oversight and gives a closer look at the iconic EDITED AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION illum, qui dolorem eum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur? EDITED AND WITH AN phenomenon that is Susanna Moodie. INTRODUCTION BY RUTH PANOFSKY BY MICHAEL A. PETERMAN Edited by Janice Fiamengo
THE COLLECTED POEMS OF MIRIAM WADDINGTON MIRIAM OF POEMS COLLECTED THE Edited and with an Eventful Life A Critical Edition Essays on Early
MIRIAM WADDINGTON ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, LYNDSAYFLORA quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis susanna moodie was the youngest of the scribbling Strickland sisters. After marrying aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla John Wedderburn Dunbar Moodie in 1831, she immigrated to the backwoods of Upper pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt Canada where she raised a large family and wrote old-world novels and autobiographical mollit anim id est laborum. introduction byaccounts of herRuth settlement. She is a landmark of early Canadian literature who has A Novel by Susanna influenced great authors such as Margaret Atwood and Carol Shields. By Malcolm Lowry Canadian Literature michael peterman is Professor Emeritus at Trent University. In addition to many articles and reviews, he has written or edited fourteen books, including biographies of Susanna Moodie (Susanna Moodie: A Life) and her sister Catharine Parr Traill (Sisters in Two Panofsky Worlds). He has won Trent’s Distinguished Research Award and has been made a Fellow Moodie of the Royal Society of Canada. Edited by Vik Doyen; Edited by Janice A two-volume anthology Edited and with an Introduction by Fiamengo ISBN 382385 ISBN 978-0-7766-0808-2 bringing together, for the first introduction by Michael Miguel Mota; The first multi- time, the complete published A. Peterman Notes by Chris Ackerley disciplinary collection Final correct spine Lyndsay.indd 1 14-01-14 8:09 AM works of Jewish-Canadian This long-awaited scholarly A long overdue scholarly of essays to focus poet Miriam Waddington and features a rare edition breathes new life into an all-too-often edition revealing the exact status of all the exclusively on early Canadian literature, selection of previously unpublished poems. overlooked novel by celebrated Canadian versions of the Lowry novella. The first of three proposing new approaches to canonical author Susanna Moodie. critical editions of a trilogy of Lowry novels. authors and unearthing neglected or forgotten texts. TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT CANADIAN ISSUES
Sport Policy in Canada The Copyright Pentalogy Homelessness & Health Homelessness & Health in Canada in Canada Homelessness & Homelessness & Health in Canada explores the social, Contributors structural, and environmental factors that shape the health of homeless persons in Canada. Covering a wide range of Trevor A. Hart Jeff Karabanow Edited by Lucie Thibault and How the Supreme Court of Canada topicsShook from youth homelessness to end-of-life care, the au- Edited by Manal Guirguis-Younger, Sean Kidd Health in Canada thors strive to outline policy and practice recommendations Bernadette Pauly to respond to the ongoing public health crisis. Thomas Kerr Edited by Manal Guirguis-Younger, Ryan McNeil & Stephen W. Hwang Brandon D. L. Marshall This book is divided into three distinct but complementary Nathanael Lauster sections. In the first section, contributors explore how home- Frank Tester Jean Harvey lessness affects the health of particular homeless popula- Rebecca Nemiroff Stephen W. Hwang and Ryan McNeil the Foundations of Canadian Copyrighttions, focusing on the experiences Law of homeless youth, im- Izumi Sakamoto migrants, refugees and people of Aboriginal ancestry. In the Billie Allan Susan Farrell second section, contributors investigate how housing and Beth Wood public health policy as well as programmatic responses can Heather King-Andrews address various health challenges, including severe mental Donna Lougheed The first analysis of the new Canadian illness and HIV/AIDS. In the final section, contributors high- Wendy Muckle Covering a wide range of topics from Edited by Michael Geist light innovative Canadian interventions that have shown Lynn Burnett great promise in the field. Together, they form a comprehen- Jeff Turnbull Fran Klodawsky sive survey of an important topic and serve as a blueprint Bruce Wallace for action. Rafael Figueiredo Sport Policy adopted in 2012, and the Michael MacEntee youth homelessness to end-of-life care, The first comprehensive scholarly analysis Manalof Guirguis-Younger is a professor in the FacultyCarlos of Human Quinonez Sciences at Saint Paul University. Her research focuses on communityDanielle homelessness, Schwartz pal- liative care, and alternative models of health service Annedelivery Wagner to marginalized groups. She has recently concluded a three-year SocialCarolyn Sciences James and Humani- ties Research Council of Canada grant entitled HospiceTim and Aubry Homelessness in Canada. John Ecker most comprehensive study of sport Jonathan Jetté the authors outline policy and practice Dr. Stephen Hwang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine the five rulings, by leading experts who outlineand Director of the Division of General Internal MedicineVicky at Stergiopoulous the University of Toronto and a research scientist at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto. His research has focused on homeless people’s health problems and housing as a social determinant of health. Homelessness & Health in Canada policy in the past 15 years, by Canada’s the key elements of the Court’s decisions and recommendations to respond to the
University of Ottawa Press Literary Translation Collection press.uOttawa.ca top academics in this field. the implications for the future of copyright law ISBN: 978-0-7766-2143-2 ongoing public health crisis, and examine in Canada. Listed in “Best 100 books in Politics, the complex relationship between Public Policy, History 2013” by The Hill Times homelessness and health.
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22 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Public Peace through Private Gods Canada has always put cultural coexistence before religious free expression. Molly Worthen
tions for religious freedom is not Fighting over God: grounded in a single foundational A Legal and Political History of principle akin to the First Amend- Religious Freedom in Canada ment of the Bill of Rights in the United Janet Epp Buckingham States. Instead they arose grad- McGill-Queen’s University Press ually, over many years of pragmatic 322 pages, hardcover responses to specific crises and prob- ISBN 9780773543287 lems. From the time of Protestant Britain’s conquest of Catholic New France, the negotiation of competing n 1987, the Canadian Radio- religious claims was not a matter of television Telecommunications lofty ideology, but a question of pol- ICommission approved the coun- itical survival. try’s first religious cable channel, Buckingham hurries through the Vision TV. The CRTC had rejected story of religious controversies prior many applications before this: Chris- to the First World War. She is a lawyer tian applicants hoped to broadcast by training, not a historian, and her American-style televangelism, but interests lie mainly in more recent they had run aground on the CRTC’s conflicts. But careful attention to late requirement that religious program- 18th- and 19th-century history is ming include a diversity of faith-based views. Most Canadians assume that religious freedom crucial for explaining why, by the 1980s, Canadian Vision TV, by contrast, made multiculturalism its goes hand in hand with the government’s commit- television virtually banned religious programming, brand image. The channel offers a “mosaic” of reli- ment to preserving citizens’ multicultural heritage. yet many provinces still directed public money to gious shows ranging from the evangelical 700 Club After all, the Charter enshrines both. However, religious schools. South of the border, by contrast, to Sikh poetry and music, as well as agnostic Janet Epp Buckingham’s Fighting over God: A Legal a far more stringent separation of church and state programming that simply “celebrates the human and Political History of Religious Freedom in Can- historically prevented the direction of tax dollars spirit” (whether you consider watching Downton ada makes it clear that the two principles are fre- to religious education, but American airwaves are Abbey a religious experience or not, you can catch quently at odds. When they clash, Canadian courts crowded with smooth-talking televangelists. it at 10 p.m. Eastern on Wednesdays). and regulatory agencies have often curbed religious “Religious freedom” is central to Americans’ Five years later—in response to evangelicals freedom out of fear that unbridled expressions of founding narrative, from their Thanksgiving stories who claimed that the CRTC’s rules violated the faith may “promote religious, cultural, and racial of the Pilgrim refugees from Anglican tyranny to guarantee of religious freedom in the Charter of intolerance in Canada,” as CRTC commissioners their First Amendment’s guarantee that the federal Rights and Freedoms—the commission loosened warned after they relaxed their rules in 1993. government will “make no law respecting an estab- its restrictions to permit single-faith radio and Buckingham’s account of Canadian battles over lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise television stations as long as they obeyed a rigor- religious freedom is encyclopedic in both the best thereof.” But this promise of free religious expres- ous standard (no insulting any group or person; and the worst way. The book’s chapters—arranged sion depended on the fact of Protestant hegemony no targeted evangelizing; make sure any charges of thematically, rather than chronologically—detail in the southern colonies—the confidence that “sinfulness” do not affront anyone’s dignity; don’t every major court case and piece of legislation schools would remain de facto Protestant, and that do much fundraising and be sure to expose view- bearing on religious expression in such realms as Protestants would control every important cultural ers—during prime time, mind you—to “differing education, broadcasting, employment, family life, and political institution for the foreseeable future. views on matters of public concern”). To many institutional governance and worship. But Buck- No such self-assurance could obtain in British evangelicals, the new regime was not much of an ingham offers little analysis. In the book’s introduc- North America. improvement, even if the “balance” requirement no tion and conclusion, she perfunctorily reviews the In 1791, the same year that the United States longer applied to subscriber-only channels. In their subject’s long-range historical context and draws ratified its constitution and bill of rights, the British view, the point of television or radio ministry is not almost no comparisons to the story of religious Parliament passed the Constitutional Act. Among to preach to the choir, but to persuade unbelievers freedom abroad. The result is an immensely useful other things, the law protected the Catholic church to follow Christ. resource for students of Canadian politics and his- in what is now Quebec and bolstered a weak-kneed tory, but also a missed opportunity—because cases Protestantism by setting aside lands called the Molly Worthen is a professor of history at the like the 1980s battle over faith-based television “clergy reserves” to support “Protestant clergy,” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her reveal a great deal about the road that Canada which initially meant only the Church of England. most recent book is Apostles of Reason: The Crisis has travelled since colonial times and the internal The Crown’s central worry was not preserving reli- of Authority in American Evangelicalism (Oxford contradictions at the heart of Canadian democracy. gious freedom, but maintaining stability, unity and University Press, 2013). Canada’s patchwork of restrictions and protec- loyalty in its North American possessions.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 23 At the time of Confederation, these remained The role that the Jehovah’s Witnesses played in against the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but there is more the abiding concerns. Canada never had a single the expansion of religious freedom highlights the continuity between Maurice Duplessis and Pauline strong established church in the same way that Brit- paradox of toleration in a pluralist democracy: it Marois than meets the eye. Both have assumed ain did. Westminster refused to spend the money may sometimes require tolerating intolerance. By that good citizenship requires a barrier between necessary to entrench the Church of England in the 1950s, Canada was already shifting from the era private belief and the public square. Both have North America. But the Fathers of Confederation of Protestant-Catholic détente to the era of secular insisted that the state should aggressively police believed that religious expression required judi- multiculturalism, but the presuppositions of the this boundary. cious management if the Dominion hoped to sur- former continue to shape the latter. To some degree, all western democracies are vive as a unified country. The British North America Until the 1960s, few Canadian politicians or struggling with the dilemma of how to balance tol- Act sought to keep the peace between Catholics intellectuals questioned the Christian character of erance with free expression, especially the claims of and Protestants by guaranteeing minority rights to their country or the need to maintain Catholic and groups that insist that their doctrines alone are true. religious education. Protestant privilege wherever one group was the Over the decades Canadians have largely accepted If Americans’ founding—and enduring—anxiety minority in the other’s community. This consensus their government’s restrictions on inflammatory is their dread of a powerful centralized state, Can- reflected the underlying assumption that ensuring religious speech, and the judgement that exclusive adians’ oldest and most fundamental fear has been Protestant and Catholic access to public resources truth claims are all right for Sunday sermons but that one of Canada’s constituent elements might such as funding for education would do more to do not belong on the airwaves. Quebec’s charter of challenge the uneasy composure of the whole. This prevent violence and political instability than limits values strikes many Canadians as a bridge too far. worry has shaped Canadian regulation of religious on religious speech ever could. Yet the PQ is only carrying the assumptions that freedom from the country’s origins until today: the But during the 1930s, as events in Europe illus- underlie the CRTC’s restrictions on televangelism assumption is that Canadians need protection, not trated how hate speech could enable mass vio- to their logical conclusion. against the overreach of a ruling tyrant, but against lence, Canadians had begun to restrict it. (Toronto One of those assumptions is a definition of one another. banned the swastika in 1933, for instance.) A vigor- religion that, it turns out, does not apply the whole Denominational schools did not yield ecumen- ous Christian nationalism still pulsed through the world round. The secular democratic West has ical harmony during the 19th century. (Buckingham country—suffused, it must be said, with plenty of mostly shaken off the spectre of wars of religion— politely notes that the Orangemen’s frequent anti- residual anti-Semitism. But as new immigrants not by being consistently multicultural, but by Catholic riots were “seen as a legitimate means of from outside Europe complicated Canada’s reli- privileging a uniquely Protestant understanding enforcing communal values.”) She makes no men- gious landscape, religious slurs became a more of religion. The Supreme Court of Canada made tion of Louis Riel in her account of the Manitoba pressing threat to social unity. a fumbling attempt to define religion in 2004: “In Schools Question, but that conflict—over whether In 1970, following the recommendation of a essence, religion is about freely and deeply held the government should fund Catholic schools for special committee, Parliament criminalized hate personal convictions or beliefs connected to an French-speaking Métis settlers—unfolded against propaganda. Several provinces followed with individual’s spiritual faith and integrally linked to the backdrop of violent rebellion. legislation that restricted the public expression his or her self-definition and spiritual fulfilment,” When Buckingham writes that “the Roman of hatred: the 1979 Saskatchewan Human Rights the justices wrote. The definition mentions wor- Catholic religion was very much at odds with the Code, for example, banned the publication or dis- ship, but suggests that practice and community life various Protestant denominations of English- play of any communication that “exposes or tends are secondary: the core of religion is the personal speaking Canada,” she puts the matter rather to expose to hatred, ridicules, belittles, or otherwise assent to a set of truth claims. So, according to this mildly. This was not just a theological dispute or affronts the dignity of any person or class of persons logic, it is not outrageous to ask people to preach ethnic prejudice. Canadian Protestants inherited on the basis of a prohibited ground.” in private, to obey civil courts rather than religious a long tradition of doubting that Catholics loyal to Pierre Trudeau served on that committee, tribunals, or tone down their religious garb—after the pope could also be faithful citizens. In North and he came to favour a strong role for the state all, it is what is inside that counts. America, Protestant hate-mongers updated the in Canada’s intercultural minuet. As he pushed This is not a definition that many people outside old British fear of gunpowder plots with warnings to institutionalize multiculturalism as a national the post-Enlightenment West would recognize. For that Catholics were unsuited to the requirements ideology, he did not wholly reject the legacy of Can- many Hindus, Jews, aboriginal people and others, of democratic citizenship: they mindlessly fingered ada’s old regime, the logic of Protestant-Catholic “religion” is not primarily about personal belief but their rosary beads, voted as their priests instructed détente. Trudeau agreed to include a reference to a matter of membership in a community; dress- and would subvert the rule of law at the command the Almighty in the Charter’s preamble precisely ing properly and observing rituals are inseparable of the Whore of Babylon. so that “it would prevent courts from taking the from, if not more important than, what goes on in In both the United States and Canada, the tide anti-establishment approach of American courts,” your head and heart. There is no clear line between of Protestant-Catholic conflict receded as Catholic Buckingham writes. what counts as “religion” and the rest of life. In the immigrants (at least outside Quebec) assimilated Proponents of multiculturalism interpreted the case of Muslims in Montreal or Paris, the geopolit- and demonstrated their loyalty in the First and Charter not only as a peace treaty between Que- ical clash between the secular West and the Muslim Second World Wars. The glaring exception was bec and the rest of Canada, but also as a way to world has exacerbated this conflict between world the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ unrelenting battle against reinforce Canada’s cultural autonomy against the views. Toward the end of her book, Buckingham Catholicism (they believe that the Catholic church gravitational pull of the United States. So it is ironic expresses a faint recognition of this dilemma, is a tool of Satan). In the 1953 case Saumur v. The that the Charter opened the way for the “Amer- although she tiptoes around it. She calls for a more City of Quebec, the Supreme Court of Canada icanization” of Canada. It encouraged the litigious “inclusive secularism” and warns that “if the state defended the right of a Jehovah’s Witness to distrib- defence of individual rights against the state and imposes secularism on society, all religions are ute anti-Catholic literature, arguing that “freedom enabled evangelicals—many of whom trained in equally marginalized.” of speech, religion and the inviolability of the per- the United States—to claim that Canada’s practice Many Canadians may be uncomfortable at the son, are original freedoms which are at once the of constraining electronic religious expression and thought that their multiculturalism only works by necessary attributes and modes of self-expression fundraising violated their human rights. privileging one religion’s assumptions. They may of human beings and the primary conditions of In recent years, Quebec has become the main begin searching frantically for some way to jettison their community life within a legal order.” Mau- battleground in the fight over religious freedom. In these relics of European imperialism. But this is rice Duplessis, Quebec’s Union Nationale premier 2007, scholars Gérard Bouchard and Charles Taylor neither possible nor desirable. The only way that and longtime scourge of the Witnesses, would not led a provincial inquiry into “reasonable accom- the secular West has managed to reduce religious be beaten that easily. The Quebec government modation” of religious differences. Their report violence over the past four centuries is by privil- amended the Freedom of Worship Act to permit a highlighted native-born Quebecers’ fear that multi- eging private belief over public action, and placing ban on “any group that published insulting and culturalism was allowing new immigrants to resist firm limits on the latter. To accept such limits is abusive comment about established religious assimilation and undermine Québécois culture. not to call for a totalitarian secularism of the kind groups,” Buckingham writes. (In the United States, Last fall the Parti Québécois proposed a charter of the PQ seems to desire, but simply to recognize the Witnesses’ main foe was not Catholicism but values that would prohibit government employees that Canadians must balance competing interests civil religion: there the Supreme Court ruled in 1943 from wearing “conspicuous” religious symbols, on a case-by-case basis. Pragmatism, more than that Jehovah’s Witness children could refrain from such as a yarmulke or hijab. The Quiet Revolution ideology, has driven Canadian history from the saluting the flag or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the rise of secular Québécois nationalism sep- beginning, and pragmatism remains the best way in school.) arate the PQ from the Union Nationale campaigns forward.
24 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Spiritual Rambling A trek in Saskatchewan sparks lively, enjoyable disagreement. Candace Savage
home in the Qu’Appelle Valley. There is nothing humans experience as longing, whether it is The Road Is How: A Prairie Pilgrimage shining about the landscape of litter-strewn road- desire, nostalgia, lust or hope. All connecting through Nature, Desire and Soul sides and industrial-scale fields that he plans to bonds in nature … from the molecular level Trevor Herriot traverse, and there is certainly nothing luminous to the ties in human relationships, reflect this HarperCollins about his mood as he prepares to set out. He is a fire or eros in a certain polarity, an intersec- 354 pages, hardcover man laid low, both figuratively and in fact. Weeks tion of anima and animus, yin and yang. ISBN 9781443417914 earlier, he had climbed onto the roof of his house (ironically, to combat pigeons that were infesting Whoa, could you run that past me again? Are the place with mites), missed the top step of the you saying that the weak nuclear force is the same here is no more exciting companion ladder and found himself falling through space. as my nostalgic attachment to my childhood home for a walk across the prairies than Trevor Confined in “convalescent purgatory,” he des- is the same as the pleasure of watching half-naked THerriot. I have only been out with him cended into a funk. For a start, he was ticked off boys leaping off the diving board at the public pool once, several years ago, but the experience was that, good family man that he is (cf. pigeon combat, is the same as my deep, cellular commitment to my unforgettable. It was a big, blue, shining day, and above), he was stuck in the steady but uninspiring partner of 22 years? We are calling all that soul? a troupe of us were scrambling across a high, shin- job that supports his household. Then, as always, he As for anima and animus, yin and yang, yes, they ing expanse of natural grassland in southwestern was stricken by the long, painful decline of grass- are lovely ideas—attractive, ancient, symmetrical, Saskatchewan. And there he was, beguiling in so many ways—but attuned to everything that moved When I picked up this book, I expected they are just that: ideas. They are and many things that did not: a not actual forces at work in the tinkle of bird song, a blur of wings, to be its ideal reader. I knew I would universe, and they certainly do not a blade of bent grass. Did you hear align neatly with human gender, the pipit? Possibly. Did you see the empathize with the weary traveller who as The Road Is How goes on to McCown’s longspur there and the assume and, at times, proclaim. Vesper Sparrow over here? Maybe, sets out on this “prairie pilgrimage.” Although Herriot occasionally I am not sure. Look: at your feet, pauses to blur his binary opposi- an exquisite basket tucked deep into the grass, hold land ecosystems, especially his beloved birds. “If tions, the tidy polarities and totalizing impulses ing four smooth, speckled eggs. The prairie Herriot you have spent any time defending wild places and almost immediately clamp back into place. showed me that day was hidden and perfect. animals,” he writes, “you may know what I mean. Well, I Am Woman: hear me object. Yes, we Although I will address him formally here, Helpless to stop it, you watch a favourite stretch live in a patriarchy, but men do not have “all the Trevor Herriot and I are actually on friendly, first- of valley vivisectioned by ranchette development, yang,” as this book has it. Males are not all prone name terms. That is not surprising, since we are or a wood once filled with warblers and thrushes to “unchaste indulgence of desire”; not marred by both non-fiction writers from Saskatchewan, both knocked down to grow soybeans.” Increasingly, the a “congenital flaw”; not entirely, or even mostly, entranced by the imperilled beauty of the Great creatures that had once brought him child-like joy to blame for the “pick your own apocalypse” mess Plains grasslands. Yet as much as I like and respect were being tainted with shame and despair, and we are in. And, please, do not assume that females him, I would not call us close: we are colleagues with a bleak sense that, as a member of the dom- all “magnify the Lord” in pregnancy or have a rather than confidants. It is as a reader that my inant and dominating culture, he was as much to universal inclination “to foster a stable centre for connection with him has been most intimate, and blame for their plight as anybody. child-rearing” or that women’s “sexual giving and our meeting of minds via the page is not always a Worse yet, he had gone spiritually numb. A four- receptivity” make us akin to the Earth. Do not say, love fest. Although he does not know it, since our day wilderness fast that he undertook in prepara- even half jokingly, even with a quotation from dust-ups happen only in my head, he and I have tion for his hike led him to the mournful conclusion Stephen Hawking as back-up, that women “are a had some very heated disagreements. In particular, that “any spiritual faculties I had once possessed complete mystery” to mere males. a quarrel I picked with his justly celebrated début seemed to be dormant, as though the ear of the In a different but related context, Herriot admits book, River in a Dry Land, eventually impelled me heart that develops so naturally in childhood had that his “high-falutin thinking has led me to some to write A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory gone deaf, perhaps because I never made use of it conclusions that will sound quaintly old-fashioned, from a Prairie Landscape. Those birdsongs we to reach adulthood.” even retrograde to some ears.” Yup. heard out on the prairie were calls in search of a By this point, we are well into the introductory When I picked up this book, I expected to be response, and every book provides an opening for chapter, and I am still happily along for the ride. But its ideal reader. I knew I would empathize with back talk. I have to admit that my mind is starting to prickle the weary traveller who sets out on this “prairie In The Road Is How: A Prairie Pilgrimage through with question marks. Spiritual faculties? The ear of pilgrimage,” and I was right about that. I was Nature, Desire and Soul, Trevor Herriot invites us to the heart? Is “spirit” the same thing as conscious- prepared to admire Herriot’s lyrical talents: the accompany him on a three-day walking meditation, ness? Is the “ear of the heart” some kind of extra- tender descriptions of wind trilling across water, from his home in Regina to his home-away-from- sensory perception, a species of intuition, perhaps? bumblebees nuzzling in lilies and humans giving Turns out that Herriot has similar uncertainties, themselves to love. I was not surprised that, despite which he puts to his wife and live-in spiritual my misgivings, I accepted the call to gratitude that Candace Savage is the author of more than advisor, Karen. In response, she reads him a pas- lies at the heart of the book or that I admired the two dozen non-fiction books, including Prairie: sage from what he describes as “a favourite book.” profound sincerity of the writer. If I ended up want- A Natural History (Greystone Books, 2005, 2011) ing more precision and clarity than this text has to and A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory It’s a definition of “soul,” as the fire that offer—more yang for my buck—I still enjoyed the from a Prairie Landscape (Greystone Books, 2011). animates everything, the organizing principle call to respond. Even among birds of a feather, there She lives in Saskatoon. that holds a living body together, and that is going to be the occasional squawk.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 25 Made-in-Canada Faith New books show the United Church’s distinctive blend of religion and politics. David MacDonald
to break loose from denominational constraints. If 1980s, her cut-off is late enough to allow her to A Church with the Soul of a Nation: Making broader union were not achieved these churches deal with these recent trends in as much detail as and Remaking the United Church of Canada were committed to creating their own united she does the pre-union prelude and early years Phyllis D. Airhart church for the new dominion. of the church. Her analysis is sharp in perceiving McGill-Queen’s University Press For its promoters, church union would serve not the strengths, weaknesses and contradictions of the 440 pages, softcover just religious ends but a key nation-building pur- church. While she is scrupulous in not taking sides, ISBN 9780773542495 pose. As Airhart puts it, “the formula for building a she lets her discomfort with the family fights, both united church mirrored the blueprint for building theological and political, show clearly. She pays Growing to One World: a united country. Unionists considered religious particular attention to long-running internal dis- The Life of J. King Gordon identity, like national identity, malleable; assimila- agreements over the attitude toward fundamental- Eileen R. Janzen tion was a tactic for managing differences, whether ist evangelism, as the church’s official view about it McGill-Queen’s University Press cultural or theological.” grew distinctly chilly from the mid 1960s onward. 470 pages, hardcover The common assumption was that a distinctly Her emphasis on key leaders rather than on ISBN 9780773542617 Canadian united church was bound to attract institutional aspects is perhaps a problem. With immigrants from a wide range of Christian faiths a good eye for a story, she focuses on a handful who were keen to rapidly assimilate. But first union of remarkable individuals who helped define the n June 11, 1925, the day after the needed to be achieved—no mean feat. Airhart church’s first 60 years. These include first moder- United Church of Canada came into describes the series of engagements, disappoint- ator George Pidgeon, influential theological thinker Oexistence, Lucy Maud Montgomery, wife ments and rejections involving the two main insti- Ralph Chalmers and outspoken Observer editor Al of a continuing Presbyterian minister, wrote Forrest. But it is the actual structure and in her diary, “in Nature the births of living organizational activity of the United Church things do not take place in this fashion … When union did come, that may be far more central to any analysis No, ’tis no ‘birth.’ It is rather the wedding of of what is unique and significant about the two old churches, both of whom are too old it meant a wrenching division. church and its history. It is one of the most to have offspring.” centralized Christian denominations in From the beginning the United Church has tutional actors—Methodists and Presbyterians—in Canada, with decision making and administration wrestled with its identity. What makes it unique? the union saga. While Methodists were almost conducted at the church’s Toronto headquarters What are its core beliefs? Are they fixed and unanimously in favour, a large minority of with its staff of well over 150. In addition there are unmoveable, or have they changed and evolved Presbyterians were not. When union did come, 13 conferences, close to 100 presbyteries and about over time? In A Church with the Soul of a Nation: it meant a wrenching division, with a third of 3,000 congregations. Making and Remaking the United Church of Presbyterian adherents choosing to continue in a This centralization has helped make it possible Canada, Phyllis D. Airhart suggests that, from its separate church. To forestall battles around church for the church to constantly reshape itself and its founding, the church has had to make significant property, unionist leaders ensured that an act was mandate. Two overriding themes are visible in this adjustments to its raison d’être. I am not an object- passed in Parliament as well as in all nine provin- evolution: a constant desire to be relevant to the ive witness to this history: since the late 1950s I have cial legislatures to give legal imprimatur to the new times and, less consciously but with equal ardour, been intensely involved with numerous issues that church, while helping entrench its sense of itself as to be the custodian of the moral urgency of the day. the church has struggled with. a truly national entity. In the church’s early decades, this meant a focus Most Canadians are unaware of the United But disagreements remained, not least during on issues that were holdovers from the political Church’s innovative beginnings. Except for a feder- the Great Depression. Some in the church took positions of the churches as separate entities, the ated union of several Protestant denominations in an evangelistic and pietistic approach; others fight against alcohol being the most public, though early 19th-century Prussia, it represents the first believed the immediate economic crisis had to the stance of the new church could never match the major church union in the West, with underpin- be addressed. The church’s leaders were on both ardour of Canadian Methodism during the decades nings that can be traced back to a Victorian-era sides of this abyss. Only with great difficulty could before union. By the 1950s and ’60s attention had movement in the United Kingdom. The aim to they communicate with one another, a division shifted to matters of gender and sexuality. The create a united British church remained unmet. that threatened the church’s survival very early in church had ordained its first woman minister in It was left to Canadian reformers to accomplish its existence. But with the coming of the war, and 1936, but it was not until the 1960s that a general the goal, in a drive that involved Methodists, post-war prosperity, these worries receded. While policy of female ordination, which included both Congregationalists and Presbyterians. Right from the initial hopes of making major inroads into single and married women, was adopted. It was in the start there was a strong grassroots impetus, immigrant communities never materialized, the the same decade that the church moved, although as hundreds of individual “union” churches in church flourished, with expanding membership far from smoothly, to accept the legitimacy of abor- Western Canada leapt ahead of existing institutions rolls as well as a prominent role in the religious tion, based on individual choice, at a time when and political life of the country. Starting in the mid this stance was decidedly more controversial in David MacDonald has been a United Church 1960s, however, a major turning point was reached Canada than it is now. minister since 1961. He was elected six times as a for all Canada’s mainstream Protestant denomina- For many observers, the church’s public grap- member of Parliament and served as secretary of tions, the United Church included. Since then the pling with such issues—based on a distinctive form state and minister of communications. He was the church’s membership rolls have declined, the aver- of congregationally based democracy—may seem Canadian ambassador to Ethiopia, Sudan and age age of members has inexorably risen, and its a congenital weakness; for others they encapsulate Djibouti. Since 1998, he has been a special advisor largely static ethnic composition increasingly sets it the church’s strength as it boldly takes social risks. to the United Church on indigenous justice and apart from Canada as a whole. Even though Airhart ends her story 30 years ago, Indian residential schools. Although Airhart ends her narrative in the her account helps explain the roots and internal
26 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada logic of these themes as the church today faces a Commonwealth Cooperative Federation. His pol- It was a perfect match of person and duties—not set of challenges far different from the time when itical activity did not go unnoticed by the powers only thanks to Gordon’s internationalist perspec- most Canadians were Christian, Anglo Saxon at McGill, with which United was affiliated, and tive and passion for the cause of peace, but his past and primarily Protestant. The church no longer within a few short years the position he had been exposure to survival in demanding conditions that sees itself as having a specially ordained role in hired to fill disappeared. Undaunted, Gordon threw allowed him to take in stride the new challenges Canadian nation building, if it ever did, and in himself into the political fray, running three times thrown his way completely unfazed. He found purely numerical terms it continues to shrink. But as a CCF candidate in Victoria. All to no avail, but himself dropped into hot spots of conflict: Korea its moral urgency in the face of contemporary social with his enthusiasm for the cause undimmed. in 1954, the Suez in 1956 and the Congo in 1960. challenges shows no sign of waning. This is exem- In all these actions, Gordon received consider- All this time his commitment to peacemaking and plified by its decision, in the period immediately able paternal encouragement. His father also peacekeeping deepened, becoming a central pre- after Airhart’s history ends, to officially sanction the played an unwitting part in drawing him back occupation to the end of his life. ordination of gay clergy, making it among the first across the American border. Upon his father’s Later, in reviewing his life, Gordon remarked, large mainstream churches in the West to do so. unexpected death in 1938, leaving behind a half- “Anyway, what is my career? I have done so many Even though that decision caused a major rupture finished autobiography, Gordon was invited by the things. I suppose when I have time to review my life within the church, perhaps its most serious casualty publisher to come to New York to complete it. This there will emerge great consistency in all my ven- was the further erosion of relations between its led to positions as non-fiction editor for Farrar and tures—I was going to say choices but frequently the evangelical members and those preoccupied with Rinehart, then the managing editor of The Nation, choice did not seem to be mine … Perhaps, it was social and moral concerns. In today’s world of aging the oldest weekly magazine in the United States not so inconsistent that I started in the church, went and declining congregations, there is an increasing and widely known for its progressive, if indeed not in to radical politics in the hope of doing something fixation with rescuing the institution itself while radical, point of view. to make a better social order, and then went on maintaining its religious and political relevance in All of this was penultimate to Gordon’s leap into the one great movement that may make reality the decades ahead. into the unprecedented international diplomacy of the dreams of the great thinkers and visionaries.” Growing to One World: The Life of J. King in the aftermath of the war. His associations in During his active retirement in Ottawa, Gordon Gordon highlights similar tensions between reli- this new sphere were smoothed by past friend- and I became friends. We had much to share espe- gious and political commitment, although from ships cultivated in Britain and the United States, as cially following my time in Ethiopia in the 1980s, an individual’s perspective. Curiously, its subject, well as his association with Canadian luminaries given his own experiences there several decades King Gordon, who had a long association with the such as Pearson. When in 1947 he proposed to the earlier, and I was deeply honoured when the family United Church, goes unmentioned in Airhart’s Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the fledg- asked me to conduct his funeral. His life speaks book. That makes Eileen R. Janzen’s biography ling United Nations should have a full-time CBC eloquently to the ways that religious faith can spur that much more welcome in featuring a figure who correspondent based in New York, his proposal political action and nationally oriented ideals can deserves to be far better known than he currently is. was immediately accepted. Two years later he was give way to internationalism. Janzen’s meticu- By any standard, Gordon’s life was excep- invited by John Humphrey, the primary drafter lously researched biography also reminds us how tional. Born into a family with strong Canadian of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to Canadians of Gordon’s generation came to play religious roots, his Scottish grandfather was a set up the first Information Office for the Human such a major part in the global search for justice Gaelic-speaking Presbyterian minister who soon Rights Secretariat at the UN, and was soon being and peace in troubled parts of the planet. It is a after emigrating from Scotland settled in Ontario’s seconded to take part in risky field assignments legacy that we in later generations have a hard time Glengarry County in the 1850s. Gordon’s father too around the world. matching. entered the church, serving as a Presbyterian min- ister in Winnipeg and becoming a noted advocate of church union. Several years before Gordon’s birth, he also launched a writing career under the pen name of Ralph Connor, which made him a literary star in both North America and Europe, his Subscribe! 30 novels, marked by their spirited depiction of the 1 year (10 issues) *Rates including GST/HST by province hardscrabble settler’s life, selling more than five (individuals) (libraries and Individuals Libraries million copies. institutions) ($56 + tax) ($68 + tax) Gordon’s home was at the centre of both church Canadian addresses* $56 + tax $68 + tax ON, NB, NL (13%) $63.28 $76.84 and society. With the obvious confidence that came PE (14%) $63.84 $77.52 from this background, he followed his undergradu- Outside Canada $86 $98 NS (15%) $64.40 $78.20 ate studies with a two-year stint in Oxford as a Prices include shipping and postage. Rest of Canada (5%) $58.80 $71.40 Rhodes scholar, where his time overlapped with that of Lester Pearson. Here his mind was stretched with the social and political turbulence of the per- Name Suite/Apt. iod. Postponing planned theological studies, he accepted an invitation to serve a remote congrega- Street City tion in the logging country of British Columbia. Province or State Country The years he spent there and in a remote paper mill town in the Manitoban bush were equally forma- Postal/Zip Code E-mail tive, this time grounding him in the struggle for the basic necessities of life. Telephone Fax At the urging of his father, he enrolled in 1929 NH1405 as a doctoral candidate at Union Theological Please bill me! My cheque (payable to the Literary Review of Canada) is enclosed. Seminary in New York. The onslaught of the Great Charge my Visa or MasterCard. Depression meant his comfortable world was Card number Expiry blown apart, and as with so many others he was deeply affected by this time. “The experience of Signature those two years,” he would later write of his time at Union, “changed my thinking into that of a Fax or mail completed form to Literary Review of Canada, PO Box 8, Station K Christian social radical.” Toronto on m4p 2g1 • fax: 416-932-1620 • tel: 416-932-5081 He returned to Canada to teach at Montreal’s email: [email protected] United Theological College and found himself at To subscribe online, visit
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 27 Does History Matter? Pioneering research on Canada’s attitudes toward bygone days. Ian Milligan
Canadians and Their Pasts Margaret Conrad, Kadriye Ercikan, Gerald Friesen, Jocelyn Létourneau, Delphin Muise, David Northrup and Peter Seixas University of Toronto Press 235 pages, softcover ISBN 9781442615397
he field of history does not seem to be doing well in Canada these days. We Thave polls on Canada Day or Remem- brance Day indicating how little Canadians know about pivotal historical events. Historica Canada, formerly the Historica-Dominion Institute, found that only 37 percent of Canadians knew that July 27, 2013, was the 60th anniversary of the Korean War ceasefire (the “forgotten war”); that 32 percent do not know about Laura Secord and her importance to the War of 1812; and that 44 percent believe that Canada entered the Second World War after the United States. In many universities, history under- graduate enrollment is declining, perhaps as part of the general crisis of the arts, but also possibly because of this trend toward ahistorical thinking. care about the past and their histories in very deep augmented by special samples of New Brunswick Firsthand, I encounter undergraduate students and meaningful ways. As we move beyond ques- Acadians, suburban Greater Toronto Area immi- who sheepishly explain that Canadian history bores tions testing surface knowledge of dates, facts and grants in Peel Region and Saskatoon-and-area them. significant people, we see a society that is greatly aboriginal people, as well as an additional sample And if there was any doubt that we were in crisis, shaped by and engaged with history and the past of 1,000 urban Canadians in our five largest cities. TV Ontario’s The Agenda recently dedicated an on a daily basis. The researchers asked questions (in a question- entire episode to the question of historical literacy. We know this thanks to the Canadians and naire reprinted at the back of the book), ranging Their teaser: “Sam Cooke may have sung the words Their Pasts project, now published by the Uni- from participants’ general interests in history, ‘don’t know much about history,’ but increasingly versity of Toronto Press. Authored by Margaret involvement with activities relating to the past, it seems more and more people are historically Conrad, Kadriye Ercikan, Gerald Friesen, Jocelyn schooling, the trustworthiness of sources (should illiterate. The Agenda examines what has caused us Létourneau, Delphin Muise, David Northrup and one trust a teacher or a museum more, for example, to care less about the past, and what can be done to Peter Seixas, a team of seven prominent Canadian than a television documentary) and, finally, their get people excited about bygone days.” As a history researchers consisting of five historians and two sense of whether history matters to their daily lives. professor, it is easy to lose hope. specialists in surveys and research methods, and Beyond an overall finding that the past looms Yet declaring a society “historically illiterate” weaving throughout the voices of 3,419 Canadians large in the everyday lives and activities of Can- because its members do not know about Laura who participated in their surveys, Canadians and adians, the survey reveals many fascinating stories Secord’s importance to the War of 1812, cannot Their Pasts is a necessary engagement with looming about how Canadians engage with historical mem- rattle off the names of prime ministers or do not questions of historical knowing and unknowing. ory. It becomes clear that we have been asking the know the chronology of a now-distant war high- Clichés cannot be the basis for cultural policy in wrong questions: “While they may recall few details lights a particular vision of history that is at odds Canada, and the hard data from this project—soon about supposed touchstones of the country’s pol- with the one that many more Canadians evidently to be released separately, and sure to be a continu- itical history, [Canadians] nonetheless draw upon cherish. Turns out that we may have been asking ing trove for research—should become a must-read impressions gathered from a myriad of sources to the wrong questions and that, in fact, Canadians do for heritage professionals, historians, journalists construct their multiple versions of imagined com- and, well, Canadians who are interested in their munities.” Through a series of well-formatted tables, Ian Milligan is a professor of Canadian and digital past. If the authors’ results are any indication, they this project teaches us that Canadians engage with history at the University of Waterloo, as well as a will have a large audience. the past by looking at old photographs (83 percent founding co-editor of the website ActiveHistory.ca. An impressive sample of Canadians was con- of us), passing on heirlooms (74 percent), scrap- His first book, Rebel Youth: 1960s Labour Unrest, sulted for Canadians and Their Pasts. The base booking with our families (56 percent), watching Young Workers and New Leftists in English sample of 2,000, split evenly among the five regions historical movies or TV shows (78 percent), read- Canada, comes out this summer with University of of Canada (the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario, ing history books (53 percent), visiting museums British Columbia Press. the Prairie provinces and British Columbia), was (43 percent), creating family trees (20 percent),
28 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada visiting archives (15 percent) and surfing the web an active approach to understanding the past. The quotation after quotation … and then too sharply for historical information (40 percent). And we results of this study make that all the more urgent. drop off in the concluding sections, which range care: most value history—family histories most of Museums, too, can see the value of putting out real from as short as a paragraph to a single page, rarely all, but also national and more general pasts. Yet artifacts, showing controversies and thus better two. Perhaps large or deep analyses were not the numbers alone do not do this project justice. The equipping our citizenry to draw their own conclu- intention of the book, and the structure of balan- authors, while backing up qualitative claims with sions and critically assess their pasts. “Citizens cing seven authorial voices and 3,419 contributors quantitative evidence as appropriate, draw on the exposed to these practices are more likely to under- is always a tricky one, but some more concrete voices of their 3,419 participants throughout. Giv- stand the necessity of consulting multiple sources, policy recommendations beyond encouraging ing too much time to the voice of others is danger- the value of interrogating the traces of the past, hands-on explorations in museums, or general ous in a book like this—block quotations being and what to do when confronted with conflicting statements about how “there are more chapters to one of the great scourges of academic writing—but accounts”—an analytical skill set that should not, be written on historical consciousness and on how here, it makes sense (even if, as I note below, it has incidentally, be limited to trained historians. it might aid us in developing life-affirming ways of the side effect of occasionally crowding out the I would push the Canadians and Their Pasts living together on this planet” would have helped. authorial voice). team in a few areas. First, the internet has a woe- That being said, the overall conclusion of the book There are surprises throughout. Going in, fully meagre presence in the book. Part of this is does have recommendations, and educators in I would have assumed that Quebec—with its a result of the timeframe in which the survey was particular will find the authors’ suggestions around licence plates declaring “Je me souviens,” polit- carried out, between March 2007 and July 2008. I developing critical historical thinking as a way icians who invoke a collective history and a sense suspect matters have dramatically changed in the of tapping into the deep connections they found of “nation”—would top the charts in terms of last six years. When it comes to trust, websites come especially useful. engagement with the past. However, the opposite last “by a large margin,” the complete opposite My hope is that Canadians and Their Pasts is not actually held true in this analysis. Breaking down of our trust in museums and historical sites. Fair the definitive statement in this area of investigation, the ages of their respondents, the but a starting point. It supplements authors postulate a root cause: due Turns out that we may have been other similar national studies, which to the Quiet Revolution and its asso- are contextualized in this book, nota- ciation of the past with conservatism asking the wrong questions and that, bly the 1998 American study The Pres and oppression, “the future rather ence of the Past: Popular Uses of His than the past became the central in fact, Canadians do care about the tory in American Life, by Roy Rosen- preoccupation.” Similarly, despite zweig and David Thelen, and a 2003 overblown pronouncements of the past and their histories in very deep Australian survey carried out by Paul divide within Canada between urban Ashton and Paula Hamilton. We now and rural, the differences in terms of and meaningful ways. have a snapshot of how Canadians historical engagement were minimal; engaged with the past in 2007–08, and what difference there was may be traceable to the enough. But of course, websites come in all dif- there are some disquieting points that appear in the lower percentage of immigrants in rural Canada. ferent categories: in some ways, this is like asking data. Looking at the basic question of whether Can- Indeed, the study found that immigrants were— if “paper” sources are more trustworthy (actually, adians are interested in the “past in general,” we see while unsurprisingly more interested in their own stop: I have heard this declared by faculty members that 45 percent of 65–75 year olds and 37 percent national and faith pasts—quite similar in terms of in the Canadian academy). The question asked of those older than that said that they were “very their emphasis on family, cultural visits, heirlooms respondents “what about Internet sites, in general interested”; as opposed to 20 percent of those aged and a general appreciation for the past. Canadians [as sources of the past], would you say they are…” 18–29, 30 percent of those aged 30–39, 33 percent of and Their Pasts also discovered that “the longer-set- with responses being very, somewhat, not very or those 40–50 and 35 percent of those aged 51–64. The tled immigrants … were more interested in all types not at all trustworthy. Given the growing influence big shift in this happens between the 18–29 cohort of history than were recently arrived immigrants,” of this source, both as a means of public history and 30–39 one, with a rise of 10 percent. The data, speaking to the crucial role that history and the past and also as academics reach out to the public, at the time of this snapshot, suggest in some ways play in their integration process into Canada. I wish further follow-up questions could be asked that as Canadians age they become more interested Finally, as an educator, I found the authors’ sec- (museums and historic sites, for example, received in the past, although there is the drop for those tion on the trustworthiness of information about separate questions). oldest Canadians, perhaps due to lower levels of the past especially insightful. Of course, internet This matters, and the web receives far too short education and mobility difficulties preventing them sites rank low, perhaps unsurprisingly and soon to shrift. For example, Wikipedia, the biggest public from attending historical sites. We will need more change given the 2007–08 timeframe of the survey. history project in existence, receives only a brief data to see if these ups-and-downs are replicated But (I almost feel as if I need to lower my voice to mention. While the democratic potential, the across subsequent generations of Canadians—in a whisper, as an author of a historical monograph accessibility of digital collections and so forth are which case we can see them as part of the historical myself) it was not books that ranked the highest. all lauded, the authorial hesitancy strikes me as lifecycle—or whether generational differences are Museums and historical sites, not teachers, over- too conservative: “some scholars express concern emerging. In ten years, I hope a follow-up study is whelmingly dominate in the “very trustworthy” that amateurs can easily circumvent the custom- conducted, which will give insight into this ques- category. As one respondent noted: “I walk in there; ary gatekeepers in editorial offices and publishing tion. That way we could see what is really going on I look at the historical facts—they’re right there”; companies by placing their historical material with young people and historical knowledge today. another: “someone can look at the pictures and directly online. That some of this production is Canadians and Their Pasts deserves wide make up their own mind.” unreliable adds insult to injury by calling into ques- readership among educators, policy makers and This echoes another fascinating section of the tion hard-earned academic authority.” The book’s those who are interested in the past. While it is an book: how do Canadians respond to competing authors do not come down firmly on either side academic work, written accordingly, it provides a narratives of the past? Disputes over the past often of the debate between those who see the web as a backdrop for our discussions. As Canadians move spill over into the public sphere. Was the strategic democratic force and those who view it as a pro- through the impending anniversaries (the First bombing of Germany in the waning days of the found danger to the historical profession, leaving World War, the country’s 150th anniversary), and Second World War a war crime, for example, and readers only with the suggestion that “all citizens the next bout of historical worrying takes place, how should we remember it today? Nearly half of need to be active in shaping how the digital revolu- this work needs to be read to contextualize those the respondents noted that they would try to get tion plays out in our lives.” anecdotal discussions. The next time that a jour- more information (consulting more books, try- This hesitancy to take an argumentative stance nalist rhetorically asks what has caused us to care ing to “get more facts,” consult the internet more), leads into my second gentle critique. Perhaps less about the past, rather than resorting to indi- whereas the rest split between either taking the because of the nature of the book—the unique (for vidual stories, we need to respond with this work. accepted story on faith or active engagement— history, which is still largely wedded to the sole The past does matter, to many Canadians, and in interrogating sources, verifying their claims, evalu- author model) authorial structure, the presence of ways far deeper and more engaging than the trivia ating their trustworthiness themselves. In this, we the voices of 3,419 Canadians—analyses were not of John A. Macdonald’s life or the date of the end of see stark differences in approaches as educational always pushed as far as they could have been. The the Korean War. Traces of the past are with us levels rise, leading to a concrete recommendation chapters barrel through interesting question after every day, fostering a life-long engagement with by the authors that we need to continue to develop interesting question, table after table, well-chosen history.
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 29 Following the Sheep A notorious riot sheds light on our longest-serving prime minister. Christopher Dummitt
When King arrived on the scene Trouble on Main Street: in Vancouver in October of 1907, he Mackenzie King, Reason, Race did not just find broken windows and and the 1907 Vancouver Riots simmering racial tensions. This was Julie F. Gilmour an international incident, with dip- Allen Lane lomatic repercussions. Vancouver’s 256 pages, hardcover population consisted mostly of ISBN 9780670065127 British Canadians. But there was a sizable (for Canada at the time) population of Japanese, Chinese n September 1907, thugs and those who were then awkwardly paraded through Vancouver’s called Hindu people. Local feeling IChinatown, smashing windows, was strongly against the non-white wreaking havoc and looking for Canadians, although the violence of non-white people to hurt. Julie F. the riot was a dramatic eruption. Gilmour’s Trouble on Main Street: Canada was already supposed Mackenzie King, Reason, Race and to have an agreement with Japan in the 1907 Vancouver Riots takes us which that country would limit emi- back to these few days of racial gration of its citizens to Canada. But trouble, but only as a starting point. this had not stopped many Japanese Having zoomed in on Vancouver Hawaiians from coming to the West in that autumn, Gilmour focuses our attention on sibility for which could be given to none other than Coast. As for the Chinese, ever since 1885 the one man who showed up in the riot’s aftermath: himself. All King had to do was resign from the civil federal government had imposed an ever increas- William Lyon Mackenzie King. This is not the King service and get himself elected to Parliament to ing head tax to limit their numbers. But again this we are used to seeing—the old wily politician with represent the riding of Waterloo North, which he never worked well enough to satisfy white British the dog and the ghosts and the dull, careful speech. did in the autumn of 1908. Then off to Shanghai Columbians. The position of Indian migrants was The King of 1907 is the ambitious young civil ser- he went. By the spring of 1909 when King finally different insofar as they were fellow British sub- vant and social climber whose burgeoning career arrived back in Ottawa, he squeezed in attendance jects. In an empire that was ostensibly supposed was only partly fulfilled, most of its glory still a shiny for the final few days of the new parliament. In June to allow for free movement of goods and people, promise in his imagination. he officially became a minister of the Crown and, Canada was in a tricky position if it wanted to limit Between the autumn of 1907 and the spring of on the same day, Harvard awarded him a PhD. Not the migration of Indians. 1909, King traipsed back and forth across the coun- bad for 20 months’ work. So when King showed up in Vancouver, he had try and then the globe. Not only did he travel to History is all about selection. Which sources both a domestic and an international audience: British Columbia to head a commission to inquire survive? Which do you look at or find compel- all of the countries involved—China, Japan and into the riots, but he also tried and failed to get ling? Gilmour chooses King’s involvement in the Britain—had an interest in King’s investigation. So sent to Japan to negotiate restrictions on emigra- aftermath of the 1907 race riots because of what it too did the United States. The American president tion from that country. He went to the United reveals both about this man who would become Theodore Roosevelt feared that Japan had territor- States several times when the American president our most successful prime minister and about the ial ambitions on the West Coast and that the immi- Theodore Roosevelt enticed him to act as a go- tangled mess that was Canada’s external affairs gration of Japanese people to North America was its between for Washington in its diplomatic relations when foreign policy was still officially a British precursor. The Americans were just then planning with Britain. After his trip to London as a hybrid responsibility. Gilmour also chooses this moment to send their navy on a grand tour of the Pacific amateur diplomat representing both Canada in time because of King’s diary. Ocean—a showcase of American military power in and the United States, King headed to Europe, King famously kept a diary for almost all of the form of what was called the Great White Fleet. across the Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal, his adult life. Most of it is now available to per- King had two jobs. His first task was to handle across India and into China. His quest? To deal with use—page by page, day by day—on Library and claims for compensation by those who had suffered the world opium trade, and to restrict Indian and Archives Canada’s website. It is not entirely com- in the riots. But he also pushed the mandate of this Chinese immigration to Canada. In between all of plete, though. King kept special diaries during the investigation to deal with the causes of the riots. this, King finally convinced Wilfrid Laurier to create period of his international trips in 1908–09 and On this, there was not much debate, as all blamed a new federal department of labour, the respon- for some reason these were not digitized along increased immigration of non-whites to Canada’s with the rest. Dedicated researchers can find these West Coast. It was an odd and self-fulfilling version Christopher Dummitt is a professor of Canadian diaries on a microfiche publication put out by the of the sources of racial conflict: if they come, there history at Trent University. His next book recounts University of Toronto Press in the early 1970s, but will be trouble. the strange history behind Mackenzie King’s secret that would require a fair amount of perseverance in The task was a delicate one. King faced a local life and how the public came to learn of it after King this digital age. So Gilmour is poking into the dusty police chief who told him that the police could died. You can follow him on Twitter at
30 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada ground blamed American agitators for stirring up together representatives from the major countries the Chinese Exclusion Act at all. For an eminent local anti-Asian sentiment. Because Britain was involved in the trade. King went as part of the political scientist in the late 1950s, what really mat- then allied to Japan, the government in Ottawa British delegation. Again, we see the awkward tered from that year was the Halibut Treaty—fish had to keep these obligations in mind when form- dance of morality, race and empire. Personally King and foreign policy. Or, more essentially, the fact ing immigration policy. If Americans could stir up sided with the Americans, whose delegates largely that Canada could sign an international agreement resentment against Ottawa and Britain, they would sought an outright ban on the trafficking of opium. on its own, taking one more small step on the path demonstrate that British Columbia had much more The British had a more worldly and self-serving from colony to country. in common with its neighbouring American states. view of the matter: opium had long been a key It was only in the 1970s that Canadians started Certainly, the British obligations were present and part of Britain’s imperial trade in the east, and they to think seriously about the kinds of issues Gilmour mattered in unexpected ways. For instance, Britain needed to consider the interests of Indian opium addresses here. One important moment came wanted Canada to delay the repayments to the growers and their allied British merchants who traf- in 1976 when King’s diary for 1945 was opened Chinese claimants after the riot. The British had a ficked the drug, especially into China. to the public. When journalists rushed in to see long-standing battle with China over pirate attacks King went along on the trip partly to attend the what new revelations about the weird Mackenzie on British ships on the Canton River, and they could main meetings, but also to try to negotiate an agree- King they could find, they also read in amaze- hold back Canadian payments to ment his response to the atomic leverage their own claims. Such King faced a local police chief who told bombs dropped on Hiroshima and was the intricate world of imperial Nagasaki. King found the whole federalism in which Canada found him that the police could not guarantee incident terrifying and deplorable, itself embroiled at the time. but he comforted himself by say- Over the last several decades safety should the number of new ing that it was “fortunate that the we have learned a great deal use of the bomb should have been about the extent and the nature of immigrants continue to increase. upon the Japanese rather than anti-Asian feeling across the west- upon the white races of Europe.” ernmost province and how this shaped Canadian ment to restrict Chinese immigration to Canada. By the 1970s this attitude had started to become not history—everything from the Chinese Exclusion This was a continuation of his investigations into only anachronistic but also offensive. Act of 1923 to the Japanese internment during the the so-called causes of the race riots in Vancouver. How did we get from there to here? How did the Second World War to the horrible fate of those King and the Canadian government had managed racist colonial Canada that Gilmour so wonder- aboard the Komagata Maru in 1914. The great to deal with the problem for Japanese and Indians. fully recreates for us morph into a multicultural success of The Trouble on Main Street is the way it Now it was the turn of the Chinese. King wanted Canada whose diplomats can pursue Canada’s own takes these studies one step further. It is one thing something similar to the gentleman’s agreement national interest? to know that most Canadians, including King, lived that Canada had just renegotiated with Japan. In On the colony-to-country story, King would in a world steeped in racial assumptions. The real this agreement Japan saved face by privately mak- play an important role. But when it comes to the strength of this book is Gilmour’s demonstration ing a firm commitment to limit the emigration of its transformation of racial attitudes, King was of no of how the race relations of the early 20th century citizens but publicly only speaking in generalities. help whatsoever. Personally, he could be open played themselves out in bureaucratically complex Gilmour tells us that the internal politics of the minded and tolerant in dealing with individuals of ways, depending as much on the politics of federal- imperial court in China at that time made a parallel a different race when it suited his political needs, ism and Dominion–Empire relations as on racism. deal impossible and King returned home empty- as it did when negotiating with Indian, Japanese Yet race and immigration were not the only con- handed. Ultimately the head tax would continue and Chinese officials. Yet we know that when King cerns. There was the matter of drugs, too. While set- until 1923 when King, now prime minister, passed returned to Canada he would revert to the common tling the claims for damage from the riots, King was the Chinese Exclusion Act, essentially banning all feelings of his time. King’s governments would not surprised to discover two claims from the owners of Chinese immigration to Canada. only ban Chinese immigration: they would turn opium factories. In fact, Vancouver had seven such All of this—the drugs, the racism, the inter- their backs on Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany factories at the time. The city regulated the indus- national entanglements—is very much of our and, as late as 1947, King espoused an immigration try, simply requiring a licence and a $500 fee. This moment. These are stories from our past that mat- policy that preserved Canada’s right to exclude offended King’s upright Presbyterian sensibilities ter to us now. This has not always been the case. based on race. In all of this, King simply bent to and he sent word to Ottawa. His recommendations, The first volume of King’s official biography, by the will of the majority. He followed where the banning the non-medicinal production and sale of Robert MacGregor Dawson, was published back in Canadian people led. opium, found their way very quickly into law in 1908. 1958. As official biographies go, it was fairly good at There is an old story of King’s version of leader- King became the creator of Canada’s first drug law. showing King’s warts, although usually these had ship—one he reportedly recounted himself. A flock It was because of this opium legislation that, to do with his personal foibles. The biography cov- of sheep are in a field. There are two gates through later in the year, the Americans again invited King ered King’s trip to Vancouver and his international which the sheep can move, to the right and the left. to go abroad, this time to the International Opium excursions to London, Washington and Asia. Yet King said that the true leader does not pick which Commission in Shanghai. The meeting gathered when it comes to 1923, Dawson does not mention exit is the best. He waits to see which direction the sheep are headed. Then, once the flock is moving, he dashes in front and leads them triumphantly through. The Mackenzie King style of leadership is effect- ive. It is a tried and true method of Canadian pol- itical success. Arguably it is the style of leadership that Stephen Harper currently adopts: keep the ideological premise close to your heart but never miss a chance to abandon your beliefs if it keeps you in power. But it is hardly glorious. And it cer- tainly does not explain how Canada transformed itself over the 20th century into a much more, if still imperfectly, racially tolerant country. Julie Gilmour’s book gives us a fascinating glance into the early career of our most successful and frustrating prime minister. At the end of the King years, many Canadians wanted a different country, and a different kind of political leader- ship to make it happen. How long could a govern- ment and a country go on, as F.R. Scott lamented, “[doing] nothing by halves which can be done by quarters”?
May 2014 reviewcanada.ca 31 Letters and Responses
Re: “Parliamentary Opposition, in The- One of the particular problems he looks at is carefully toed by Conservative policy makers ory,” by Martha Hall Findlay (April what to do about those who grew up here and are when he challenges “the validity of any analysis 2014) thoroughly Canadian and yet have no legal status that reports a reduction in violence and organ- artha Hall Findlay has sat in Parliament. in this country because they were brought here ized crime in Canada … Regardless of the statis- MI have not. Surprisingly, given our different as youngsters by their parents who also have no tical interpretation of increasing or decreasing experiences, she chides me for being fixated upon legal status since they either entered illegally or crime trends, on the street we are seeing a higher legislative as opposed to other forms of political remained here illegally after their visas expired. incidence of weapon use and severe violence.” opposition. There is a world beyond the House of While Carens makes a case for treating such indi- As one example of the surge in “gang” crime, Commons, she says. Who would disagree? I do viduals with compassion and generosity, the ques- Chrismas cites July 2012 when Toronto experi- not, and in Across the Aisle: Opposition in Can tion has to be asked as to why a country such as enced 25 shootings and four killings over three adian Politics I examine the challenges social and Canada should allow such a problem to develop in days, without clarifying that two of those deaths technological changes present for traditional prac- the first place. and more than 20 of the shootings all occurred in tices of parliamentary government. The difference Even with the qualifications and limitations a single, completely unprecedented, event—the between us is that I am not as confident as she that Carens identifies as necessary for allowing people Danzig Street BBQ incident. This handling of sta- the alternative universe described in her review from less fortunate parts of the world into Can- tistics adds to the crime hype. offers sufficient assurance of good government. ada, his generally open-border approach would And Chrismas goes further, echoing the rhetoric “It is possible,” she maintains, “that the more still lead to major problems and is unlikely to of Vic Toews and Stockwell Day, when he points to sources of non-legislative, public opposition there be accepted by most Canadians. Distinguished the many unknown victims of Canada’s new phan- are … the more effectively a government can be U.S. diplomat and statesman George F. Kennan tom menace, “unreported crime.” For an academic held to account.” Possibly, but where is the evi- observed that, if the United States for example such as Boyd to politely tolerate such an aversion dence? In any case, she says, there is always “the were to adopt an open-border policy, people to hard evidence when these sorts of assertions are next election [that] allows the public to respond.” would stop coming only when the levels of over- now shaping the landscape of our criminal law is Surely that is a wintry prospect, when Parliament, population and poverty (in the United States) were near tantamount to intellectual treason. as Winston Churchill also observed, stands ready equal to those of the countries from which these Boyd’s mealy-mouthed review is made all the to express the persistent and settled will of the people were anxious to escape. more indefensible precisely because Chrismas’s people. While many people from poorer countries will book has the potential to be a dangerously influen- Again, she optimistically states, “the opportun- be prepared to come here or stay here illegally tial work. It could help educate current and future ity that technology provides for more engagement, because they will still be better off than where generations of police officers, but perhaps more over and above just voting, may—we hope—result they are coming from, they will inevitably create importantly, it could be used to inform the polit- in a greater level of accountability in govern- an underclass of individuals, most of whom are ical debate that surrounds crime in Canada. ment, even if the role of official opposition is unable to provide sufficient support for and access With an anti-intellectual era in governance diminished.” By what mechanism would this new to benefits for themselves and their families. More- upon us, new tools that might allow certain polit- accountability—great or small—be secured? The over, if a country is unable to control its borders icians to further suppress empiricism represent an concern of Across the Aisle is not about new but old and determine who can enter and remain on its unhealthy addition to the landscape. This is par- mechanisms of accountability, about what is hap- territory, it has surrendered one of the essential ticularly so when officer Chrismas appears to hold pening on the floor and in the committee rooms of attributes of a sovereign, independent nation. himself out as an honest and enlightened voice in the Commons. If we think someone has the qualifications to Canadian policing. Government increasingly limits the oppor- be able to stay in Canada permanently, surely it Christian Pearce tunity for Opposition to participate in legislative makes sense to establish this at the outset rather Toronto, Ontario debate. An example is the Fair Elections Act, which than have them and their families live in the shad- is being rushed through Parliament this season. ows and a state of uncertainty for years and even Neil Boyd replies: Historically, changes to Canada’s election law decades. For those who do not qualify, we should hristian Pearce argues that an “anti- have resulted from all-party negotiations among be doing everything possible to ensure they do not Cintellectual era of governance” is upon us, in the principal parties in the Commons, Oppos- remain here. the form of the Harper government’s approach to ition amendments to legislative proposals and While Carens makes a case for regularizing the crime; I entirely agree. In 40 years of work in the public participation though committee hearings. status of those who are here illegally, who have area of law and crime, I have never experienced a A substantial measure of consensus has been the grown up here and in every other respect are very government that is so ideologically driven by fear hallmark of the law’s legitimacy. Despite strong much Canadian, it is strongly in our interest to and anger, and so opposed to any kind of careful complaints from the chief electoral officer, this is remove the conditions that make it possible for analysis of relevant evidence. But when Pearce sug- not happening today. such situations develop in the first place so we do gests that my failure to counter all of the mislead- The devaluation of legislative opposition is not have to face such problems in the future. ing representations of data within Chrismas’s book more than a “theoretical” danger to Canadian Martin Collacott is “tantamount to intellectual treason,” he appears democracy, nor is it one that may be compensated Vancouver, British Columbia to misunderstand both the scope and the point of by “a shift to public opposition.” On the contrary, it a book review. He wants to paint Chrismas’s con- threatens the practice of parliamentary democracy Re: “Safer, Meaner Streets,” by Neil tribution with a single brush—“an unhealthy addi- and the rule of law that depends upon it. Boyd (April 2014) tion to the landscape.” In truth, the world is more David E. Smith n reviewing Robert Chrismas’s book on policing, complex than Pearce asserts—police officers and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario ICanadian Policing in the 21st Century: A Front defence counsel understandably look at crime and line Officer on Challenges and Changes, Simon Fra- justice through different lenses, given their very Re: “Arguing for Open Borders,” by Andy ser University’s Neil Boyd is unacceptably gentle in different experiences—and there is value in trying Lamey (April 2014) his critique. While Boyd is forthcoming that in his to understand the merits of both perspectives. oseph Carens is an open-border advocate—but position as a professor he maintains a literal and Jnot of the knee-jerk variety. For more than three figurative distance from the real world of criminal- The LRC welcomes letters—and more are available decades he has examined the pros and cons of ity, one need not experience direct contact with on our website at
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