selling sex M& grow-op panic Yesterday’soral vices, Occupy the internet! PAGE 6 matters

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$6.50 Vol. 22, No. 6 July/August 2014

Terry Fenge and Tony Penikett A country built on promises Why everyone suffers when Canada ignores treaties with aboriginals

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Suanne Kelman Tom Flanagan’s ironic downfall

Nick Mount McLuhan and Frye: Together at last?

Sarah Jennings Great War graveyards

PLUS: non-fiction Philippe Lagassé on military–civilian tensions + Madeleine Thien on Esi Edugyan’s global wanderings + James Roots on the cottage romance + Rankin Sherling on the value of religious impurity fiction Publications Mail Agreement #40032362 Katherine Ashenburg reviews The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman + Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to LRC, Circulation Dept. Susan Walker reviews Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese PO Box 8, Station K Toronto, ON M4P 2G1 poetry Deanna Young + Seymour Mayne + Kayla Czaga New from University of Toronto Press

Dynamic Fair Dealing Governing Urban Economies Commissions of Inquiry and Creating Canadian Culture Online Innovation and Inclusion in Canadian City Policy Change Regions edited by Rosemary J. Coombe, Darren A Comparative Analysis Wershler, and Martin Zeilinger edited by Neil Bradford and Allison Bramwell edited by Gregory J. Inwood and Dynamic Fair Dealing explores the extent Governing Urban Economies examines Carolyn M. Johns to which copyright has expanded into the relations between governments and What role do commissions play in policy every facet of society and how our communities in Canadian city-regions and change? Why do some commissions result capacity to deal fairly with cultural goods breaks new ground tracking the ways in in policy changes while others do not? has suffered in the process. which urban coalitions tackle complex This book analyses ten landmark inquiries economic and social challenges. to explore the relationship between commissions of inquiry and public policy.

The L.M. Montgomery Reader The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass The Force of Family Volume Two: A Critical Heritage L.M. Montgomery’s Heroines and the Pursuit Repatriation, Kinship, and Memory on Haida of Romance Gwaii edited by Benjamin Lefebvre by Elizabeth Rollins Epperly by Cara Krmpotich Following on the heels of the first volume, this second volume of The Since its publication more than twenty The Force of Family is an ethnography of L.M. Montgomery Reader narrates the years ago, The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass the Haida Nation’s efforts to repatriate development of Montgomery’s critical has become a favourite of scholars, ancestral remains from museums around reputation in the seventy years since her writers, and Montgomery fans. The the world and explores how memory, death. preface to this new edition reflects on how objects, and kinship connect and form a Montgomery studies have flourished over cultural archive. the past two decades.

Also available as e-books at utppublishing.com 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. 6 • July/August 2014 Editor Bronwyn Drainie [email protected] Contributing EditorS 3 Flanagan Wrecks 18 The Girl with Three Fathers Mark Lovewell, Molly Peacock, Robin A review of Persona Non Grata: The A review of The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, Roger, Anthony Westell Death of Free Speech in the Internet Age, by Tom Rachman Associate editor by Tom Flanagan Katherine Ashenburg Judy Stoffman Suanne Kelman Poetry Editor 19 Stories That Heal Moira MacDougall 6 Occupy the Internet! A review of Medicine Walk, by Richard copy editor A review of The People’s Platform: Taking Wagamese Madeline Koch Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, by Susan Walker Online Editors Astra Taylor 20 Demonized Weed Diana Kuprel, Jack Mitchell, Chad Kohalyk Donald Rickerd, C.M. A review of Killer Weed: Marijuana Grow Ops, ProofReaders 7 Paper Promises Media and Justice, by Susan C. Boyd and Connie Kimberley Griffiths, Mike Lipsius, An essay Carter Heather Schultz, Robert Simone, Rob Terry Fenge and Tony Penikett April Lindgren Tilley, Jeannie Weese research 11 Frye and McLuhan 22 Vices Then and Now Rob Tilley A review of Marshall McLuhan and Northrop A review of Canada the Good: A Short History Editorial Assistant Frye: Apocalypse and Alchemy, by B.W. Powe of Vice Since 1500, by Marcel Martel Clare Gibbons Nick Mount James F. Cosgrave Design 13 Where Do We Belong? 24 Listen to the Sex Workers James Harbeck A review of Dreaming of Elsewhere: A review of Selling Sex: Experience, Advocacy ADVERTISING/SALES Michael Wile Observations on Home, by Esi Edugyan and Research on Sex Work in Canada, edited [email protected] Madeleine Thien by Emily van der Meulen, Elya M. Durisin and Director, Special Projects 14 Hedgehog Gospel Victoria Love Michael Booth Amber Dawn A review of In Praise of Mixed Religion: Development Assistant The Syncretism Solution in a Multifaith World, 25 An Army Astray Michael Stevens by William H. Harrison A review of A National Force: The Evolution of Educational Outreach Coordinator Rankin Sherling Canada’s Army, 1950–2000, by Peter Kasurak Mary Kim Philippe Lagassé publishers 16 These Are the Days Alastair Cheng A poem 27 Cottage Romance [email protected] Deanna Young A review of A Timeless Place: The Ontario Helen Walsh [email protected] 16 Message Cottage, by Julia Harrison James Roots Board of Directors A poem John Honderich, C.M., Seymour Mayne 28 Gardens of Mourning J. Alexander Houston, Frances Lankin, Jack Mintz, Trina McQueen 17 Above Ground An essay Sarah Jennings Advisory Council A poem Michael Adams, Ronald G. Atkey, P.C., Seymour Mayne 31 Letters and Responses Q.C., Alan Broadbent, C.M., Chris Ellis, Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan, Drew Fagan, James Gillies, C.M., 17 For Your Safety Please Hold On Carol Hansell, Donald Macdonald, Almos Tassonyi, Andrew Griffith, Neil A poem P.C., C.C., Susan Reisler, Grant Reuber, Arason Kayla Czaga O.C., Don Rickerd, C.M., Rana Sarkar, Mark Sarner, Bernard Schiff, Reed Scowen Poetry Submissions For poetry submission guidelines, please see Cover art and pictures throughout the issue by Gabriel Baribeau. . Gabriel Baribeau is an artist from Port Dover, Ontario, whose craft is sculpture, performance and tattoo based. The LRC design concept by Jackie Young/INK illustrations in this issue are done in collaboration with Aimee Burnett, with whom he recently co-founded the arts Founded in 1991 by P.A. Dutil The LRC is published 10 times a year by the Literary guild Pedlar Stock. Review of Canada Inc.

annual subscription rates Individuals in Canada $56/year plus GST/HST. (Libraries and institutions in Canada $68/year plus GST/HST.) Outside Canada, please pay $86/year for From time to time, the LRC may allow carefully selected organizations to send mail to subscribers, offering products or services that may be of interest. individuals, or $98 for libraries and institutions. If you do not wish to receive such correspondence, please contact our Subscriber Service department at [email protected], Subscriptions and Circulation or call 416-932-5081, or mail P.O. Box 8, Station K, Toronto ON M4P 2G1. Literary Review of Canada P.O. Box 8, Station K, Toronto ON M4P 2G1 Funding Acknowledgements We acknowledge the assistance [email protected] We acknowledge the financial of the OMDC Magazine Fund, tel: 416-932-5081 • reviewcanada.ca support of the Government an initiative of Ontario Media ©2014 The Literary Review of Canada. All rights, of Canada through the Development Corporation. including translation into other languages, are reserved Canada Periodical Fund of by the publisher in Canada, the United States, Great the Department of Canadian Britain and all other countries participating in the Heritage. Universal Copyright Convention, the International Copyright Convention and the Pan-American Copyright Convention. Nothing in this publication may be repro- duced without the written permission of the publisher. ISSN 1188-7494 The Literary Review of Canada is indexed in the Canadian Literary Periodicals Index and the Canadian Index and is distributed by Disticor and Magazines Canada. July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 2 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Flanagan Wrecks A conservative leader felled by shameful reporting—and hubris. Suanne Kelman

North American Man/Boy Love Persona Non Grata: Association. The Death of Free Speech in That is why Flanagan was the Internet Age right to publish this book. He Tom Flanagan was pilloried, repeatedly, for Signal Books something he never said—that 256 pages, hardcover child pornography causes no ISBN 9780771030536 harm—and because his name landed on a mailing list. That is scary for everyone. No one e can all agree speaks with careful thought and on one thing: what perfect clarity all the time. Nor Wthe scholar, polit- do we control all the mail we ical consultant and sometime receive. On the basis of emails social pariah Tom Flanagan sent to me before my computer calls the Incident is a cautionary system refined its spam filters, tale. A man muses in passing on you would assume two of my the wisdom of jail time for con- great interests were expanding sumers of child pornography, the male organ I do not pos- and finds himself the next day sess and meeting hot Russian engulfed by a braying cyber- babes. Moreover, flawed space mob, enduring the loss news reports never really die; of friends, income and reputa- apparently a lot of otherwise tion, to a drumroll of public well-informed Canadians still denunciations by people he had believe that Flanagan confessed served. Thanks to a single video to a personal weakness for child clip posted over a maliciously pornography.­ slanted caption, Flanagan was So let’s be clear: he did no portrayed repeatedly as some- such thing. On February 27, one who had no objection to 2013, Flanagan addressed a child pornography and possibly session of the Southern Alberta even had a taste for it himself. Council on Public Affairs at the There has to be a lesson or two University of Lethbridge on here. one of his favourite topics, “Is It But it is possible to disagree on exactly what Still, his readers may find themselves identifying Time to Reconsider the Indian Act?” (Here is how the Incident cautions us against. Flanagan derives a few moral messages that Flanagan fails to notice. pervasive misinformation is: at the time of writing, any number of lessons from it in his book Persona I, for instance, found myself concluding that hubris Flanagan’s Wikipedia entry implied the discussion Non Grata: The Death of Free Speech in the Internet still leads to tragedy and that there really is such a was about child ­pornography.) Age. Many of them acknowledge his own fail- thing as poetic justice. Note that Flanagan’s position on the lecture’s ings, although even more are directed to Canada’s You may well feel you already know enough actual topic, articulated many times over the years, media. Without coming anywhere close to Maoist about Tom Flanagan and the Incident, since is that Canada’s First Nations (a term he rejects) are self-criticism, he does confess to a lack of caution they have received floods of attention over the actually its first immigrants, that there is no rea- and consideration for people’s feelings, even to past 18 months. Nonetheless, anyone reviewing son to allow them special status and that the best some naiveté. Turning to others, he comes up with this book has to retrace the facts. Why? Because route to improving their economic status would a suggested code of conduct for journalists at the of something an acquaintance said to me when be assimilation. Given that, plus his history of end. (His suggestions are fairly close to existing Flanagan spoke with TVO host Steve Paikin at debunking Native land claims and the iconic status codes of conduct for many news outlets. The prob- a Toronto library in May. I was there to try to get a of Louis Riel, the Idle No More movement was out lem is enforcing them, given the pressures of time, sense of Flanagan as a person. She was there to in force for the lecture. understaffing and owners’ actual priorities.) decide whether or not he was a pedophile. She In the question period, a man named Levi Little had retained the impression left by the media’s Moustache made a speech that contained several Suanne Kelman is an author and broadcaster original, inaccurate coverage of the Incident. questions, including: Was Tom Flanagan really and the associate chair of journalism at Ryerson What she remembered was that Flanagan had the father of the IKEA monkey (a reference to a University. admitted to receiving mail from NAMBLA, the facetious exchange on Evan Solomon’s Power and

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 3 Politics)? Did he stand by a previous remark about So the media rushed to pillory him for some- Hooey, I say. Flanagan appeared regularly on child pornography? thing he had not actually said. As far as I can the CBC and elsewhere to discuss politics. I have That question was a trap and Flanagan leapt into remember, George Orwell is one of the few writers been a chase producer: his main attraction was not it—a moment captured on video. You can find his not cited in this book (you will find Kafka, Philip his academic credentials but his position, even if full response on YouTube at . It included the state- and the Beatles), but essentially, Flanagan was hunt for panelists who can explain the theories ment, “I do have some grave doubts about putting convicted, without trial, of Thought Crime. In yet of the late economist Friedrich Hayek. They want people in jail because of their taste in pictures.” He another of the avalanche of ironies about this story, guests who can speculate on what is going through threw in the unnecessary information that he had the quintessential Canadian conservative was the prime minister’s mind or the slant of the next received mailings from NAMBLA. You can hear the skewered for presenting an argument more familiar round of negative ads. videographer, Arnell Tailfeathers, saying, “Gotcha, on the Left: we put too many people in jail, often for Moreover, Flanagan is not just an academic Tom.” You bet: Tailfeathers uploaded the video clip the wrong reasons. who occasionally dabbled in politics. His influence over the caption “Tom Flanagan okay with child (My own position here is not entirely comfort- on the Canadian political landscape can hardly pornography.” able, since I am on the record urging Ryerson be exaggerated. In a profile in The Walrus as early Flanagan does note one lesson at this point: University, my employer, not to renew the contract as 2004, Marci McDonald countered the image of He should have been thinking politically, not aca- of a former colleague who had advocated man/boy Flanagan as Stephen Harper’s Rasputin by quoting demically. He should not have tried to answer the sex. But Gerald Hannon had claimed in an article to Ezra Levant, who suggested Flanagan was more like question. So he was already in trouble, but not have eavesdropped passively while an adult had sex the godfather of Canada’s conservative intellectual major-league trouble. This is not mafia, “Don Tomaso.” In Harper’s Oedipus Rex or Macbeth; the die Team and elsewhere, Flanagan was not yet cast. has proclaimed plans that might What sealed his doom was his The internet bestows eternal life on raise some hackles, plans to attempt to live for the next twelve make Canada a conservative (and hours or so like a private person, misinformation. Conservative) country. Once you instead of someone in politics. have proposed something that He had no cell phone with him. He grandiose—and had enormous did not maintain communication with the outside with a twelve-year-old boy, an illegal act. Without success with it—I think you have forfeited your right world. He did scan his email over breakfast at his that, I would have had to keep my mouth shut, iron- to whip on your detached, harmless professor cap motel the next day, but no alarm bells went off as ically enough in the name of free speech.) at will. You are a target, for life, and Flanagan is too he read an email “excoriating my views on child Here is yet another irony: a consultant who had smart not to have known that. pornography.” As he drove back to Calgary, listen- advocated—with great enthusiasm—using new Where does this leave us? The media, the ing to a Sue Grafton mystery on audiotape, his media and technologies to spread the Conservative University of Calgary and Flanagan’s former allies car phone rang (his wife had given out the num- message and consolidate power was now the vic- behaved shamefully. The man was wronged. So ber, which he seldom shared) with the news that tim of precisely those media and technologies. It is why, having read the book, do I feel so little per- Alberta’s Wildrose Party had already disowned and almost creepy, the way that the Incident kept hoist- sonal sympathy for him? condemned him for his remarks the night before. ing Flanagan on his own petard. I think the answer emerges in his first chapter, By the time he reached his office around noon, Because of Flanagan’s age and career, by the “Courting Controversy.” It is seductively interest- the Prime Minister’s Office, the Premier of Alberta way, his focus is on the traditional media that fed ing—Flanagan’s style is always clear and lively, and the Manning Centre had publicly rebuked off the YouTube clip and consequent Twitter out- without the taint of academic jargon and obfusca- him and—where he had ties—cut him loose. In rage. Even that now verges on the quaint. Were he tion. But even here, in a book about his martyr- short order, the University of Calgary distanced younger—Paris Hilton, say, or Justin Bieber—he dom, he cannot keep his itchy little paws from the itself from him in a press release, including the would recognize that newspapers and television occasional swipe. So he supported Brian Mulroney unrelated information that he was going to retire news are almost irrelevant: for the young, YouTube until he became “disillusioned by his pandering soon anyway. The CBC fired him from Power and and Twitter are the media. to Quebec.” Ryerson professor Pamela Palmater Politics. Some of these people and agencies, plus a With the benefit of bitter hindsight, today is “the Idle No More diva.” Flanagan has, as he stampede of journalists, had all been trying to reach Flanagan does ponder the destructive effects of admits, a combative personality. He can certainly him, but he had not checked his voice mail. instant, universal communication, but rather less dish it out. That is one of the Incident’s many ironies: In eloquently than another victim of unrestrained He tries to show that he can take it, too, but his 2007 book, Harper’s Team: Behind the Scenes in media bashing who wrote recently: he does not always succeed. He tries to keep that the Conservative Rise to Power, Flanagan warned upper lip stiff, but it keeps betraying him with a Conservative political staff and candidates of the No one, it seems, can escape the unforgiving telltale quiver. He follows the brave admission “So need “to keep in constant touch with the media.” gaze of the Internet, where gossip, half-truths, you can say I was the author of my own misfor- Flanagan has a defence for that, which I will get and lies take root and fester. We have created, tune” with the sentence “I was a private person, to after noting another possible irony. In the movie to borrow a term from historian Nicolaus invited because of my past writings to give a talk Patton, George C. Scott, having out-manoeuvred Mills, a “culture of humiliation” … We may not to a particular audience.” You can sense that lip the German General Erwin Rommel using his own have become a crueler society—although it starting to vibrate as he writes of his isolation, tactics, screams into the desert: “Rommel … you sure feels as if we have—but the Internet has unprotected by a political party, pushed on to the magnificent bastard, I read your book!” I think seismically shifted the tone of our interac- ice floe by his own university. It reminds me of the someone in Idle No More may well have read tions. The ease, the speed, and the distance excuse he so often uses to justify his own advocacy Harper’s Team. They followed Flanagan’s advice “to that our electronic devices afford us can also (and former practice) of ethically questionable conduct thorough opposition research and make make us colder, more glib, and less concerned political tactics: the Liberals started it. Welcome to use of the results”; they counted on his inability about the consequences of our pranks and the schoolyard. “to exercise strict discipline at all levels”; and prejudice. At the Toronto library interview, Flanagan was they remembered his dictum that “the media are briefly overcome as he remembered his ordeal. unforgiving of conservative errors.” Gotcha, Tom, Thank you, Monica Lewinsky. As a lifelong liberal, I should have been moved indeed. Flanagan’s second, more individual point is that by the sight of a proud man expressing his pain So what is his line of defence? The main one, he thought he was speaking as an academic, not openly. But Flanagan somehow taps my inner con- which is inarguable, is that journalists failed to do as a political representative. He had managed to servative. I found myself recalling his own words their job. They could not reach him for a few hours retain the belief that he could simply change hats at about toughness in Harper’s Team: “People expect after the video came to their attention, so they pub- will—morphing from academic to politico to pun- Conservatives to be tough … They look ridiculous if lished what they had. Once the “OK with child por- dit with the ease of Odo, the Shapeshifter in Star they go around snivelling and complaining about nography” line was established, most reporters and Trek: Deep Space Nine. That is a crucial element fairness every time an opponent takes a shot at commentators never bothered to check it—even in his self-defence: he was no longer working as a them … Leave the whining to the utopians who months later. The internet bestows eternal life on political consultant and, therefore, his remarks did fantasize about conflict-free societies.” To which misinformation. not belong in the rough-and-tumble public forum. I would now say: Amen.

4 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada AND THE AWARD GOES TO...

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NOMINATED— Libris Award, Non-Fiction Book of the Year

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July/AugustClearing The plains2014 winner ad for LRC.indd 1 reviewcanada.ca 2014-05-22 8:34 AM5 Occupy the Internet! A passionate rallying cry against digital inequity. Chad Kohalyk

isms of exclusion.” Taylor raises the issue of media advertising revenue in the name of supporting “cul- The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and giants—old and new—crowding out independent tural democracy.” “We spend more than $700 bil- Culture in the Digital Age voices with their advertising-funded “content,” a lion a year on advertising, a tremendous waste of Astra Taylor “horrible, flattening word.” She prefers the term money on something that has virtually no social Random House Canada “culture” and laments that technology companies value and that most of us despise,” she writes. That 288 pages, softcover benefit from the unpaid labour (user-generated “could be subject to a transparent public tax and ISBN 9780307360342 content) of culture creators without providing put to good use.” monetary support. Taylor criticizes Silicon Val- Radical solutions indeed. Rather than a deliber- ley’s inexorable drive for efficiency, pointing out ate, even-handed analysis of internet labour, the he popular internet as a phenomenon that sometimes inefficiency can provide“ ancillary book often seems a rallying cry for Taylor’s Occupy has gone through a number of phases in its benefits” to society. By “unbundling the differ- comrades. Tshort history—decentralized and obscure, ent functions” of a newspaper, readers certainly Possibly the biggest weakness of Taylor’s analy- to commercial, then to highly participatory (and get more efficient access to crossword puzzles sis, one common to many critiques of the internet, highly centralized). At each stage critical thinkers and classifieds,“ but it has eliminated the cross- is its neglect of the role of the most essential cre- have written about the socio-political impact of subsidies that kept journalism afloat… expos[ing] ative labour force of the internet—the lowly soft- digitizing everything. The People’s Platform: Taking a form of market failure.” ware developer. Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age by Astra Although Taylor accurately identifies funda- Software development is unlike most trades in Taylor is the latest book to tackle these issues. Taylor mental problems for the internet economy and that it remains unregulated and all the knowledge does an excellent job synopsizing internet criticism its business model of surveillance, she soon falls to become a programmer is available freely on over the past half-decade. In fact, her second foot- into a pattern of partisan language. Newspaper the web. It is no wonder that developer culture is note recommends a number of authors including bosses are “overlords” with “underlings” on a “long deeply meritocratic. Yet Taylor seems oblivious, Douglas Rushkoff, Nicholas Carr, Jaron Lanier and greedy binge”; the “structural greed” of the record- brushing it off as a “peculiar brand of libertar- Evgeny Morozov among other curmudgeons of the ing industry “is well documented and appalling”; ianism.” For Taylor, the politics of these creative internet. Many of Taylor’s targets are the same: Clay the Recording Industry Association of America individuals warrants merely a footnote referencing Shirky, Jeff Jarvis and Kevin Kelly have served as the and Motion Picture Association of America have Gabriella Coleman’s excellent book, Coding Free- rhetorical punching bags for many of the above- “greedy policies.” dom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking. This is a listed authors. Taylor labels these internet utopians (Would it be crass to point out that the RIAA shame as there is much in this area that could influ- and evangelists with the ostensibly mocking term and MPAA she so readily derides work on behalf ence Taylor’s vision of a more ethical internet. For “new-media thinker.” Topically she takes on market of some of the world’s largest labour unions for art example, one worrying consequence of a largely fundamentalism, amateurism, copyright, the fall of and culture, namely the SAG-AFTRA, the recently self-taught developer workforce is the lack of ethics journalism and the internet’s overdependence on merged Screen Actors Guild, established in 1933, education. Most professionals—lawyers, doctors, advertising. Yet, despite treading the same ground and the American Federation of Television and etc.—are obliged to take ethics courses at some as those who have gone before, Taylor’s approach is Radio Artists, established in 1952? Trade union- time during their schooling. Self-taught developers original. Rather than advancing the debate from a ism in “culture” is not limited to entertainers: the do not get the opportunity to be exposed to such social philosophy perspective, sprinkling academic International Federation of Journalists represents frameworks, and are often completely unaware of rigour with storytelling elements as most of the about 600,000 members in over 100 countries. things like the Association for Computer Machin- other popular authors do, Taylor comes with an These organizations escape Taylor, who feels artists ery Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct or the agenda. “spend a lot of time on the road, [are] not rooted in IEEE Code of Ethics. As one of its principles, the Astra Taylor is a documentary filmmaker known one place; hence they are not able to organize and Software Code of Ethics obliges software engineers for her films interviewing philosophers, particularly advocate for their rights.”) to “moderate the interests of the software engineer, Slavoj Žižek. She was also involved in the Occupy Despite the demagoguery, The People’s Platform the employer, the client and the users with the pub- Wall Street movement. As that movement pulled up contains a valuable discussion on the worthy topic lic good.” Shannon Vallor, a professor of philosophy its tent pegs and left Zucotti Park to champion other of artistic and journalistic endeavour as socially at Santa Clara University, has published an ethics social causes, it seems Taylor decided to focus on valuable labour deserving remuneration. This is module for software engineering courses that is internet inequity. not a new issue. In the 1850s a young journal- freely available on the web. The module is filled Given that this is Taylor’s first foray into internet ist, reduced to half-pay due to a cost-cutting war with everyday case studies illustrating the poten- criticism, she displays an excellent grasp of the between his New York Daily Tribune and the New tial harms of software applications on end users, issues. The book begins strongly by attempting to York Times, disparaged the vast amount of low- provoking developers to practise “ethical reflection, widen the focus beyond the internet as a tool and quality work he was forced to produce: “Grinding questioning and decision-making.” discussing the underlying economic dynamics and bones and making soup out of them like the pau- Organizations such as the Electronic Freedom social institutions. “Networks,” she writes, “do not pers in the workhouse, that is how much the polit- Foundation help bridge the gap by engaging work- eradicate power: they distribute it in different ways, ical work for such a paper amounts to.” The young ing developers in their advocacy efforts. The EFF shuffling hierarchies and producing new mechan- Karl Marx would admire Taylor’s suggestion “that is purposely located in San Francisco so that it the platforms through which we access and share may appeal directly to the large and influential Chad Kohalyk is an independent researcher of culture should belong to people whose participa- developer population there. These are excellent politics and technology, including the topics of tion makes them valuable.” steps, but there needs to be more. I hope the next privacy and ethics. He holds a master’s degree She goes further, encouraging the application labour-based criticism of the internet will focus on in war studies from the Royal Military College of of fair trade principles, regulating popular inter- the people producing the platform. Any discussion Canada. net platforms as public utilities and taxing online on improvement should rightly include them.

6 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Essay Paper Promises By avoiding treaty obligations, Canada undermines its own legal basis. Terry Fenge and Tony Penikett

he Government of Canada is not keep- ing all of the promises it made to aboriginal Tpeoples in 24 “modern” treaties, mostly in the North, negotiated over the last 40 years, ratified by aboriginal peoples and Parliament, and guaran- teed by the Constitution of Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada says treaties should “reconcile” aboriginal and non-aboriginal interests, and that the “honour of the Crown” depends upon treaty promises being kept. Certainly the social and eco- nomic future of aboriginal signatories rests in large measure on these agreements. Some modern treaties contain more words than the New Testament. Breathing life and meaning into them requires government transfusions of intellectual and financial resources, and com- mitments of political capital. Without the needed resources, these modern treaties will never be fully Abusive British soldiers and land-hungry settlers Indian land to warrant more treaties. To keep a lid implemented. As years pass and memories of treaty squatting on Indian lands had infuriated Pontiac on claims to land by aboriginal peoples, from 1927 promises fade, these agreements may moulder in and his allied chiefs. Pontiac’s military success to 1951 the Indian Act made it illegal to raise funds the dusty crypts of the Department of Aboriginal convinced the Crown to adopt a new policy laid for aboriginal people to pursue such claims against Affairs and Northern Development. out in the Royal Proclamation that, henceforth, set- the Crown. This is an old as well as a new story, for treaty tlers could only legally obtain land from the Crown making endures in the bones of our constitution, after the Crown had purchased it from aboriginal Modern Treaties of Canada’s DNA. Soon after they arrived in North peoples through treaties negotiated in good faith The Government of Canada’s dismissive attitudes America, the English, French and Dutch made and in public. toward the land claims of aboriginal peoples peace and friendship treaties with aboriginal Treaty making continued in British North Amer- started to change in the 1950s. In response to a law- peoples, largely to promote the fur trade. As the ica following the American War of Independence suit by the Nisga’a Indians of British Columbia, the British and French competed for the continent, and in Canada following Confederation in 1867. In Supreme Court of Canada in 1973 acknowledged both sought alliances with militarily powerful Iro- exchange for title to their land, 19th-century treat- the existence in Canadian law of aboriginal title to quois, Hurons, Algonquins, Mi’kmaq and others. ies in Canada provided aboriginal peoples with land regardless of any grant or act of recognition of Having won the Seven Years War with France, one-time financial payments or ongoing annuities, the Crown. This prompted Prime Minister Pierre King George III of Great Britain issued a Royal Proc- reserves, guarantees of hunting, fishing and trap- Trudeau and his minister of Indian affairs and lamation on October 7, 1763, reorganizing the gov- ping on unoccupied Crown land, and other bene- northern development, Jean Chrétien, to offer to ernance of the Crown’s territories in North America fits. One treaty promised a “medicine chest.” negotiate modern treaties with aboriginal peoples and reserving land west of the Appalachian Moun- George Washington characterized the Royal who had not signed historic treaties and whose title tains to the region’s aboriginal peoples. This “gift” Proclamation as a temporary pacifier to “quiet” the to land had not been “superseded by law.” did not come from the goodness of the king’s heart Natives. By making it difficult for settlers to obtain Both historic and modern treaties are rooted but as the result of a pan-tribal uprising in the west- land and slowing the movement west, Thomas in the Royal Proclamation of 1763, but those ern Great Lakes led by Ottawa war chief Pontiac. Jefferson, the third president of the United States, completed in the last 40 years are far more com- cited it as one cause of the American Revolution. By prehensive and detailed, and more challenging to Terry Fenge is an Ottawa-based consultant. He 1973 Justice Emmett Hall of the Supreme Court of implement. Few Canadians appreciate the import- was research director and senior negotiator for Canada called the Royal Proclamation the “Indian ance of these modern treaties, which have resulted the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut, the Inuit Magna Carta.” If so, then Pontiac should be feted as in Canadian Inuit and First Nations in Yukon and organization that negotiated the 1993 Nunavut a “father of Confederation.” the Northwest Territories becoming owners out- Land Claims Agreement. Canada discontinued treaty negotiations in right of more land than any other private interest Tony Penikett was the 2013 Fulbright Arctic 1923, leaving huge areas of the country—Yukon, world-wide. The 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agree- Scholar at the Senator Henry M. Jackson School most of the Northwest Territories, northern Que- ment provided for the establishment in 1999 of the of International Studies at the University of bec, Labrador, British Columbia and portions of Nunavut Territory, almost 22 percent of Canada. Washington. He is the author of Reconciliation: the Maritimes—without treaties. Would-be settlers Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s push for Arctic First Nations Treaty Making (Douglas and and developers were not rushing north, so Ottawa sovereignty depends, in part, on implementing this McIntyre, 2006). felt there was insufficient demand for remaining agreement.

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 7 Modern treaties are not just land and cash deals; modern treaty obligations, and that various line as required. In granting NTI’s motion and award- they address land ownership, management of lands departments including environment, fisheries ing nearly $15 million in damages, Justice Johnson and natural resources, harvesting and management and oceans, transport, and others are only per- said: of wildlife, assessment of resource development, ipherally engaged. Line departments seem happy capital transfers, economic opportunities, royalty to assume, incorrectly, that the Department of the Crown was indifferent to its obligations sharing, establishment and management of parks Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, a over many years and was only prodded into and conservation areas, cultural expression and weak agency in the Ottawa pantheon, is wholly action by this lawsuit … I am satisfied that enhancement, and more. In 1995 the govern- responsible for the government’s modern treaty Canada’s failure to implement an important ment recognized the “inherent right” of aboriginal obligations. AANDC, for its part, has been unable article of the land claims for over 15 years peoples to govern themselves, and announced its to ensure a “whole of government” approach to undermined the confidence of aboriginal willingness to provide for this in modern treaties. As implementation. Deputy Minister Michael Wer- people, and the Inuit in particular, in the a result, many of these agreements detail munici- neck admitted as much to the Senate Committee important public value behind Canadian land pal- and provincial-type responsibilities exercised on Aboriginal Affairs when, in 2008, he noted that claims agreements. That value is to recon- by aboriginal peoples. AANDC could not compel fe­ deral agencies to cile aboriginal people and the Crown … It is It is not all one way. From these agreements implement ­modern treaties, notwithstanding their also important … to ensure that the Crown Canada gets legal certainty to the properly respects and fulfills its ownership of lands and resources, obligations under land claims something essential to an energy- Modern treaties do not set out agreements. and mineral-dependent economy. Modern treaties confirm Crown the terms of a divorce; rather, they define In April 2014 the Nunavut ownership of 75 percent to 85 per- the terms of a marriage. Court of Appeal set aside the mon- cent of the land in modern treaty etary damages awarded by the trial settlement areas, and an even judge, but confirmed that Inuit are greater percentage of subsurface resources. constitutional status. I­gnorance of modern treaty entitled to monetary damages that reflect money The Crown and aboriginal peoples sign modern obligations is, according to aboriginal organiza- saved by government in failing to implement the treaties with great fanfare. They give aboriginal tions, the rule among federal agencies. As a result, monitoring provisions of the agreement. Monetary peoples a sense of optimism and new beginnings many modern treaty “marriages” are more or less damages will now be calculated as part of NTI’s by providing them with numerous tools, institu- dysfunctional. full court case scheduled for trial in March 2015. It tions and opportunities to design their own social Convinced that many implementation prob- seems possible, even likely, that this case will end and economic futures. These tools can help them lems were Ottawa-based, in 2003 all First Nation up before the Supreme Court of Canada and estab- leave behind an often appalling legacy of pater- and Inuit modern treaty organizations established lish benchmarks and tests for implementation of all nalism, broken economies, poverty and cultural the Land Claims Agreements Coalition to press the modern treaties. Certainly Justice Johnson’s finding breakdown. Government of Canada to remain true to its com- that the Government of Canada was “indifferent” Ironically though, successful implementation mitments. Chaired by the Nisga’a Nation of British to its monitoring obligations raises the question of of these modern treaties and achievement of their Columbia and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the Inuit whether indifference lies behind additional alleged attendant hopes and dreams requires the active organization charged with implementing the 1993 breaches of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement engagement of the federal, provincial and territorial Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the coalition and alleged breaches by the Crown of other modern governments as partners. Modern treaties replace suggested that an independent modern treaty treaties. the paternalism of the 1876 Indian Act. Modern audit and review body be established—essentially treaties do not set out the terms of a divorce; rather, a marriage guidance counsel—to report regularly Getting Things on Track they define the terms of a marriage. Each promise to Parliament. The coalition’s suggestion has been It is important not to characterize difficulties imple- in a modern treaty confers a right protected under endorsed by the Senate Committee on Aboriginal menting modern treaties as a recent phenomenon; Canada’s constitution, so the Government of Can- Peoples and the auditor general of Canada. governments of various political and ideological ada cannot unilaterally alter these agreements. The The coalition also suggests that the federal Cab- persuasions have contributed to the problem and marriages defined in modern treaties are perma- inet approve a formal policy to ensure all required failed to seriously consider policy and program nent, as far as anything in the modern world can departments of the federal government participate solutions. Yet in 2004/05 the coalition met regularly be so characterized. Too often though, for Canada in implementing modern treaties. Notwithstanding with representatives of Prime Minister Paul Martin’s modern treaties are “marriages of convenience” ten years of effort by coalition members singly and short-lived government to negotiate a modern requiring only “bare bones” maintenance. collectively, the Government of Canada has yet to treaty implementation policy. All this came to an adopt this suggestion. abrupt halt with the election of Stephen Harper’s Implementing Modern Treaties Conservatives in January 2006 and the almost At the heart of the implementation challenge is Looking to the Courts immediate disbandment of the Cabinet Committee the complexity, scope and detail of the agreements There has been considerable jurisprudence in on Aboriginal Peoples and the Secretariat in the themselves, which provide much room for differ- recent years interpreting aboriginal rights, but such Privy Council Office that served it. ences in interpretation of duties and obligations. has not been the case with modern treaty rights. It may be that modern treaties are so complex Aboriginal peoples and the government have This is perhaps unfortunate since decisions by that implementation will always fall short of the different decision-making cultures, yet have to judges are evidence-based, definitive and bind- ideal, but a first step is surely for the government to work cooperatively day by day to achieve modern ing, and in the face of federal reluctance to fully recognize that there is a real problem and to work treaty objectives. Only small pools of qualified and embrace modern treaties this seems increasingly with aboriginal peoples to fix it. Unfortunately this experienced aboriginal people are available to take to be needed. But in December 2006 Nunavut cannot be said of John Duncan, Minister of Indian the jobs and make the decisions that transform Tunngavik submitted a statement of claim in the Affairs and Northern Development from 2010 to paper promises into on-the-ground realities. Lack Nunavut Court of Justice alleging that the Nunavut 2013, who on November 11, 2011, informed the of training within aboriginal communities is a ser- Land Claims Agreement had been breached con- House of Commons Standing Committee on Indian ious deficit. Couple that with funding shortfalls and tractually 16 times by the government. Alleged and Northern Affairs that “we’ve made enough inaction of the federal government and the prov- breaches included social, economic, employment serious progress over the last three years really that incial and territorial governments, and factor in and environmental provisions, funding shortfalls, most of the [modern treaty implementation] issues the inherent conservatism of government agencies and withholding consent to 17 requests to arbitrate have gone away. Our implementation has been that are themselves often poorly coordinated, and disputes. NTI claimed damages of $1 billion. done very well.” it is not hard to see why there are implementation This case slowly grinds forward, but in June 2012 In light of the conclusions of the auditor gen- problems. Justice Earl Johnson issued summary judgement on eral, the Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, Successful marriages require shared com- one of NTI’s allegations: that governments had not the Nunavut Court of Justice and the Land Claims mitment and ongoing effort by both partners. developed a “general monitoring plan” to “collect Agreements Coalition, this is a highly imaginative, It really does take two to tango. But aboriginal and analyse information on the long term state and even inventive, statement. signatories report that the Department of Jus- health of the ecosystemic and socio-economic The coalition’s suggestions to improve imple- tice takes a minimalist view of the government’s environment in the Nunavut Settlement Area” mentation of modern treaties seem sensible and

8 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada doable, particularly if the Cabinet Committee on and live up to the obligations in modern treaties. agency and department the commitment to a Aboriginal Peoples was reconstituted to consider The Government of Canada feels little need to “whole of government” approach. the matter. But altering the “machinery of gov- engage on the issue so the sensible proposals by It is largely as a result of court decisions in the ernment” to establish a modern treaty audit and the Land Claims Agreements Coalition languish. last 40 years that several aboriginal peoples have review body requires the prime minister’s approval Can anything be done to change this situation? Can regained some of their land and rights previously and authorization. This does not seem likely. Prime implementation of historic as well as modern treat- lost. Now is the time for Parliament—the seat of our Minister Harper has never spoken about the place ies be brought into the mainstream of Canadian democracy—to take up the grand cause of aborig- of modern or historic treaties in national affairs. In politics and debate? We are not sanguine. While inal treaties in public hearings across the country. light of the fact that most modern treaties apply in firmly committed to the rights of individuals the To quote Saskatchewan-based academic J.R. Miller, Northern Canada, it is particularly disappointing current government, reflecting its Reform Party the light of day needs to be shone on these “com- that implementing them is ignored in the Govern- roots, is lukewarm at best to collective rights exem- pacts, contracts and covenants.” ment of Canada’s Northern Strategy, released in plified by modern treaties. Be that as it may, we Most Canadians know very little about aborig- 2009. offer the following thoughts: inal peoples, and what they learn from the media Litigation is perhaps a partial suggests that aboriginal problems alternative to the proposals by the are “insoluble.” This stereotype coalition, but is time consuming, While firmly committed to the rights must be challenged by aboriginal expensive, of uncertain result, polar- peoples “talking with Canadians” izing and destructive of relationships. of individuals the current government, and explaining to them that imple- Moreover, litigation focuses attention menting treaties is part of the answer on alleged past mistakes rather than reflecting its Reform Party roots, is to many of their social and economic on doing things better now and in the lukewarm at best to collective rights problems. Aboriginal leaders should future. But in the absence of any sus- commit to educating the Canadian tained willingness by the government exemplified by modern treaties. public and opinion leaders that fully to address shortcomings in imple- implementing treaties is a route to menting modern treaties, it seems the future not an excursion to the likely that more disputes will be litigated. There is no substitute for political leadership. past. To develop such a communications strategy Failure to live up to treaties is already generating The prime minister is hugely powerful in our will require much thought and long-term com- public protest. Winter 2012/13 witnessed protests political system, so if serious change is to occur, mitment and will necessitate aboriginal peoples to by aboriginal people across the country under the Stephen Harper, or his successor, will have to signal cooperate closely among themselves. The proposed banner of Idle No More. Directed toward their own his personal commitment to full, complete and national parliamentary hearings would be a start. leadership as well as the federal government and ­generous implementation of modern treaties In 2007 Adrienne Clarkson, then governor gen- provincial and territorial authorities, the protests and re-­establish the Cabinet Committee on Aborig- eral, said “we are all treaty people.” She is correct. demanded implementation of treaties, both his- inal Peoples to pursue this goal. All Canadians, whether born here or not, have a toric and modern. The media pigeonholed Neil The Cabinet should approve a formal policy stake in seeing modern treaties—the law of the Young’s 2013/14 cross-Canada odyssey as a protest to implement modern treaties, signalling to every land—fully implemented. against increased development of Alberta’s tar sands, but that is not the only way it was billed by Neil Young himself and the Athabaskan peoples with whom he cooperated. To them it was a tour to “Honour the Treaties,” an angle to the story all but ignored by the media. The Graphite Club Aboriginal peoples are effectively on their own when it comes to pressing the government to fully and properly implement modern treaties. With the exception of a relatively small cadre of academics (particularly anthropologists, lawyers, geographers and historians) who churn out case studies of pub- lic policy decision making, aboriginal peoples have Devoted to the long-term sustainability of the LRC few to turn to for support. Civil society, including and its elemental place in Canadian life. environmental and public interest organizations, are almost wholly ignorant of modern treaties. The 2012 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement summary Join a visionary group of supporters who demonstrate judgement on environmental monitoring was not their belief in the value of intelligent public conversa- even commented upon by national environmental organizations, yet Inuit were standing up for the tion and lively, provocative writing by making a sus- principle of environmental monitoring in more tained annual commitment. than 20 percent of the country. Hundreds of charitable foundations provide financial and intellectual support to numerous You have never been more elemental to Canada than now. organizations and causes including hospitals, environmental conservation, food banks, poverty relief, education and research, and so on. Remark- We invite you to visit ably little support is provided to Canada’s aborig- inal peoples. Lack of understanding or support reviewcanada.ca/graphite from civil society is mirrored in the rare coverage of modern or historic treaties by national newspapers, for more information. television and other media. That the recommenda- tions of the 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples received such short shrift from the media and civil society as well as from the Because the government suggests that this has long been the case. Public Matters. With the obvious exception of aboriginal peoples themselves, there is no constituency in Canada pressing politicians to honour, implement

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10 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Frye and McLuhan Same place. Same time. Different minds. Nick Mount

Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye: Apocalypse and Alchemy B.W. Powe University of Toronto Press 368 pages, softcover ISBN 9781442616165

orthrop Frye started teaching at Victoria College in September of 1939, Njust as Marshall McLuhan began his PhD in England. Frye had studied for the church and worked as a student minister. But he hated theology and could not talk with people, so he quit preaching for another pulpit, one from which he could invent his own theology and do more writing than talking. McLuhan loved talking but hated Winnipeg, and so, with the help of an American aunt and the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, he left Manitoba for Cambridge, first for a second undergraduate degree and then for a doctorate in medieval and early modern English literature. In the spring of 1946, he homes; Frye was ordained in Methodism’s gentler Northrop Frye: Apocalypse and Alchemy, he offers accepted an offer from St. Michael’s College, just descendant, the United Church, and McLuhan con- what he calls an appreciation and an extension of south of Frye’s corner of the University of Toronto. verted to Catholicism. They both believed in God, their thought. Along the way, he argues that the In the 1960s, Frye and McLuhan were the best- whatever version. They both went to England to do relationship between the two was a productive known Canadian intellectuals in the world. Even doctorates in English literature, Frye to Oxford and antagonism, a “coinciding of opposites,” that “initi- today, they remain the best-known humanities McLuhan to Cambridge, although Frye never fin- ated a ­visionary-apocalyptic tradition in Canadian professors their university or their country has ished his and McLuhan turned his into something letters.” ever had. Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism, published else. As teachers and critics, both mostly avoided McLuhan and Frye met for the first time at a by Princeton University Press in 1957, is the first evaluative or moral criticism in favour of close faculty gathering at Victoria College in 1946, the and only book of literary criticism by a Canadian attention to style and structure, to how literature year McLuhan was hired. In public, their rela- to become required reading for a generation of (or media, for McLuhan) works instead of what it tionship was polite, even friendly. Frye does not students and professors of English. By the mid says, how well it says it, or whether it is good for mention McLuhan in his main works, although he 1970s, it was the most cited book in humanities you or not. does in his notebooks, with remarks like “global scholarship by a 20th-century author, and Frye was Less commonly for their discipline and time, village my ass” and “I never understood why that the humanities’ eighth most cited scholar, behind both chose to remain in Canada when they could blithering nonsense ‘the medium is the message’ Marx, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Lenin, Plato, Freud have moved to American universities (partly caught on so.” Still, he convinced a dubious selec- and Roland Barthes. McLuhan’s Understanding because to keep them, the University of Toronto tion committee to give a Governor General’s Award Media: The Extensions of Man made him required created an entirely new rank for Frye and gave to McLuhan’s second book, The Gutenberg Galaxy: reading for anyone with intellectual pretensions, McLuhan his own centre). Teaching was import- The Making of Typographic Man. He told a friend not just or even mostly English professors. It sold ant to both, at a time when their profession was that he was “personally very fond” of McLuhan. 100,000 copies in a pocketbook edition from Signet, learning how to avoid it. They were both extremely “I don’t always agree with him, but he doesn’t on the cover of which the New York Herald Tribune ambitious, in a country generally uncomfortable always agree with himself.” After McLuhan’s death, declared McLuhan “the most important thinker with ambition. Both aspired to a theory of every- he said he thought McLuhan had been praised for since Newton, Darwin, Freud, Einstein and Pavlov.” thing, a key to all that man had made or imagined. the wrong reasons during his vogue and ignored A follow-up pocket anthology of McLuhan’s aphor- Both believed that criticism was literature’s equal, for the wrong reasons after it passed. isms published in the early spring of Canada’s cen- maybe its better. McLuhan wrote a favourable review of his senior tennial year sold a million copies worldwide. According to B.W. Powe, McLuhan and Frye not colleague’s first book, an influential monograph Besides fame, they had much else in com- only had more in common than we might think, but on William Blake published in 1947. But he hated mon—more than divided them, really, even if the together they created a uniquely Canadian intel- Anatomy of Criticism, and not just for its success. differences are more important. For starters, they lectual tradition. Until now, the small industries In a mercifully unpublished review, he called it were both white men of the same age, place and that are McLuhan and Frye scholarship had not “almost unreadable,” an odd criticism from a writer time. They both grew up in small Canadian cit- produced a book on both, partly because fans of who deliberately confused his readers. By the time ies that were not Toronto, McLuhan in Winnipeg one are rarely fans of the other. Powe, a professor the Anatomy appeared, McLuhan was well on and Frye in Moncton. Both came from Methodist at York University who was a student of both in the his way to working out one of his core ideas, the late 1970s, says he was “never fully a McLuhanite notion that the printing press had created a culture Nick Mount is a professor of English at the or a Fryegian,” but from his book it is clear he of specialists, a culture currently being “re-tribal- University of Toronto and the fiction editor of The is certainly a serious scholar and an ardent fan ized” by electronic media into a single, organic Walrus. of both his teachers. In Marshall McLuhan and ­consciousness: the global village. Frye’s systematic

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 11 classification of literary species in the Anatomy—his They were both professors, but McLuhan made his attempt to make a specialized science of criticism— lectures up on the spot and never gave the same lec- would have epitomized McLuhan’s sense that the ture twice, while Frye wrote his lectures in advance, end result of 500 years of print culture was profes- mostly read from them in class (although he was a sional myopia. Less understandably, McLuhan good enough lecturer to fool many of his students, $34.99 paperback also seems to have believed that Frye was part of including a young Margaret Atwood, into thinking 258 pages their teacher could speak in finished paragraphs), 978-1-77112-053-1 a clandestine Masonic chapter at the University of Toronto that was secretly opposed to him and and eventually published them. Frye followed a his work. (Neither Frye’s nor McLuhan’s biograph- syllabus; McLuhan never had one. Frank Kermode ers have uncovered any evidence that Frye was a called Frye “the finest prose writer among modern Mason, and opposition to McLuhan at the univer- critics”; McLuhan thought clear writing was a sign sity was hardly secret.) Powe once heard McLuhan of a weak mind. McLuhan loved collaborators, dismiss Frye’s thinking as “Protestant.” Frye taught mostly as an audience; Frye thought and wrote us that although one poem can of course be bet- alone. Frye read and wrote about canonical books; Surviving Incarceration: Inside ter than another, literature itself never evolves or McLuhan read and wrote about technology, which Canadian Prisons improves. All stories at he called media. Both Rose Ricciardelli all times by all peoples Frye taught us that were more interested Rose Ricciardelli’s study of Canadian prisoners is one are parts and versions in effects than causes, of the best I’ve ever read on the subject of prisons.… of a single story, the although one poem but Frye cared about She provides an excellent update on inmate culture story about who we are, the effects of myth on and provides keen insights into the penal environ- can of course be better literature and McLuhan ment, which she calls “largely homophobic” and told in pieces, over and “built on power relationships with aggression and over. McLuhan taught than another, literature about the effects of violence presented as acceptable platforms to express us that no technology is technology on life. or enact masculine dominance.” A must-read. neutral, that every tool itself never evolves or They were both formal- – Randall G. Shelden, author of Girls, Delinquency changes not just our ists, but Frye studied and Juvenile Justice lives but our world. The improves. McLuhan form in order to reveal typewriter, for instance, its content, the One changed women’s fash- taught us that no Big Story we keep tell- ion, and English prose ing; for McLuhan, the style. The telephone technology is neutral, form is the content, the created the call girl. medium the message. $24.99 paperback that every tool changes 232 pages In turn, we become Appreciation is fine, 978-1-55458-624-0 the servants or “servo- but Powe’s study of his Life Writing series mechanisms” of our not just our lives but our teachers verges on wor- technologies, in the way world. ship. As he says, he is that “an Indian is the “still their awe-struck servomechanism of his canoe, the cowboy of his student.” I learned from his book, but I could have horse,” or you of your iPhone. done with a little less awe, and maybe a little more Those are Really Big Ideas, still. If we do not find skepticism about the respective weirdnesses of Not the Whole Story: Challenging them as compelling today as we did when they were his teachers, like McLuhan’s numerology or Frye’s the Single Mother Narrative new, that is because they are now the way we think. charts. For me, though I am sure not for others, Gravity is no longer a terribly exciting argument, Powe is too mystical a guide to these very difficult Lea Caragata and Judit Alcalde, editors but that does not make it any less effective. thinkers, too attracted to what I find least convin- How do single mothers break the cycle of poverty?… What are the barriers they face?… How do they main- For those ideas alone—and as McLuhan said, if cing in both, the usually hidden spiritual founda- tain hope as they try desperately to put food on the you don’t like those, I’ve got others—McLuhan and tions that I try to forget in order to appreciate what table?… The real-life experiences of these tough, resil- Frye may well be what Powe says, Canada’s “most they built on them. Literature was a religion for ient, and resourceful mothers provide … inspiration to necessary literary figures.” I might enjoy reading Frye, as electronic media was for McLuhan; for me, reform our social and financial policies. Read their Margaret Atwood more, but novels are never neces- they are just human expressions. stories, and then work for change. sary. As Frye showed, they have all been written Unless we mean a tradition of intellectuals of – Olivia Chow, Toronto mayoral candidate before, and will be again. As McLuhan showed, no faith, in which case there are both Canadian pre- novel is more consequential than the technology cursors and examples elsewhere in the world, I am that delivers it, no content more meaningful than not convinced by Powe’s argument that McLuhan its form. and Frye form an intellectual tradition. McLuhan’s But McLuhan and Frye both being important Understanding Media is a much harder book to thinkers does not necessarily mean they belong read than Frye’s Anatomy, and a much harder $24.99 paperback 312 pages in the same book, any more than they belonged in book to understand. It is difficult for a number of 978-1-55458-944-9 the same college or the same classroom. Powe says reasons, but mostly because McLuhan liked it that Early Canadian Literature series they “converge on the idea of apocalypse,” but all way, because that was his way of thinking and writ- that really means is that both looked for big answers ing. McLuhan looked at what many people saw, to big questions. Mostly, they looked in different and described it in words that few could under- places, and they came back with different answers. stand; Frye looked at what few people saw, and Sure, we could group them as Powe does under described it in words that many could understand. The Foreigner: A Tale of the general heading of theorists more interested in They are both fundamentally religious thinkers, but communication than ideology. Frye himself said McLuhan has the Catholic’s affection for mysteries Saskatchewan in an interview that he supposed his work belonged that stay mysteries; Frye, the Protestant’s rebellious Ralph Connor “to some extent” in the same category as Harold desire for answers. Frye leads you through the laby- Afterword by Daniel Coleman Innis’s and McLuhan’s theories of communication. rinth; McLuhan leaves you there. Tells the story of Kalman Kalmar, a young Ukrainian But the term did not excite him, because com- Ironically, McLuhan’s work became more widely immigrant working in rural Saskatchewan, and munication for Frye was for dealing with the world known and has outlasted Frye everywhere except in addresses themes of male maturation, cultural assimila- tion, and “muscular Christianity” recurring in Connor’s we have, whereas literature was for imagining the their discipline. McLuhan predicted his victory, popular Western tales. Originally published in 1909. world we want. the defeat of the book by the sound bite, though McLuhan and Frye had much in common, both it would be a mistake to assume he was entirely WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY PRESS Available from your favourite bookseller or the expected similarities of men of their generation happy on or with the winning side. Frye read books. call 1-800-565-9523 (UTP Distribution) www.wlupress.wlu.ca and the coincidental similarity of their fame. But McLuhan liked books, but he read technology, and facebook.com/wlupress| twitter.com/wlupress their differences are ultimately more meaningful. technology is with us still.

12 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Where Do We Belong? A writer “leaves herself behind” to explore her place in the world. Madeleine Thien

cine, physiology and psychology at three of Prus- troubled and uneasy. The impossibility of belong- Dreaming of Elsewhere: sia’s most respected institutions; he masters five ing comes to the fore again in the last section, when Observations on Home languages and attains his doctorate. Eventually she notes a peculiar criticism in the Canadian press Esi Edugyan Amo is “invited to act as counsel to the court of of her acclaimed novel, Half-Blood Blues: reviewers University of Alberta Press Berlin.” Edugyan writes: “Surely if belonging could suggested that by writing about jazz musicians in 35 pages, softcover be taught, Amo must have learned it.” 1940s Berlin and Paris, she “had refused to engage ISBN 9780888648211 But segments of Prussian society began to strug- with what it meant to be a contemporary Can- gle with the idea of a person like Amo. In 1747, he adian.” Indeed, she met a response that writers of found himself humiliated, publicly, at a theatre in colour invariably face: the insinuation that a) she is n his book, My Country and My People, the Halles. He turned his back on Europe and returned not Canadian enough or b) she is not authentically Chinese writer Lin Yutang argues that the way to West Africa, present-day Ghana, and the home ethnic enough. Ito examine a foreign nation “is by searching, from which he had been stolen. He reunited with Edugyan’s response is a measured and beautiful not for the exotic but for the common human val- his father and sister. But in 1757, Dutch colonial one. Over the last pages of her essay, she traces the ues, by penetrating beneath the superficial quaint- authorities, determined to stop the spread of stories of the first person of African descent to set ness of manners … by observing foot on Canadian soil—Mathieu the boys’ naughtiness and the da Costa was a freeman who girls’ daydreams and the ring of If the borders of a country, as well as arrived with Samuel de Cham- children’s laughter and the patter plain in 1607—and the first slave— of children’s feet and the weep- the people within it, have changed, is it Olivier le Jeune was born in Mada- ing of women and the sorrows of gascar and arrived in Quebec in men—they are all alike.” really still the same place? 1629. By Confederation in 1867, Lin was writing about the there were 40,000 blacks in Can- world outside China and, having ada, and “they were Confederated, witnessed the end of the Qing dynasty and the birth Amo’s “dangerous ideas” on slavery and ­education, just like the land was, though they too had no vote of the republic, he understood that a country is an forcibly removed him from his home. They trans- in the outcome.” Confronted by the question of extremely malleable thing. Even if its borders stay ported him to their base in Fort San Sebastien whether North America has reached a post-racial put for a century (and what few countries, existing where he lived in isolation until his death. age and a colour-blind society, Edugyan answers now, still have the same borders as a hundred years Given Amo’s story, Edugyan knows that home, simply and courageously: “I confess I find the ago?) almost all the people who called it home will whether a physical location or an idea, is never notion ridiculous.” have passed on and been replaced by others, by new static. Where we belong—or, more painfully, are The necessity of citizenship, and also its betray- generations, new arrivals and altered definitions of forbidden from belonging—alters. As James Bald- als, recurs. If a country denies civil and political citizenship. If the borders of a country, as well win noted in his documentary film, Take This Ham- rights to its inhabitants—as has happened in Ger- as the people within it, have changed, is it really still mer, belonging is not always up to the individual: many, Cambodia, Rwanda, to the First Nations and the same place? Given that our human ancestors “You can’t pretend that you’re not despised if you Japanese Canadians in Canada, to African Amer- began their migrations more than 100,000 years are.” Baldwin was commenting on the double- icans in the United States, among so many others— ago, “home” must always have been an idea as well edged sword of home for African Americans: what home, actual or otherwise, is left to them? As as a physical location, “where we come from, and “I could be fooled, and be glad about having a Edugyan says, human beings must first be denied where we are,” as Esi Edugyan writes in her new whatever it is, a terrace, a garage. But, my kid won’t before they can be eradicated. Home, therefore, is book. Home is “the actual and the possible.” be. It’s my kids who are being destroyed by this fan- not simply a personal matter; it is political in the Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home is tastic democracy.” most profound ways. Edugyan’s contribution to the annual Henry Kreisel Seeking to “leave myself behind,” Edugyan goes Like Lin Yutang, Edugyan is concerned with Memorial Lecture, organized by the Canadian Lit- abroad—both in her fiction and in her personal how to make concrete the idea that “what we owe erature Centre in Edmonton. At 31 pages, the essay life. “In Budapest,” she confides, “I became that to ourselves we owe to others,” and she points to is both concise and open ended. Divided into three most outlandish of strangers, an apparition so dark close observation as necessary both to society and sections, it gives three very different openings into and odd people in the street sometimes paused to to art. Home, she observes, is “a way of thinking.” If a thorny topic; both topic and essay resist definition watch me pass.” It is a devastatingly understated we are interested in merely holding the mirror up to or closure. line. But she knows that travel necessitates an un- ourselves, we will inevitably lose the capacity to see, Edugyan begins with a story: a child, born in grounding; travel for her is “a desire to disorient realistically, our own reflections. The elsewhere, West Africa, is kidnapped in 1707 and sold into myself, rather than an attempt to comprehend the with its capacity to unsettle our minds, allows us to slavery. However, rather than being sent to Amer- world.” Where might such a disorientation lead? renew our seeing, challenge our thinking, and per- ica, he is taken to Europe where he is christened Can we shake loose the idea of home or the long- ceive the systems in which we live. “What I knew,” Anthony Wilhelm Rudolph Amo. Over the next ing for it? Edugyan writes, “was that I did not know.” The 20 years, he studies, among other subjects, medi- But why seek to end the longing? Perhaps to pro- essay feels like an interstice between her novels, a tect oneself. That a true home will remain forever clearing away of the brambles before returning to Madeleine Thien’s most recent book is Dogs at the out of reach floats in the background of Edugyan’s imaginative fiction that, by its very nature, is a voy- Perimeter (McClelland and Stewart, 2011). Her essay, particularly as she leaves Europe and arrives age away from the self and from narcissism. “Such two novels and story collection have been published in Ghana, the country where her parents were journeys,” she concludes, “are more necessary than around the world and translated into 27 languages. born. Her extended family embraces her, but she is ever in this world.”

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 13 Hedgehog Gospel A sweeping vision of religion that encompasses everything from Hinduism to evolution. Rankin Sherling

something that might be In Praise of Mixed Religion: disturbing to devout members The Syncretism Solution in of a particular religion. a Multifaith World Harrison has very little William H. Harrison sympathy for those who deny McGill-Queen’s University that syncretism occurs. Just Press as he proclaims that everyone 262 pages, hardcover is religious, we are told that ISBN 9780773543584 every religion is syncretis- tic, no questions asked. To deny that religious syncretism saiah Berlin’s 1953 occurs in all religions is to be essay, “The Hedgehog either irrational or “ahistor- Iand the Fox,” famously ical.” “Even if we dismiss syn- divides thinkers into two cretism in principle,” he writes, groups, those who chase “we do not have the option of after the knowledge of many rejecting it in practice.” Those things and those who relate who for religious reasons everything to a central vision. disagree with Harrison have One problem with the latter no say in the matter, which group is a tendency to explain seems to go against the air of the whole world and solve religious tolerance he is trying its problems through a struc- to encourage.­ ture or system of their own Religions have “soft ­devising. boundaries” in Harrison’s William H. Harrison seems view, so it is difficult to tell to have fallen victim to this tendency in his book, In only are Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism where one religion begins and another one ends. Praise of Mixed Religion: The Syncretism Solution in and Hinduism religions, but so are capitalism, For example, the main religions practiced in a Multifaith World. The Reverend Doctor Harrison, consumerism, Marxism, evolution and scientific Japan today are products of a syncretism between principal of the Kootenay School of Ministry in the materialism—just to list a few of the newly “chris- Chinese Buddhism and a now defunct form of Anglican Diocese of Kootenay in British Columbia, tened” faiths. Shintoism, resulting in Japanese Buddhism and a sees religious syncretism, or the amalgamation of While Harrison acknowledges that the trad- new form of Shintoism. Moreover, Harrison holds religious ideas, everywhere and in everyone. His itional definition of religion comes from the Latin, that because each person within a single religion book is built on three assertions: everyone is reli- religio, which means that which is offered or obli- holds and reacts to each tenet of that faith person- gious, all religion is syncretistic and, on the whole, gated to god or the gods, he has opted for a rarer ally and individually, no two members of the same this is good. He urges us all to embrace these ideas and much more inclusive definition of the word. religion actually practise the same religion. So not and, when we have, we can “publically and inten- This broad definition is key to his system, for if reli- only are there no definite boundaries between tionally work together on the needs of our world. gion is not everywhere, religious syncretism cannot religions, there are no unified religions. According The time has come for us to take up the challenge!” be the big overarching solution that he wishes it to to Harrison, there is no Christianity; there are Key to Harrison’s conclusions are his broad be, and his book cannot hope to be “a call to change only Christianities. There is no Islam, only Islams. definitions of important terms. For instance, he the world.” Accepting this view makes religious syncretism defines religion in a way that allows him to declare As for syncretism itself, Harrison claims that reli- natural and desirable—as logical, efficient and that we are all religious, even those who claim no gions cannot survive without it, for no one religious ineluctable as natural selection. (In this way the religion whatsoever. Indeed, even those who are system can answer every question that may become syncretism solution is more than a little redolent virulently anti-religious are religious. “Our religions important to humanity. Those answers must be of the all-encompassing, deterministic dialectics of consist of our larger viewpoints, the explanations found somewhere else and incorporated. The Hegel and Marx.) that define our lives … We seek to understand our world’s wisdom must be shared. This is his solution. Luckily for everyone, Harrison informs us that world and our places in it through religious inquiry. Obviously, the very nature of religious syncre- religious syncretism is a good thing … except when Our religions consist of the fundamental reasons tism means that change is involved. A religion that it is not so good. This is where Harrison’s system, that we have for being. As a result they constitute has incorporated concepts from another religion is which was debatable but at least consistent and the basis for whatever we have in the way of plans no longer exactly the same as it was before. For this tightly argued early on, starts to show its cracks. for life. Religion, therefore, is the origin and locus reason some religions, particularly those associ- Syncretism is a good thing when it results in of ultimate value, of ultimate concern.” Thus, not ated with a revelation from god or gods, deny that the improvement of a religion. But who is to judge syncretism occurs. To do so would mean that the whether or not a particular syncretism results in Rankin Sherling has taught history at Queen’s religious instruction received by revelation was an improvement? You are. I am. Each one of us. University and Atlanta Metropolitan State College. insufficient and has consequently been forced to We are all said to be religious, and each of us must He will begin teaching at Marion Military Institute: subtly or even drastically change through the incor- now make our religions better. Harrison provides The Military College of Alabama in the fall. poration of bits and pieces from other religions— us with these guidelines: Does the syncretism allow

14 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada for more consistency “with the data that we have”? not want to embrace syncretism. It might put them this is the case, Harrison concludes that “logically, Is it genuinely helpful? Does it preserve the insights into extinction. To his credit, Harrison admits that the fate of Soviet Marxism-Leninism is exactly what of the religion(s) before the syncretism? This is parts of this particular syncretism were not good might be predicted on the basis of our larger discus- more than a bit underwhelming as an overarch- and that even when syncretism is good, “it is not sion.” Moscow simply did not get on the syncretism ing solution to “the problem of a multifaith world.” necessarily an unalloyed good.” bandwagon. Solutions should minimize complications, not When it is totally bad, Harrison claims it has The Soviet Union suffered from many problems multiply them. three characteristics. The first is an increased before its collapse. Maybe syncretism really was Even more disappointing are Harrison’s tendency toward violence. A second feature is too the answer, but how exactly could it have helped? examples of positive religious syncretisms, particu- much emphasis on the individual and the conse- Syncretism with what other belief system? Wouldn’t larly the one between Celtic Paganism and early quent disregard of the communal. The idea that syncretism have created something different than Christianity. Harrison claims that the encounter material blessings come from worshipping the Soviet Marxism-Leninism anyway, delivering its between early Christians and the Gaels of Scotland Christian god or following Buddhist principles, for own type of coup de grâce? Harrison is mute on and Ireland was mutually beneficial for both reli- example, are “prosperity theologies,” which come these questions. gions. In this beneficial religious syncretism the from mixing with the religions of capitalism and His chapter on religious education will likely rub Celtic religion supposedly reminded Christianity consumerism, resulting in destructive forms of secular readers the wrong way. He seems entirely “of the importance of the natural world,” while selfishness. Conversely, the third quality of a bad out of step with most of Canada’s views on public Christianity gave the Celts the gift of “a vision of syncretism is too much concern for the community education, not only lamenting the fact that his local the world that encompassed their immediate sur- at the expense of the individual. The lack of individ- university has only five religious scholars while it roundings and gave cosmic importance to their ual freedom in jihadism or the strict Saudi Arabian boasts 81 mathematicians but also claiming that lives and their history.” theocracy, for example, has resulted at least partly the “religiously uneducated are culturally defi- Leaving Harrison’s patronizing tone aside, it is from a negative reaction to the capitalist and indi- cient. They cannot be competent citizens in their clear that syncretism occurred. The Catholicism vidualistic West, which Harrison claims is a type of own towns and are utterly at a loss as citizens of of Ireland and Scotland today are prime exam- religious syncretism. the world.” He also writes that the Quebec charter ples of Christianity’s adopting some of the religious Up to the point where he begins enumerating his of values was an attempt to fulfil the goals of rad- customs of a pre-Christian culture and putting idea of good and bad syncretisms, Harrison’s sys- ical and extremist adherents of an “anti-religious them to use in Christian liturgies and rituals, but tem is still in place with his argument progressing religion.”­ was it really mutually beneficial to both religions? logically. These two chapters should have provided As he does throughout the book, Harrison One doubts that the devout followers of the Celtic the evidence for the grand solution that is religious makes some bold and even grandiose claims in religions in Scotland and Ireland really saw it that syncretism. They do not. his final chapter—which he calls “An Intellectual way. Instead of a gift that allowed Celts to under- Even more problematic are the later chap- Transformation”—but his claims are fatally flawed stand their “cosmic importance,” it seems much ters. One of these is supposed to demonstrate an because they are built upon a poorly argued foun- more like a destruction. No matter that there are example of when religious syncretism should have dation, possibly even a tautology. There is no doubt still pre-Christian customs in the Catholicism of happened but did not. This chapter makes a brief that religious syncretism exists and is widespread, Ireland and Scotland today; the religion of the Gaels argument for the recognition of Soviet communism but we need to understand it better before it is is gone, and it is gone because it was vanquished by as a religion and then moves on to a recounting of adopted wholeheartedly as the “solution” to so Christianity. No wonder some religious groups do its decline and fall. Without demonstrating how many current problems. Some Recent Books by LRC Contributors

Diamonds took them to the edge of world fame: “In the late Atrocity, Deviance and Submarine Warfare: Ian Smillie • Polity Press 1970s and early 1980s, no Canadian band rocked Norms and Practices during the World By analyzing the history and structure of the harder, louder or to more hardcore fans.” Wars multi-billion dollar diamond trade, Smillie Nachman Ben-Yehuda • University of Michigan argues that greater diversification and competi- Engaging China: Myth, Aspiration and Strategy Press tion offer a renewed opportunity for develop- in Canadian Policy from Trudeau to Harper An investigation into the evolution of submarine ment in some of the world’s poorest countries. Paul Evans • University of Toronto Press warfare, documenting its atrocities and placing An account of the evolution and state of the these developments in the context of changing Desiring Canada: CBC Contests, Hockey Canadian approach to China—its achievements, national identities and ethical standards. Violence, and Other Stately Pleasures disappointments and current dilemmas. Evans Patricia Cormack and James F. Cosgrave • chronicles four decades of engagement, from Flood Forecast: Climate Risk and Resiliency University of Toronto Press commercial trade to moral activism. in Canada This book investigates the forces that shape what Kerry Freek and Robert William Sandford • it means to be Canadian, including the relation- International Development: Rocky Mountain Books ship between popular expressions of national Ideas, Experience and Prospects Reviewing the recent rise of dramatic flooding in identity and the ways the interest of the state Bruce Currie-Alder, Ravi Kanbur, David Canada, Freek and Sandford argue that climate appeal through media to the pleasure of citizens. Malone and Rohinton Medhora, editors • change must be taken seriously and that citizens Oxford University Press must prepare for what many observers are now Segmented Cities? How Urban Contexts In this sweeping survey of international develop- calling “the new normal” when it comes to major Shape Ethics and Nationalist Politics ment ideas and debates, a multi-g­ enerational mix meteorological events. Kristin R. Good, Luc Turgeon and Triadafilos of contributors from the global South and North Triadafilopoulos, editors • UBC Press explain why there is no single formula for success. International Development: Ideas, How cities can act as spaces for integration and Experience and Prospects dialogue, rather than divisive conflict, even as Sandino’s Nation: Ernesto Cardenal and Bruce Currie-Alder, Ravi Kanbur, David M. urbanization and globalization mean that they Sergio Ramirez Writing Nicaragua, 1940–2012 Malone and Rohinton Medhora, editors • frequently face new ethnic and national tensions. Stephen Henighan • McGill-Queen’s University Oxford University Press Press In this sweeping survey of international develop- Gods of the Hammer: The Teenage Head A comprehensive look at the careers of Cardenal ment ideas and debates, a multi-generational Story and Ramirez that illuminates the construction of mix of contributors from the global South and Geoff Pevere • Coach House Press Nicaraguan national identity before, during and North explain why there is no single formula for A loving history of the Hamilton band whose after the 1979–90 revolution, as well as the role of success. category-smashing sound and devoted following the writer in Latin America.

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 15 These Are the Days Message that step out onto the lawn after supper This and look up through the linden tree is still dense with waxy leaves. When summer sticks the like resin to the boy’s skin though schoolbags body’s again litter the hall. The breezy, open-window days message: just before cancer. Days when the teenage daughter am forgets to smoulder with some primal anger slowly and the fridge, fixed, hums yummily in the corner giving keeping the celery crisp, the milk very cold. up Weekdays of mashed potatoes, frozen peas but and grocery-store roast chicken. Easy days, not though we strive and strive, going on about ready anniversary trips and where did the romance go. to Such dear days, like lunching grandmothers. Or even surrender. sweeter, harder. Lined up in all their stunning uneventfulness, jams sparkling in the larder. Seymour Mayne Deanna Young

Deanna Young is the author of The Still Before a Seymour Mayne’s latest collections include Storm (Moonstone Press, 1984) and Drunkard’s Ricochet: Word Sonnets/Sonnets d’un mot Path (Gaspereau Press, 2001). Brick Books will pub- (University of Ottawa Press, 2011) and The Old lish House Dreams, her third collection of poems, in Blue Couch and Other Stories (Ronald P. Frye & 2014. Her work has appeared recently in ARC and Company, 2012). Cusp, a selection of new word The Malahat Review, and in 2013 won the Grand sonnets, is being published this year by Ronald P. Prize in the Prism International Poetry Contest. Frye & Company to mark 50 years since his first col- She lives in Ottawa, where she is artistic co-director lection of poetry was published in Montreal. Mayne of the Tree Reading Series. Deanna is currently is a professor of Canadian literature, Canadian reading (and rereading) The Wild Iris by Louise studies and creative writing at the University of Glück, Diving into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich and Ottawa. He is currently dipping into Anthony Blue Sonoma by Jane Munro. Rudolf’s Silent Conversations: A Reader’s Life and still reading Castles in the Air by Mary Hagey.

16 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Above Ground For Your Safety

The trees Please Hold On mock Another forty minutes in a stranger’s armpit, us oh boy. How do you like avoiding eye contact with with me, sir in neon windbreaker? their Let’s stare at the logos mass embroidered roots into each other’s outerwear, listening as to whatever podcasts or pop music we the wires lift into our ears. So many jog public strangers whose voices we never by hear. How do they sound murmuring staying down the telephone’s dark tunnel above toward loved ones? Staring at stickers ground. that in urgently red uppercase letters read, for your safety please hold on, I want to Seymour Mayne graffiti, to each other, to the ends of them. I’m sorry — love is ruining my sensibilities. Above us, posters advertising education and mortgage rates glow in blue light. We contort to respect each other’s personal space, as the bus puts on passengers. It’s funny how distant you can remain sharing oxygen and travel. It’s funny how your backpack says, honk if you like honking. Sir, I’m honking. For your safety please hold on to each other, violently on all the sofas, mattresses and futons that fill your respective housing units. Please hold on tightly to your beloveds, who’ve miraculously not been flung through the windshield at red lights while crossing the city to return to you.

Kayla Czaga

Kayla Czaga is a British Columbia poet whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Walrus, CV2, ARC, The Antigonish Review, among others. She was the recipient of The Malahat Review’s 2012 Far Horizons Award for poetry. Her first manu- script, from which this submission has been taken, will be published by Nightwood Editions this fall with the title For Your Safety Please Hold On. Kayla is currently reading Blasphemy by Sherman Alexie and Sun Bear by Matthew Zapruder.

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 17 The Girl with Three Fathers The vulnerability of the young is the subject of Tom Rachman’s second novel. Katherine Ashenburg

who turns out to be pretty normal, lying on the floor conversations, she realizes, are the stuff of normal The Rise and Fall of Great Powers of his New York apartment surrounded by shopping life, the life that has been stolen from her. The chan- Tom Rachman bags. (The reason for this is—significantly—not that ces that she will ever “sit down to a quiet game for Doubleday Canada significant; apparently it is the dramatic image of a love” are small. 380 pages, hardcover boy lying on the floor that Rachman wants.) A man The simple but profound heart of The Rise and Fall ISBN 9780385676953 who lives in Duncan’s building keeps a pig, who is of Great Powers is the vulnerability of children and taken on city walks wearing a studded collar. Many the ways their characters can be stifled or warped. of Rachman’s quirky characters have had extremely As Humphrey puts it, “being small is hard bit of life.” n 2011, when this novel opens, 30-­something unhappy childhoods, and he shares Dickens’s abid- When Tooly says, “childhood is so exhausting,” she Tooly Zylberberg owns an unsuccessful book- ing concern with the neglected child. Small wonder is talking about the child, not his parents. The “great Ishop in a small town in Wales. The second that Tooly reads and rereads Nicholas Nickleby, powers” in the title can be read in a few different chapter takes us back to 1999, when a younger where unloving parents send their children off to a ways. As in a Dickens novel, the small and weak end Tooly is trying to walk every street in the five bor- school that promises there will be no holidays. She up better off, at least morally, than the cynical and oughs of New York City. In the third chapter, it is also reads Dombey and Son, featuring Dombey’s powerful. But, taken unironically, the great powers 1988 and nine-year-old Tooly is leaving Australia slighted and overlooked young daughter, Florence. in this book are really the old verities—love, connec- with a man named Paul, who tion, responsibility. promises that the next place they That is a subject that might well are going to live (which turns As in a Dickens novel, the small and suit a capacious, 19th-century- out to be Bangkok) will be better. style novel with a complicated What is going on here, as Tooly’s weak end up better off, at least morally, plot. But does it? In theory, it assistant in the bookshop says than the cynical and powerful. could, but in the case of The Rise in another context, is “a bit of a and Fall of Great Powers, it does mystery story.” And it deepens. not quite succeed. Too often the Gradually, very gradually, the reader discovers that What they read is an important key to Rach- plot feels like an over-elaborate and unwieldy Tooly has one mother, a textbook-case narcissist, man’s characters. The shy Paul retreats into his superstructure when a much simpler support and three father figures, two well-meaning but well-thumbed copy of The Charm of Birds. Bat- would have served. The beginning is particularly weak, and one fatally charming and corrupting. tered by his miserable childhood as well as the hard going, moving confusingly between three time Rachman does not reveal the identity of Tooly’s 20th-century’s chaotic events, Humphrey, another periods, with a murky cast of characters whose mother until near the 150-page mark, and that of of Tooly’s father figures, reads histories of the com- relationships to Tooly are often unclear. Eccentric her biological father remains unknown for about munist secret police and the Nazis, or books in characters can be delightful, but a surfeit, as in the three quarters of the book. Along the way there are which abstractions such as “will” and “reason” are opening chapters, is indigestible. Once a critical scams, two kidnappings, a phony Russian accent, prominent. Another character decorates the library mass of less bizarre characters appeared, I found it a stolen identity and a nine-year-old with minimal in his Irish country house with volumes “identically easier to care about Tooly’s strange ­odyssey. supervision who sleeps alone in a storage room in a bound in Bordeaux leather, silver letters imprinted Ideally, of course, a novel’s plot is indistinguish- Bangkok party house. on the spine, gold paint on the page edges. Classics, able from its “meaning.” In the great cathedrals, the In his first novel, The Imperfectionists, Rach- poetry, essays. They didn’t have the smell of reading architecture works hand-in-glove with the wisdom man told the story of an international newspaper’s books; they were furniture.” Mr. Priddles, Tooly’s expressed in the pulpit or on the altar. When you decline with humour and an underlying vein of sad- teacher, courts popularity by teaching the anodyne are struggling to decipher the relationship between ness. In The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, sadness pop lyrics of the 1980s and dumps her copy of the nave and the side chapels, it is hard to keep your predominates, with an underlying vein of humour. Dombey and Son in the trash. mind on the point of it all. But, if Rachman has not Many readers will be reminded of the long, thickly Humphrey is not one for novels, but when found the perfect plot with which to express what peopled and plotted novels of John Irving. The he is old and sick, Tooly lures him into Nicholas he wants to say, and if Tooly’s childhood remains younger novelist has Irving’s weakness for eccentri- Nickleby by reading him the opening, in which a unconvincing, I found the end, as she gropes city and his preoccupation with the bad things that couple without a fortune on either side marries for toward a fuller humanity, very satisfying. Rachman frequently happen to innocent people. Rachman’s attachment. “Thus two people who cannot afford to possesses most of the novelistic gifts, from fine admiration for Irving’s great predecessor, Charles play cards for money,” Dickens writes, “sometimes writing that never interferes with the movement Dickens, is even more plain, because he points to it sit down to a quiet game for love.” Humphrey is of the story to sympathetic characters and deftly with Tooly’s attachment to Nicholas Nickleby. hooked, and Rachman points to the central tension positioned humour. Unlike many male novelists, he Rachman’s Dickensian relish for the grotesque in the book: the Nicklebys’ unworldly innocence can create nuanced women. Even with a relatively and bizarre begins on the first page, with Tooly and and reliance on love are the opposite of what Tooly minor character, such as Duncan’s troubled son, her assistant, the spectacularly unkempt Fogg, who has been taught. In thrall to an irresistible fraudster Mac, he paints a psychologically acute portrait that uses a magnifying glass as a monocle. Similarly, who prizes “opportunities” over responsibilities, includes a complex family dynamic. just about every character who appears at the start she associates love and attachment with weakness. For a novelist at the start of his career, it should of the book has eccentricities, beguiling or trying, One day the fraudster playfully (read: symbolically) not be surprising when his reach exceeds his depending on your taste. Tooly first meets Duncan, ties her shoelaces together while he leaves her in a grasp—for one as ambitious as Rachman, that may café. Tied up, she waits for his return and overhears be almost inevitable. For all its shortcomings, The Katherine Ashenburg wrote her PhD dissertation on bits of conversations from other tables—appoint- Rise and Fall of Great Powers demonstrates new Dickens. Her latest book is The Dirt on Clean: An ments, engagements, people helping people, and unsuspected facets of Rachman’s talent, and Unsanitized History. people who are concerned about others. All of these I look forward to his next book.

18 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Stories That Heal A boy’s task is to bury his father warrior style. Susan Walker

His journalism led to a National Newspaper Award only cougars, marmots, and eagles knew.” Medicine Walk and his narrative skills expanded as he worked in Town is Eldon’s reality: a harsh, degrading, Richard Wagamese radio, television (North of 60) and documentary humiliating, alcoholic life repulsive to his son. In McClelland and Stewart filmmaking. He turned his own stories and those the rooming house where Franklin finds him, “the 246 pages, hardcover of the street youth he had hung with into his first walls were panelled a cheap laminate brown and ISBN 9780771089183 novel, Keeper’n Me, in 1994. the threadbare carpets had faded from pumpkin to Wagamese’s fiction remained essentially repor- a sad, mouldy orange and the newel of the staircase tial, his hallmark an ability to capture dialogue. was split and cracked. He could smell cooking and n his Harvey Southam lecture at the His prose developed a pleasing rolling cadence, hear the jump of fat in a fry pan.” University of Victoria in 2011, Richard reflective of the Ojibwa rhythms he absorbed Franklin’s first sight of his father, drunk, slov- IWagamese made a statement that applies to when he relearned his first language. There were enly, partially clothed, in bed with a whore in the all of his considerable oeuvre (13 books to date): humour and Native legend, and a growing sense of same condition makes a viscerally offensive scene “Stories are the very foundation of our business a universal Canadian experience in the books that that would send anyone heading for the hills. In here. At the bottom of all human interaction is that came later. One of his best, Indian Horse, juxtaposes flashbacks we learn that this has been the pat- one subtextual phrase: tell me tern for the boy, since the first a story.” shocking moment, at age six But storytelling is not all Placed in foster care, Wagamese entered or seven, when he learned that there is to literary fiction, which this irresponsible, dishevelled Medicine Walk most certainly is. into a perilous life that removed him from drunk was his real father. Out of Embedded in this journey of a his family and community for 21 years. a strange sense of duty, know- boy and his dying father is the ing that he will accompany his author’s philosophy of story, father to his death, the kid agrees with an emphasis on the power of expression. memories of an idyllic traditional life against the to his father’s request: to take him on horseback to a Medicine Walk is his most poetic novel. “hell on earth” that was St. Jerome’s residential shelf high in the hills where he wishes to be buried. As an author, Wagamese is a late bloomer. A lit- school. The tacit understanding is that the father will in erary career was hardly indicated in the childhood With his previous novels Wagamese focused turn explain himself to his son. and adolescence of an Ojibwa boy who grew up on the Native experience, telling stories that could There are literary antecedents for Medicine Walk, in a broken community on the Winnipeg River in come only from that milieu in a fashion that ties perhaps most consciously, Cormac McCarthy’s The northwestern Ontario. In February 1958, when he them to the oral tradition. With Medicine Walk, he Road. The spare prose, the vivid details, and the was not yet three, Wagamese and his three siblings has launched himself into the realm of the con- mythic elements—an old woman who helps with were abandoned in a bush camp when the adults temporary novel, more concerned with the rhet- a brew that eases the pain of Eldon’s dying, a bear left on a drinking binge in Kenora. When the food oric of fiction, narrative technique and universal that confronts them on the trail, visions that come and firewood ran out, his elder sister hauled the themes than in the past. His characters are not all to both men in the night—comprise the stuff of children across a frozen bay by sled. They were aboriginal and they inhabit a world dominated by epics. found by a provincial policeman, huddled next non-Natives. The narrative is propelled by questions: What to an old railroad depot. Placed in foster care, The strength of Medicine Walk is its structure. has turned Eldon into such a hopeless drunk? Why Wagamese entered into an equally perilous life that Wagamese adopts a cinematic technique for did he give up his son? Who is the old man? And removed him from his family and community for the gradual unfolding of the stories of “the kid,” most of all, who is Franklin’s mother? 21 years. Beatings and abuse in foster care led to his Franklin; the old man who raised him; and his Where Medicine Walk falters is in the voice of leaving home at 16, to live on the street, in and out biological father, Eldon Starlight. The kid has been the narrator. The experimental aspect of the novel of prison, abusing drugs and alcohol. He was a lost summoned by Eldon to take him on a trail into the is in the creation of a very poetic storyteller who soul at 25 when his brother Charles located him. mountains to a place where the dying Indian father overrides the voices of the characters whose stories In an essay in Response, Responsibility and wishes to be buried, warrior style, seated and facing are being told. When the characters speak in ways Renewal: Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation out over the land. The old man has insisted it is that could never achieve the majesty of the written Journey, Wagamese writes, “I did not speak my first Eldon’s obligation to reveal to his son how he gave narrative, the reader becomes all too aware of the Ojibwa word or set foot on my traditional territory him up to a white farmer. The kid needs to have his author’s hand. It is a problem when the narration until I was twenty-six. I did not know that I had a dad tell him his story so that he knows his own ori- of Medicine Walk shifts to the story of Eldon’s ado- family, a history, a culture, a source for spirituality, gins. Eldon’s story is his redemption. lescence: “His father became weeks of worry … He a cosmology, or a traditional way of living. I had no Wagamese writes in a heightened, sensuous became silence. Nights of it. Mornings stretched awareness that I belonged somewhere.” prose that anchors the story in the land, but also their limit by it.” Such metaphoric composition is He soon learned an important lesson about let- gives it a mythic dimension. Two worlds define out of synch with Eldon’s form of expression in the ting go of anger at his own circumstances in order the divide between father and son. On the trail, previous chapter, where he is given to lines like, to go forward. But anger fuelled Wagamese’s jour- in woods and fields or along the river, the kid is at “I could use me more of that fire.” nalistic career, once he learned of Canada’s residen- home, at ease, knowledgeable and serene: “His life Such jarring moments aside, Medicine Walk is tial school policy and began interviewing survivors. had become horseback in solitude, lean-tos cut a compelling, evocative work of fiction, one that from spruce, fires in the night, mountain air that persuades us of the truth of its central theme: Susan Walker is a Toronto arts writer and book tasted sweet and pure as spring water, and trails too stories can heal both the teller and the reader or editor. dim to see that he learned to follow high to places listener.

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 19 Demonized Weed Why is media coverage of Canada’s grow-op “epidemic” so one sided? April Lindgren

group of young people at risk of a Killer Weed: Marijuana Grow criminal record. “Because of the Ops, Media and Justice extent of its use, it has become Susan C. Boyd and Connie Carter more difficult to demonize mari- University of Toronto Press juana users; police and media 290 pages, softcover attention has, in turn, shifted to ISBN 9781442612143 growers of marijuana,” Boyd and Carter contend in their analysis, which focuses on the situation in hen James Roszko British Columbia. Reporters cov- murdered four young ering the story, they concluded, WRCMP officers on a relied extensively on law enforce- farm in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, in ment officials and politicians who the spring of 2005, law enforce- made a series of sketchy claims ment authorities quickly linked the about an epidemic of marijuana shootings to violence associated cultivation in Canada, overly leni- with marijuana grow-ops, organ- ent sentencing for offenders, links ized crime and the need for harsher between grow-ops, organized penalties for pot c­ ultivation. crime and street gangs, and the Subsequent investigations risks (mould, home invasions, fire revealed that Roszko, a man with hazards) that marijuana cultiva- a long history of violence, had no tion in residential homes poses to connection to organized crime neighbourhoods and children. and worked alone or possibly Killer Weed offers a valid cri- with a neighbour growing about tique of media coverage of grow- 280 marijuana plants. In fact, the ops. It is less successful, however, officers killed by Roszko had gone when it comes to explaining why to his farm to back up a bailiff sent reporting on this issue was so to repossess a vehicle. myopic. Although most of the early And it was myopic. The authors claims about the connection note, for instance, that although between marijuana cultivation stories regularly quoted police and the officers’ deaths were officials on the value and amount either incorrect or exagger- of marijuana production in British ated, the Mayerthorpe murders Columbia, most of those estimates remained indelibly linked, in the were guesses at best. Marijuana media and the public imagination, to the evils of 1995 and 2009 in The Globe and Mail, Victoria’s cultivators, after all, do not fill out official -sur pot production, Susan C. Boyd and Connie Carter Times Colonist, and the Vancouver Sun and veys on the size and retail value of their crops. argue in Killer Weed: Marijuana Grow Ops, Media Province. While grow-ops include many small oper- Journalists, meanwhile, rarely asked the police to and Justice. ations run by individuals who cultivate plants for back up their numbers. “Events at Mayerthorpe and subsequent media personal use, Boyd and Carter identified a mostly Boyd and Carter also question the media’s prac- reporting operated as a lightning rod that crystal- “one-sided” narrative that typically linked mari- tice of mindlessly quoting RCMP officials’ claims lized anxieties about violence, marijuana grow juana production with disorder, crime, criminal about the burgeoning grow-op business under the ops, and lenient courts,” the authors observe. gangs, public safety and violence. They argue that direction of Vietnamese gangs, the Hell’s Angels “Mayerthorpe provided the specific case that this sort of coverage, exemplified by reporting on and other organized crime elements. A study that seemed to prove what the police/RCMP and the the Mayerthorpe murders, set the stage for tough, examined 500 marijuana grow-op cases in British media had claimed all along.” new penalties for marijuana cultivation as well Columbia, Alberta and Ontario between 1997 and Killer Weed sets out to question that “proof.” The as anti–grow-op initiatives by municipalities that 2005 found that half of the sites had fewer than book presents the results of a study that examined authorize the warrantless entry and inspection of 152 plants and only 3 percent had more than 1,000. 2,534 grow-op–related articles published between homes and generally give short shrift to Charter The 2011 study, by the federal justice department, of Rights and Freedoms and privacy rights. identified links between offenders and organized April Lindgren is a professor at Ryerson University’s Marijuana users in Canada tend to be white, crime or street gangs in only 5 percent of cases. School of Journalism and director of the Ryerson middle class, law abiding and young: Statistics Reporters, it turns out, also relied heavily upon a Journalism Research Centre. She has more than Canada’s 2012 survey of illicit drug use found that number of RCMP-supported reports on marijuana 20 years of experience as a journalist, editorialist, 20 percent, or one in five, of people aged 15 to 24 cultivation in British Columbia that make the case columnist and television commentator. used marijuana in the previous year. That is a big for harsher sentencing and tougher enforcement

20 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada measures. News stories failed to mention who paid become increasingly vociferous about the hazard- coverage of the Vietnam War, using it to debunk for the reports and that they were never subject to ous proliferation of grow-ops. suggestions that the media became more oppos- rigorous scholarly review. Boyd and Carter’s re- Journalists most certainly should have chal- itional as the conflict continued. He argued that examination of the data led them to conclude that lenged officials to support their claims that all there was a general political consensus in support the studies paint an exaggerated picture of grow-op grow-ops represent dangerous, violent threats to of American involvement during the first part of the proliferation and overstate the number of incidents law-abiding citizens. One obvious way to go about war and that news coverage reflected this consen- where firearms were found at grow-op sites. The this is to find someone authoritative and quotable sus, with reporters quoting official sources and gen- reports, they conclude, “may have inordinately with a contrary opinion: seeking out this critical erally ignoring the arguments of anti-war protestors shaped public perceptions and policy about mari- voice is standard procedure for keeping stories alive who languished in the sphere of deviance. As the juana grow ops in Canada” and fuelled support for another day. The trick is to make sure the con- conflict went on, however, members of the political for the Conservative government’s Safe Streets and trary opinion comes from a source whose opinions elite broke ranks to oppose the Vietnam War and Communities Act. The 2012 legislation introduced are headline material. lend legitimacy to the perspective espoused by longer maximum sentences for marijuana produc- Boyd and Carter suggest some alternative voices protestors. Reporters duly covered the controversy. tion and also introduced mandatory minimum that reporters could have quoted to provide more In the case of grow-ops, Killer Weed documents sentences, including six months for the cultivation balanced coverage of marijuana cultivation. Their how reporters tended to cover the issue very much of as few as six plants for the purposes of trafficking. list includes scholars who published peer-reviewed like stenographers, recording the official line on Boyd is a professor in the Faculty of Human research, reports by international agencies, online the evils of marijuana cultivation as espoused by and Social Development at the University of magazines that support cannabis cultivation and a government and public safety and security offi- Victoria, and Carter is a policy cials. If an authoritative voice— analyst with the Canadian Drug say the leader of Her Majesty’s Policy Coalition, a network of The most quoted sources tend to be the loyal opposition—had challenged organizations pushing for more that perspective, it is a good bet evidence-based drug policy mak- most readily available sources, including the coverage would have been ing. Together they did the digging police officials. ­different. and fact checking that reporters Having said that, a few cracks could and should have done as the are beginning to show in the grow- grow-op story unfolded over the 15 years of news range of groups pushing for reforms to marijuana op consensus. In 2006, Health Canada began issu- coverage examined in their study. laws. However, none of these options has the ing licences that authorized individuals to cultivate Where Killer Weed comes up short is in its authoritative heft of elected politicians, or police, their own plants for medicinal purposes, but almost explanation of the media’s behaviour. Boyd and fire and public safety officials. from the beginning the RCMP warned the process Carter suggest the newspapers’ approach reflected Scholars have tried to make sense of who gets was vulnerable to exploitation by criminal ele- a “conservative backlash in Canada that holds law quoted in the news and who is ignored. University ments. Fire officials fed fears about neighbourhood and order, punishment, security, the military, and of California communications theorist Daniel C. safety, suggesting many of the grow-ops posed a law enforcement agents as symbolic of the nation.” Hallin’s approach, for instance, is to divide the risk due to bad wiring. Municipal leaders joined They also identify other factors that contributed journalist’s world into three spheres. Stories that in the vilification: two British Columbia mayors to less-than-stellar reporting on the issue, includ- fall into what he calls the sphere of consensus deal wrote to the federal health minister arguing that the ing reporters’ reluctance to challenge official with topics that are not considered particularly grow-ops put neighbourhoods at risk and opened police versions of reality because the news media controversial. In these cases, journalists do not the door to criminal activities and violent home is so reliant upon officers for information about seek out maverick voices and instead write stories invasions. day-to-day incidents. Police communications ser­ that reflect the consensus and legitimize the status On April 1 of this year, the old licensing program vices—the branch that issues the press releases quo. This sort of rote reporting, needless to say, was cancelled and replaced with a new regime that that identify crime-related problems and tout what does not serve the public interest particularly well, limits medical marijuana cultivation to author- our men and women in blue are doing to halt the something that became apparent when the widely ized commercial producers. Under this new sys- rot—have expanded while journalism struggles on accepted “fact” of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of tem, patients have to buy marijuana from these all fronts. Cutbacks in newsroom budgets, and the mass destruction was finally debunked. commercial producers after they have obtained need to feed the 24-hour news cycle, for instance, Hallin’s sphere of deviance, on the other hand, is permits to use medical cannabis from a medical mean time-strapped reporters work to ever tighter the repository of ideas and viewpoints that journal- ­practitioner. deadlines that do not allow for extra legwork. The ists ignore because they are not considered worthy The story entered the realm of controversy when most quoted sources tend to be the most readily of being heard: think, for instance, of critics who a federal court judge ruled that patients previously available sources, including police officials. And questioned whether Saddam Hussein really did licensed to grow their own pot can continue to do they are hardly disinterested parties: the more have those weapons of mass destruction and how so until a constitutional challenge of the new sys- crime they highlight and the more press releases little attention they received in mainstream news tem is heard. Plaintiffs who launched the challenge they issue about catching bad guys, the easier it is to media. argue the new rules violate their right to access demand additional crime-fighting resources. Finally, when there is no consensus on a topic or medication by making the drug more expensive That all makes sense, as far as it goes. But if the consensus among key players collapses, stor- and giving them less control over the strains avail- upheaval in the news industry has not prevented ies fall into what Hallin calls the sphere of legitimate able to them. The judge who granted the temporary journalists from conducting investigations and controversy. In this case, authoritative sources— injunction agreed. covering contrarian perspectives on other issues, Cabinet members or the leader of the Opposition— Even before the court decision, however, there be it the right to die or racial profiling by police offer a different perspective to journalists who, in were other signs that the “all grow-ops are bad” departments. Why the blind spot when it came to turn, report on the conflict. Gone are the days, for consensus was collapsing: in British Columbia the grow-ops? instance, when there was widespread agreement mayor of Mission told the CBC he is “not really One reason is that there was a consensus—or among our political leaders that possession of even interested in going after a little guy that’s growing more precisely a consensus among elites—about a little bit of marijuana merited harsh punishment. for his own personal use,” and an Abbotsford police grow-ops as a scourge of society. Boyd and Carter NDP leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal leader official said the force had no plans to divert resour- occasionally refer to “media” claims about the Justin Trudeau now both advocate for more relaxed ces away from robbery and sexual assault cases to dangers associated with grow-ops, but in fact most laws related to pot possession, and their position investigate personal medical grow-ops. of the time journalists were quoting police or gov- is regularly contrasted in news stories with that of All of a sudden, apparently, all grow-ops are not ernment officials who all sang from the same song the governing Tories. Mind you, after balking for a menace to society, just as all citizens who pos- sheet. Back in 2004, for instance, it was Liberal years, even the Conservatives are starting to display sess a joint or two are not on the path to drug deal- public safety minister Anne McLellan who vowed to a tiny glimmer of reason: justice minister Peter ing and ruin. At this rate, it may take only another eradicate marijuana grows-ops and described pot MacKay has indicated the government is consid- decade, or two or three, for more enlightened drug smokers as “stupid.” In 2006, the Conservative gov- ering new legislation that would allow the police to policies to become the rule in Canada, rather than ernment of Stephen Harper took over and pursued ticket rather than charge people caught with small the exception. policies that focused on enforcement and tougher amounts of cannabis. Killer Weed offers some insight into how it came penalties. The RCMP, meanwhile, has over the years Hallin famously applied his theory to news to this. But it does not tell the whole story.

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 21 Vices Then and Now A new book looks at the colourful history of moral regulation in Canada. James F. Cosgrave

more sympathy. He quotes Antoine Denis Raudot, vehicle through which the state could levy duties Canada the Good: intendant of New France in the early 18th century, and fund government operations. The state had A Short History of Vice since 1500 who noted: “The manner in which the girls live a direct interest in controlling prices. The 19th Marcel Martel among the savages is very convenient. They are century saw the expansion of the alcohol trade Wilfrid Laurier University Press mistresses of their body until they are absolutely and consumption with the influx of British set- 189 pages, softcover married.” tlers. In both French and British colonial Canada, ISBN 9781554589487 In the interaction of aboriginal and European alcohol was central to social life, in part because it cultures, each side was responsible for passing was the beverage of choice, but also because it was on new habits to the other. Aboriginals intro- safer to drink than water. While some Protestant ice exerts a perennial interest, duced tobacco—for them a sacred substance. denominations adopted a highly negative stance ­regardless of how and by whom it is The Europeans, besides carrying the scourge of against these trends, the Catholic church was not Vdefined. In Canada the Good: A Short smallpox, also brought alcohol. It is interesting concerned about alcohol consumption per se, but History of Vice since 1500, an admirably condensed to consider the trade in moralities that surround rather excessive consumption, because it was seen social history of Canadian vices over the past five particular substances, and the cultural effects of as leading to other sins. From the church’s perspec- centuries, York University historian Marcel Martel these substances. Aboriginals involved in fur trade tive, drunkenness was a mortal sin. But alcohol shows exactly how during this time the definition made it clear that if they could not get their alcohol continued to have tactical importance due to trade of vice in Canada has shifted from a discourse cen- in trade with the French, they would do so with the with aboriginals. tred on sin to one that, when still applied, is viewed British. So while the Catholic church in New France In these frontier conditions, it is no surprise primarily in medical terms. sought to prohibit aboriginal consumption, its mor- that settler communities had their own ways of That the labelling of particular dealing with deviance, which pit- actions as vices is the product of The early missionaries and explorers ted its moral control against that social and historical contingencies of the church. Martel describes seems self-evident. What is less were most struck by the aboriginals’ in some detail the use of chariva- obvious is the interplay of factors ris, a shaming practice imported that contribute to this labelling starkly different attitudes toward sex. from Europe. Members of small and the accompanying efforts at communities would dress up in regulation. For example, what determines how the ally based arguments had to compete with the use frightening costumes and confront deviants, such notion of vice is applied in particular contexts? of alcohol in diplomacy and exchange. This conflict as adulterers or married people with too large an Which positional interests have the greatest say between morality and commerce reappears many age gap between them. The charivari as a living in its definition? And why do some vices attract times in Martel’s account. institution continued into the early 20th century, special interest in their regulation? These questions As much as the Catholic church attempted to although its meaning changed to mark a practice to continually reappear throughout Martel’s book, in regulate sexual mores, it had only limited success, welcome newcomers. an analysis whose main actors include churches, especially in the first centuries of New France’s By the early 19th century, concerns about the state, grassroots moral reform movements and, existence. It is fair to say that early French settler self-conduct tended to centre more and more on in later years, the medical profession. society evinced a frontier morality, developing alcohol. This period, which coincided with expand- Martel focuses on the vices that have called forth its own habits and mores that did not necessarily ing industrialization, saw the beginnings of the the most concerted efforts at regulation: alcohol, align with those back in Europe. As Martel demon- temperance movement, in which a central role sex, gambling, drugs and tobacco. In some cases, strates, despite some settler resistance, the church was played by women. The anti-alcohol stance of such as gambling, there is significant change in gradually extended its influence to implement a moral reformers was distinctive in several ways. It the deviant status of the activity and in the forms “Christian-driven moral order.” In this campaign is at this time that we begin to see health as a form of regulation, while in others, such as prostitu- the French royal state played a supportive hand. of morality and social control, with the appear- tion, the concerns and responses have changed far These circumstances help explain the legal age of ance of the notion of addiction, a term coined in less. He begins with the period from 1500 to 1700, consent at the time: boys could marry at 14 and girls the late 18th century and applied first to alcohol when French settlers interacted and traded with at 12. Similarly the colonial authorities enforced a use. Although conceptually separate from religion, aboriginal groups. Given their ethnocentric views fully patriarchal marriage structure, where women the new health-based morality was closely con- of aboriginal life, the early missionaries and explor- had no legal rights whatsoever. The “unnatural nected to Christian—particularly Protestant—prin- ers were most struck by the aboriginals’ starkly acts” of homosexuality were proscribed, but it was ciples. And though the Protestant moral emphasis different attitudes toward sex. For the missionaries up to the church rather than the state to impose on self-con­ trol and self-discipline was primarily on in particular, the imposition of European notions of penalties for private acts, likely with much leeway alcohol, other perceived ills such as prostitution, monogamy was paramount. But Martel illustrates in particular cases. And while prostitution spawned homosexuality and gambling were far from ignored. the extent to which colonial officials often showed considerable debate on its public aspect, it was Within British North America, moral reformers tolerated, at least up to the end of the 18th century. had some influence in the first half of the 19th cen- James F. Cosgrave is a professor of sociology at With these and other sexually based activities, such tury, but it was from 1850 onward that their efforts Trent University Oshawa. He has written exten- as abortion and birth control, Martel shows how the had the greatest impact. This is when the twin sively on the state’s role in gambling expansion in live-and-let-live considerations of frontier morality trends of urbanization and industrialization began Canada and is co-editor of Casino State: Legalized often trumped attempts at formal censure. to fully emerge within Canadian society. Given the Gambling in Canada (University of Toronto Press, Alcohol’s role in colonial communities was changes in social organization, the sanctity of the 2009) and co-author of Desiring Canada: CBC ambiguous; wine in particular became an import- family was seen as being under threat by a range Contests, Hockey Violence and Other Stately ant social lubricant in a number of ways, not only of mostly male vices. The growing power of evan- Pleasures (University of Toronto Press, 2013). by being enjoyed by many, but also by being a gelical Protestantism, with its social gospel goal of

22 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada “building the kingdom of God on Earth,” was also ers continued to exert influence by pressing the When state control of a vice is deemed necessary a factor. Churches continued to exert influence state to maintain its regulatory role. For example, the effect is often the dominance of government over morality, but reformers were willing to band the Second World War was used as an opportun- in supplying the activity, with all of the inherent together and recruit the state to enforce morality, ity to strengthen prohibitions on prostitution, conflicts of interest that this entails. The monop- using arguments concerning the regulation of the given the concern about the spread of disease and olization of alcohol sales in most provinces and health of populations to do so. the deleterious effect on soldiers. Similarly, in the the major role of provincial governments in own- Led by the Women’s Christian Temperance immediate post-war period security fears con- ing gambling venues are obvious examples. These Union, spearheaded in Canada by Letitia Youmans, nected with the spreading of state secrets led to a forms of intervention have become major revenue the reform movement grew and prospered. It was in clamping down on homosexual activity, along with earners, legitimated by government’s “moral” pos- many ways class based. The middle classes feared a protracted government campaign to identify and ition that Canadians should be responsible drink- being proletarianized by alcoholism, gambling remove gays from positions of public authority. ers and gamblers, and supported by the Protestant losses and sexual licence, but it was the working But overall, the impetus toward greater toler- notion that if these activities are to be allowed, any class whose behaviour was most often the object ance proved unstoppable, especially by the 1960s. profits should be devoted to the “public good.” of reformers’ attention, while the bourgeoisie’s This watershed decade saw a confluence of factors Canada the Good is a well-researched and drinking, gambling and sexual mores informative discussion of the trajec- continued with little change. The Alcohol was central to social life, in tory of Canadian morality and the intermittent successes of the reform significant actors who have sought to movement began in the 1870s with part because it was the beverage of define it. As Martel tells it, Canada’s the Canada Temperance Act, which “good” flows to a great extent from allowed for local citizen-initiated choice, but also because it was safer the activism of middle class Christian referendums on banning alcohol in reformers. Notwithstanding the shifts local jurisdictions. By 1916, and the to drink than water. in morality that have occurred in appearance of the argument that the late 20th and into the early 21st war conditions necessitated seriously curtailing challenging the social order: a strong women’s century, the efforts of these reformers continue to alcohol consumption, four provinces—Manitoba, movement and the influence of feminism, the have an enduring effect. Even when the particular Saskatchewan, Alberta and Quebec—were officially counterculture and its positive view of pot smok- causes taken on by present-day reform movements dry, and for the twelve-month period starting on ing, and the emergence of gay liberation as a pol- may diverge markedly from those in the past, there April 1, 1918, the entire country was formally under itical force. The liberalization of several activities is a discernible continuity in the methods and tac- prohibition. that occurred with Pierre Trudeau’s omnibus bill tics. By giving his readers a sense of the long-term Similarly, gambling and perceived sexual vices in 1969 was particularly important. Not only were trajectory of Canadian moral beliefs and their prac- were challenged with a new enthusiasm, with abortion and homosexuality decriminalized, but tical application, Martel allows us to see how the women again playing a key role. Reformers suc- lotteries were permitted. Although activities such as regulatory compromises of today are likely be just cessfully lobbied for federal and provincial laws that drug use and prostitution have remained contested as transitory and provisional as those of the past. outlawed gaming houses and restricted lotteries to ever since, the health framework used to legitim- fundraising activities “at religious and charitable ize these changes still dominates what might be bazaars.” In the case of sexual acts, the perceived termed the new morality of today. link between promiscuity and sexually transmitted Smoking is one exception to these broader diseases meant that health-based discourses typ- shifts, so it is no surprise that Martel analyzes this Coming up ically came to the reformers’ aid. Abortion was kept topic in detail. In the contemporary assemblage illegal, and both birth control and homosexuality of what are now largely viewed as health-based were explicitly criminalized. concerns, it is the only one that did not evolve from in the LRC Given these successes, it is no surprise that a religious proscription but is rather due to shifting reformers came to view themselves on the winning perceptions within the medical field itself. Martel side of history. Martel quotes Francis Spence, a notes how, in earlier centuries, tobacco use was Solving health care leading light in the Dominion Alliance for the Total not a moral concern, even when it involved minors. Michael Decter Suppression of the Liquor Traffic, who in 1908 There was a time when female smoking in public remarked: was frowned upon, mostly due to religious framings Canada’s MFA boom of gender. But it was not until the 20th century, and Darryl Whetter The temperance cause is winning; the temper- the dissemination of new medical information con- ance cause will win. Lack of confidence in this cerning tobacco’s health effects, that its use became The fracking fracas certainty is the result of a failure to under- the target of considerable attention. Today, in the Jessa Gamble stand the end of the movement. That move- case of smoking we see an interesting dichotomy ment is not a mere human invention or fake, between the regulation of public and private behav- Louis Riel’s defence created by some novelty-seeking cranks. It is iour, as the conduct of smokers is shaped, not only Michael Marrus the inevitable result of great universal condi- by the health information and cautionary images tions and forces. of cancer victims on cigarette packages, but by Prairie riches the aim of reformers to eliminate public, and even Rana Sarkar Despite the confidence evinced by Spence and outdoor, places where it might occur. Indeed, this his allies, the immediate aftermath of the First dichotomy between public and private behaviour The Ever After of World War was to prove to be the high point of the is an implicit theme of Canada the Good. Just as reformers’ influence. Already in the latter decades with smoking, prostitution has been, and continues Ashwin Rao, by Padma of the 19th century, cracks had begun to appear to be, problematic in part because of its public Viswanathan in the unofficial alliance between reformers and manifestations. The same is true of homosexuality Ava Homa the medical profession, a minority of physicians and use of alcohol: public sex is still widely frowned beginning to disagree with mainstream censure upon, as is alcohol consumption leading to public A handmade pint of birth control and abortion. From 1920 onward, drunkenness. Michael Ruse this proportion grew. More generally vice-based Martel’s book offers further general conclusions. conceptions of morality started to give way to the First, although the discourse of vice itself declines Recovering from rape medicalized conception, and behaviour such as considerably in the 20th century, the effects of reli- Clare Pain gambling, homosexuality and the use of alcohol gion are still felt in the influence that religion has and drugs was increasingly viewed in purely med- had on the development of the state in Canada— The ’95 referendum ical terms. aside from the particular religious proclivities With this conceptual transformation came a of those who might occupy influential positions revisited slow but visible liberalization of these activities, within the state apparatus itself. Second is the Andrea Lawlor even when, in particular cases, moral reform- phenomenon that could be called state moralism.

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 23 Listen to the Sex Workers A new essay collection brings their experience and opinions to the fore. Amber Dawn

poet in me, can a sex worker ever express herself or by the rescue profession: “Organizations that want Selling Sex: Experience, Advocacy and himself without explaining herself or himself? to save us … rely on traumatizing stories of youth Research on Sex Work in Canada I have posed these questions in lectures I exploitation to get funding,” says Ivo. Emily van der Meulen, Elya M. Durisin and have given at Canadian and U.S. universities. Sarah Hunt, whose essay largely focuses on Victoria Love, editors I have sought mentorship from groundbreakers, women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, echoes University of British Columbia Press including San Franciscan activist Carol Leigh, Ivo’s concern about the co-option of indigenous 349 pages, softcover aka Scarlot Harlot, who coined the very term “sex experiences: “As Indigenous people, we have long ISBN 9780774824491 work,” and New Yorker Audacia Ray, founder of the experienced being spoken for, misrepresented, and Red Umbrella Project. Most recently, I published a silenced by dominant discourses.” Hunt breaks the poetry/memoir hybrid book entitled How Poetry silence by asking: “That’s usually where the story o be a sex worker is to negotiate space. Saved My Life: A Hustler’s Memoir. My book, like ends: the missing women. What about the women For me, the negotiation began with myself, is both hesitant and unable to provide who are still working in the sex trade today?” Tthe body. I use “the body” intentionally— sweeping answers. A single definite statement can Other contributors answer Hunt’s questions by the body, not my body. What aesthetics, what con- be made: nothing about, without us—nihil de nobis, uncovering the ground-breaking histories of nihil troversial or provocative debates, what syndromic sine nobis. Every negotiation about sex work must de nobis, sine nobis—experiential peer-driven sex meanings are placed on the sex worker’s body? have sex workers holding that space. work groups and movements, found in advocacy- Which of these meanings would I utilize to earn It is with this declaration—nihil de nobis, sine themed sections. money versus which meanings would I try to nobis—that I approached Selling Sex: Experience, In “Working for Change: Sex Workers in the deflect in order to reduce potential harm? Advocacy and Research on Sex Work in Canada, Union Struggle,” co-author Trish Salah reflects My own body came second, as I continually edited by Emily van der Meulen, Elya M. Durisin upon the important political work lead by trans negotiated what body parts and sexual activities and Victoria Love. Turning to the contributor pages sex workers in the late 1990s: “Trans sex work- I would make available, or not. at the back, I discovered that 5 of 33 contributors ers and their allies developed front-line peer-run Venue and environment also demanded ongoing chose to highlight sex work in the first sentences drop-ins and social services for street-based and negotiation. I moved from survival street work in of their biographies. Certainly, all the contributors poor trans people, like the High Risk Project in Vancouver’s East Side to massage parlour work who highlighted “assistant professor” or “doctoral Vancouver, Meal Trans in Toronto, and Action in Kitsilano, and from coyly worded advertise- candidate” could potentially be experiential; aca- Santé Tranvesti(e)s/Transsexuel(le)s du Québec.” ments in the Buy and Sell in the 1990s to explicit demic work and sex work are not exclusive to one In “Né dans le Redlight: The Sex Workers’ online sex hookup sites in the 2000s. another. However, when, for example, Victoria Love Movement in Montreal,” Anna-Louise Crago and And within each workplace venue, I found myself opens her professional bio with “is a sex worker … Jenn Clamen offer an inspiring anecdote of a sex further negotiating space. For example, because and has experience in a number of sectors, includ- work visibility action: “Street-based sex workers I am a white woman and was a college student, one ing erotic dance, massage, and escort,” she disrupts distributed pamphlets during the city’s large out- massage parlour’s madam instructed me to work the deep-seated idea that sex work skills are invalid; door Montreal Jazz Festival, requesting passersby in The Den fantasy room, which included a hand- Love invites the reader to view the credible merits to call city hall and denounce the annual wave of some globe, a brown leather chair and a dusty set of of her work. arrests of sex workers.” hardcover literary classics. I could work also in The Red River further challenges the oft-devaluing Three contributors I personally know and Roman Room if need be, but never The Safari Room. of sex work skills: “Many sex workers have great admire—Joyce Arthur, Susan Davis and Esther All of this proved to be quite unelaborate in professional skills, but they can’t put them on their Shannon—recount a long-standing history of comparison to the complexity of negotiating space résumé for fear of stigma or the simple fact advocacy: as a sex work activist. The more vocal and vis- their work isn’t recognized as legitimate.” River cites ible I became, the more I spoke up outside of my his own résumé—which shrinks from four pages to Vancouver’s diverse sex worker movement workplace, the more labyrinthine the negotiations a page and a half by omitting his sex work and activ- began to organize community-based initia- became. Where could I find a platform for dia- ism skills and accomplishments. tives in the 1980s, such as founding sex worker logue? Who had spoken before me? Were these The anthology is a dedicated space for contribu- support groups, safe work spaces, and harm speakers sex workers, or did outsiders lead the dia- tors to demonstrate, again and again, the validity of reduction programs, as well as engaging in logue? What was said? What previous discussions sex workers’ skills, determination and community labour and community organizing, dialogues and meanings were already attached to my story building, with one third of the book specifically with police and government, public educa- before I myself voiced it? Who was my audience? addressing the theme of “experiences.” tion campaigns, and activism … Over the past Would they be allied listeners, or antagonists? How Workplace skills are not the only experiences thirty years, more than twenty sex worker could I tell the two apart? What reasons did audi- that have undergone erasure. Entire intersectional rights groups have formed [in Vancouver] … ences have for listening? How would my voice and identities are overlooked in popular discourse. Almost all these groups still exist today. story be used? And, an important question for the This erasure seems to scream in “We Speak for Ourselves: Anti-Colonial and Self-Determined Selling Sex not only negotiates space, but also Amber Dawn, from Vancouver, is author of How Responses to Young People Involved in the Sex claims it with 349 pages of histories and voices. Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler’s Memoir (Arsenal Trade,” an interview between contributors JJ and I will proudly arm myself with this anthology Pulp Press, 2013) and the Lambda Literary Award– Ivo. Ivo calls out: “We as young Indigenous peoples as I continue my own activism. It will be a resource winning novel Sub Rosa (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2010), have limited ways to identify ourselves in terms of I turn to when the ongoing questions overwhelm and editor of the anthologies Fist of the Spider both sexuality and gender. In my home territory of me. This anthology has accomplished what it— Woman: Tales of Fear and Queer Desire (Arsenal Cowessess First Nation, we had over 120 different and perhaps all sex worker activists and allies— Pulp Press, 2009), and With a Rough Tongue: words for sexuality and over 40 for gender alone … intended to do. To sum this vital intention up, I will Femmes Write Porn (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2005). Who was it that robbed me of this knowledge?” Ivo end with a quote from Sarah Hunt: “Let’s make sure Amber Dawn was 2012 winner of the Writers’ Trust goes on to show that when her youth or indigenous to put the voices, needs, and rights of sex workers of Canada Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBT writers. communities’ stories do show up, they are co-opted themselves at the centre of this movement.”

24 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada An Army Astray Canada’s long-standing struggle between the military and politicians. Philippe Lagassé

A National Force: The Evolution of Canada’s Army, 1950–2000 Peter Kasurak University of British Columbia Press 368 pages, softcover ISBN 9780774826402

elations between Cabinet, senior bureaucrats and the Canadian Forces Rhave been tense of late. Arguments about the role of civilians in overseeing the military’s operations in Afghanistan led General Rick Hillier to criticize the interference of “field marshal wannabes” in his farewell speech as chief of the forces, and that episodes of strained civil–military from the mid 1950s to the end of the Cold War. defence staff. Prime Minister Stephen Harper relations result from poor political leadership. Kasurak demonstrates that the army’s unwilling- has sought, with a good deal of frustration, to get This view of Canadian civil–military relations is ness to waver from this assessment was the cause the military and defence department to achieve largely shaped by accounts of the country’s defence of its most significant confrontations with civilian greater administrative efficiency. Public Works and affairs from the early 1950s to the late 1990s. The authorities. In one notable instance, it led the army Government Services Canada has been involved in story of these decades is often presented as one of to defy the prime minister, an outcome the author more than one confrontation with the Department lamentable military decline, with the armed forces describes as “one of the most under-reported inci- of National Defence over the acquisition of new falling from their post–Second World War “golden dents of insubordination in Canadian civil–military military equipment. Indeed, defence procurement age” into their now infamous “decade of darkness.” relations.” has arguably created a wedge between the military Popular histories have treated the subject as a tale of At the heart of this confrontation were divergent and the Conservatives, a party that came to power a highly capable military being dismantled by naive views of the army’s role in Europe. Whereas the determined to champion and rebuild the armed ministers and officious civil servants. Although not army believed that its forces would be an important forces. all authors believe that the story is so clear cut, a part of an allied war with the Soviets, by the early When we hear about discord between ministers majority of historians and defence analysts agree 1960s, a number of stakeholders had concluded and the military, there are reasons to assume that that civilians shoulder most of the responsibility for that Canada’s presence in West Germany was the politicians are largely at fault. Looking at the the steady erosion of the Canadian military, owing largely political. Defence analysts and politicians history of Canadian military affairs, there is a dis- to the reasons listed above. believed that protracted conventional war was no tinct pattern of governments putting forth highly In his history of the Canadian Army, A National longer possible or was likely owing to the existence ambitious defence policies, while giving the mil- Force: The Evolution of Canada’s Army, 1950–2000, of several thousand nuclear weapons. Were NATO itary insufficient funds to execute them. Canadian Peter Kasurak carefully documents how prime min- and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact to ever engage in politicians have also tended to ignore the armed isters, defence ministers and senior civil servants actual armed conflict, the thinking went, the battles forces for long stretches of time, leaving the military contributed to the weakening of the armed forces in between conventional forces would quickly escal- with vague direction and compelling senior offi- the second half of the 20th century. But the origin- ate toward nuclear war. Once both sides unleashed cers to plan according to their own assessments of ality and value of the book lie in his equally deter- their nuclear arsenals, conventional forces would Canada’s defence requirements and alliance obli- mined effort to show how the army contributed to be rapidly annihilated. gations. On those occasions when ministers have its own failings and failures. As well, Kasurak high- The logic of fielding a substantial army to taken a keen interest in the military, it has often lights how the army fuelled, and in some instances fight the Soviets, and the idea that such an army been because the government was determined to incited, damaging relations between ministers and would survive long enough to accomplish much, impose unpopular reforms or budget cuts on the generals. In so doing, he adds a welcome degree appeared at odds with the nature of warfare in armed forces. Ministers, furthermore, have often of nuance to our understanding of the interaction the nuclear age. At best, the purpose of keeping allowed political expediency to trump professional between governments and the military during the Canada’s conventional forces in Europe was to military advice regarding the maintenance of Cold War and early post–Cold War era. demonstrate allied solidarity, deal with smaller Canada’s defence capabilities. All this has fed the Following the Korean War, the Canadian gov- scale crises that did not escalate, and give the notion, common in both the academic literature ernment permanently stationed military units in Canadian government a voice within NATO. As and journalistic writing on the military, that succes- West Germany as part of the North Atlantic Treaty long as political leaders saw the military’s NATO sive Canadian governments have failed the armed Organization’s effort to deter Soviet aggression contribution in this way, the army could expect to on the European continent. From the Canadian remain in West Germany, but there was little hope Philippe Lagassé is a professor of public and inter- Army’s perspective, this commitment necessitated that Ottawa would fund a larger, heavier land force. national affairs at the University of Ottawa and a large, mechanized force that could work with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, however, took a fellow with the Canadian Defence and Foreign allies to defeat the Soviet Union along the Central a harder line against Canada’s military presence Affairs Institute. Front. The army remained committed to this view in Europe. In the first years of his premiership,

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 25 Trudeau wanted to end the military’s permanent of the military and increase strife between political Conservative government, and amplified by the NATO contribution altogether. Not only did the and military leaders. Liberal government of Jean Chrétien, made this new prime minister question the value of keeping For the army officers that lived the organiza- doctrinal change inevitable. Yet this should not conventional forces in Europe to fight a war that tional reform, however, the integrated headquar- take away from the significance of this evolution would likely trigger a nuclear exchange, he was ters was an aberration, one that gave questionable in the army’s thinking and planning. Indeed, while equally skeptical of the political benefits that those authorities to senior civil servants and threatened Kasurak remains guarded about the success of the forces accrued. Accordingly, when he formed his to replace their system of command responsibil- army’s cultural shift, he considers that the adop- government in 1968, the new prime minister asked ity with a managerial style of leadership. Yet, as tion of this more realistic doctrine was a notable the defence department and military to examine Kasurak notes, it is unclear if the army appreciated adjustment. the option of withdrawing Canada’s forces from how its resistance to a direct query from the prime A National Force concludes on a caution- West Germany. As Kasurak demonstrates, the army minister contributed to this outcome. Instead of ary note. Armed forces, Kasurak writes, echoing actively resisted and subverted the prime minis- accepting the primacy of the civilian authority’s American civil–military relations expert Peter ter’s directive over the next years. With the help policy decisions, the army continued to pursue a Feaver, must “always bear in mind that their role of Trudeau’s first defence minister, Léo Cadieux, force structure that reflected what it wanted and is to be the agent of the state and that civilians the army ensured that the option do indeed have the right to be of ending Canada’s NATO com- A majority of historians and defence wrong.” Kasurak’s caution is not mitment was never seriously unwarranted. The past decade considered.­ analysts agree that civilians shoulder has seen its share of civil–military Trudeau would ultimately confrontations about who gets the agree that the political costs of most of the responsibility for the steady final say on matters of national withdrawing the Canadian mil- defence, such as force structur- itary from Europe was too high. erosion of the Canadian military. ing, budgetary priorities and But the prime minister and his operational objectives. Some serv- second defence minister, Donald S. Macdonald, thought was best for Canada’s NATO role in the ing and retired military leaders, such as General were determined to strengthen civilian control of late 1970s and early 1980s. Moreover, the army still Hillier, remain uncomfortable with the integrated the military in light of the resistance they encoun- pursued plans for a large land force that it knew national defence headquarters and the authority tered from the military. To this end, Macdonald was not affordable. These factors lead Kasurak to of civilian defence officials. The prime minister established a management review group to evalu- conclude that the army exhibited a failure of profes- appears to have been genuinely frustrated with ate ways to reform Canada’s defence administra- sionalism and a refusal to accept that the military the responsiveness of the defence department and tion. The result was the establishment of a single must be subordinate to ministers. military to policy directives. Canada’s ongoing national defence headquarters that integrated A National Force offers two explanations of struggle with defence procurement, furthermore, the administration of the defence department the army’s behaviour. The first was the army’s cannot be properly understood without consid- and Canadian Forces. Additionally, the change tendency to view Canada’s defence requirements ering civil–militar­ y dynamics, which slow or derail expanded the power of senior defence bureaucrats through an allied lens. Rather than accepting that capital equipment programs. Without implying that and gave them a challenge function over various political leaders had the right and authority to Canadian civil–military relations have reached an aspects of military planning. Over the following question the country’s contribution to NATO, the especially low point, or that civilians do not share decades, this organizational structure granted army appears to have believed that Canada’s alli- the blame for the recent episodes of discord, this Cabinet a greater degree of control over the armed ance commitments needed to be protected from suggests that Kasurak’s emphasis on the military’s forces. Although the new structure arguably bred Cabinet meddling. Second, Kasurak argues that the subordination to the civilian authority is worth problems of its own, it has proved superior to pre- army’s organizational culture legitimized the sense repeating. vious arrangements. In fact, when the principles that civilian policy directives could be resisted or Stating that politicians have “the right to be of the integrated administrative structure and ignored if they threatened the army’s interests. His wrong” about matters of national defence may bureaucratic challenge function have been diluted, book’s discussion of these aspects of the army’s appear too categorical. In fact, it may even seem the effect has been to weaken civilian control history presents a valuable contribution to our to be a dangerous notion. The military, after all, understanding of Canadian civil–military relations are experts in the use of armed force. Unlike pol- as well. iticians who tend to focus on short-term gains and In the aftermath of the Somalia Affair, which losses, the armed forces are more mindful of future Give monthly. Kasurak discusses at length, the army was sub- defence needs and capabilities. Military personnel, ject to major reforms. Efforts were made to bring moreover, accept an unlimited liability in executing the army’s culture in line with Canada’s societal directives issued by ministers; the price of defence Support the LRC with a and political norms. The army’s retrograde val- failures are far higher for the armed forces than for monthly donation and help us ues and belief that it should stand apart from, politicians. This has led to calls for military deci- rather than reflect, Canadian society were grad- sions to be made on the basis of an equal dialogue sustain all our publishing and ually ground down. During his brief but highly between ministers and officers who are under- programming activities. regarded tenure as minister of national defence, stood to have a shared responsibility for Canada’s Douglas Young oversaw the preparing of a report national defence. Provide ongoing, reliable, on the future of the Canadian Forces that made Yet, however appealing these notions may be, higher education standards for the officer corps, they are problematic. As Kasurak’s work demon- regular sources of funding for professionalism and leadership a priority. Owing to strates, the military can be as prone to errors and the LRC with automatic with- critiques that the integrated national defence head- misjudgements as ministers. Granting the armed drawals. It’s an easy and con- quarters had contributed to the military’s failed forces a greater say over Canada’s defence affairs venient way to give. And you response to the Somalia Affair, Young also com- does not guarantee that we will have better poli- missioned a study on the organization of Canada’s cies or a more effective military. Equally import- can change your mind at any defence organization and accountability. Contrary ant, the suggestion that politicians should not time. to the view that the integrated headquarters had have the “right to be wrong” about national defence been detrimental, the report reaffirmed the logic undermines the central tenet of liberal democratic Every gift—at every level— of linking the administration of the defence depart- civil–military relations—namely, that those who ment and Canadian Forces, and further stressed hold the legitimate authority to govern must be makes a significant impact. the importance of maintaining a civilian challenge supreme over those who are entrusted with the function in order to assist the minister in exerting capacity to inflict organized violence on behalf of control over the armed forces. the state. In Canada, this means that ministers who Visit . force. Along with the end of the Cold War, budget have the final say over matters of national defence, cuts introduced by Brian Mulroney’s Progressive whether they make correct decisions or not.

26 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Cottage Romance Ontario’s fierce, odd passion for lakeside getaways. James Roots

the bush across time and space, a “nostalgic nation- declare that “not being able to spend time at their A Timeless Place: The Ontario Cottage alism” symbolized by the flags that festooned our cottage challenged these individuals’ overall sense Julia Harrison summer properties in a way we would feel embar- of well-being and their purposefulness in life.” University of British Columbia Press rassed to perpetrate in our city homes. This is not to say she does not occasionally 296 pages, softcover It is, alas, a thread of Canadianness that take it too far. This is an academic book, so she ISBN 9780774826082 Harrison pitilessly pegs as “exclusionary.” Ontario feels obligated to buttress each point with its own cottagers, even today, are a white European international literature review and dictionary defin- bunch (my cottage friends were all Latvians and itions; the sheer fun of cottaging often goes missing o one who grew up living the Ontario Germans). Immigrants from less privileged parts of in the wake of tautologies such as her observation cottage experience is going to be able to the world had migrated to get away from the same that learning to water ski symbolized “the confi- Nread Julia Harrison’s A Timeless Place: amenity-free “basic conditions” that were part and dence and perseverance needed to overcome the The Ontario Cottage without emotional reminis- parcel of cottage country, and they had no interest challenges of actually getting up on water skis,” or cences, so let me set out mine at the start. in returning to such circumstances in the name of a when she pontificates that the passion for cottaging In the 1920s, my grandfather bought up tracts of baffling form of leisure. And while even lower mid- is “grounded in a dialectic tension between pres- land on the Alcona Beach and Big Bay Point shores dle class people could afford the cheap wilderness ences and absences, even if these are not located of Lake Simcoe, near Barrie: five in a genetic coding omission or in sites, one for each of his offspring atavistic yearnings.” And I could plus himself. Although my dad Harrison’s research turned up less than certainly do with far fewer refer- got probably the smallest cottage, ences to “moral signification,” he did get the best waterfront: the a handful of non-white, non-European “moral values,” “moral character” rock-free, weed-free, clear water and “morally worthwhile”; we deepened so gently that we could cottagers, only three gay people and are talking about Haliburton, not wade out more than 30 metres virtually no disabled people. Oberammergau. before it reached over our heads. The deep identification of Our cottage had a faux log- family with cottage is possibly the cabin exterior and a cheap plywood interior. Until lots of my grandfather’s era, the “monster cottages” only hope for the survival of cottaging. New gen- the late 1970s, it boasted what I derided as “the of today require an upper middle class income just erations are tearing down the traditional shabby world’s only indoor outhouse,” fragrantly located to maintain them, let alone to buy them. cabins and replacing them with homogenous sub- right beside my bedroom. No matter: the cottage Harrison’s research turned up less than a urban mansions. They are motivated externally by was a place to relax, a place where I could devour handful of non-white, non-European cottagers the need for civic regimentation in order to imple- two or three books daily and join friends to listen (nearly all of whom married into white families of ment 9-1-1 emergency services, the concomitant to records in their boathouse, turning up the vol- long-standing cottage adherence), only three gay need for street naming, and water, sewer and hydro ume on the Beatles’ “Lovely Rita” whenever lovely people and virtually no disabled people. Gender infrastructures, and the exorbitant property taxes Rita from one of the back cottages came down the stereotyping was blatant: males who could not to pay for them all—“an array of external regimes access path to swim in her purple bikini. recognize a hammer from a saw at home trans- implicitly working to transform the cottage into I did not always love the cottage, and it did not formed into pioneer fathers at the cottage, digging something framed within more rational than affect- always love me back. But when my first child was out septic tanks and building additional rooms ive structures”; and they are motivated internally by born, he was enduring the seven-hour drive from or even canoes without ever feeling that it was the inculcated drive to acquire and display the tools Ottawa to the cottage within three weeks of taking “work,” whereas women found the cottage to be just and toys of commodification and urbanization. In his first breath: it was already time to introduce another abode where they were expected to clean, today’s cottages, the connection is to the wireless the fourth generation to the unique experience of cook and mind the kids. router instead of to the wilderness. Ontario cottaging. What this effected, Harrison suggests, was an Harrison suggests that this profound change Cottaging, in the rustic-romantic sense that we intense if highly traditional (not to say archaic) could be validated as a 21st-century adaptation like to apply to it, was actually a fleeting phenom- relationship of “family” with the cottage: “‘Family’ of the cottage experience, for “the cottage feeling enon of about 80 years in the 20th century. And it was a group narrated into being by the stories and [can] transcend décor and design”: it is, at heart, a was a bizarrely Ontarian phenomenon. Some other memories of previous generations and experiences sense of place, “even if it appeared to be misplaced provinces, notably British Columbia and Quebec, at the cottage, life at the cottage in the present, and in nature.” prized cottages, but Harrison rightly defines the hopes for the future of life at the cottage.” When I consider the full-page advertisement Ontario families as “valuing the … cottage experi- This absolute integration of family with cot- that appeared in the Toronto Star on March 29, ence [as] valuing what it meant to be Canadian, tage elevated the latter to a significance in family 2014, I cannot share her hopeful vision. That ad even if that was understood from a particularly dynamics far beyond that of the year-round aggressively promotes a development on the Ontarian perspective.” We equated the cottage with primary house, for the city home was merely a flip side of the peninsula where my grandfather both our own present Canadianness and with our practical commonplace, whereas the cottage’s “rit- started out at Big Bay Point. In place of a nat- history as Canadians, an Atwoodian connection to ualized role … outweighed its practical purpose.” ural rocky outcropping populated by a couple of Harrison’s analysis goes a long way toward dozen hand-hewn wooden cottages, the renamed James Roots and his siblings, like so many of their explaining the almost crazy passion with which “Friday Harbour” will be a $1.5 billion, 600-acre generation, had to give up the family cottage a few the traditional Ontario cottager cherishes the development with 1,000 boat slips, 2,000 “resort years ago to distance, age and economics. He lives seasonal home. None of her many interviewees residences,” sports clubs, restaurants and shopping in Kanata, Ontario, where, in July and August, his could talk about their cottages “with disinterest or galleries. The ad consists of 1,200 words. Not one of spirit goes out to Alcona Beach. detachment.” The bemused Harrison was moved to them is the word “cottage.”

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 27 Essay Gardens of Mourning The vast, idealistic effort to bury World War One’s fallen soldiers. Sarah Jennings

n this year of remembrance of the out- break of the First World War, no more profound Isymbol of the carnage and valour can be found than in the cemeteries, created and still maintained by the Commonwealth (formerly Imperial) War Graves Commission. Although monuments to fallen heroes have existed since ancient times, never before had all the military casualties of war been commemor- ated in such a formal and physically defined way. The commission cemeteries express a concept of remembrance and ideals that continues in perpetu- ity, because of a timely commitment, just under a century ago, that we would “never forget.” A hundred years on, today’s visitors to these scrupulously maintained cemeteries still find sol- ace in the places where soldiers gave their lives. Ypres, 1918 – Ruins of the Menin Gate They are found all around the world from India to Gaza to Hong Kong and include all theatres of both ized. A thoughtful new book, Empires of the Dead: systematically on keeping track of the graves of the the First and Second World Wars, wherever these How One Man’s Vision Led to the Creation of WWI’s fallen. While others, such as the Paris-based British forces fought, but particularly in France and the War Graves by Scottish writer David Crane, docu- Red Cross, were engaged in a similar endeavour, blood-soaked fields of Flanders. Even for visitors ments the life and work of the British-born Ware, their work was more often in response to specific with no direct relationship to the fallen, the arc of who had come to France to run the Mobile Unit requests to try to find usually notable individuals. connection stretches down through generations, a of civilian vehicles aimed at finding casualties. He None had the consistent and thorough approach of permanent remembrance in a world of continuing ended as the architect of what we know today as the Ware’s small unit, which focused on marking all the chaotic change. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. graves they could locate and ensuring that the fallen It was the sheer numbers of dead in the First Ware grew up influenced by the faith of dissent- were identified. Simple wooden crosses, tarred at World War that gave rise to the idea. Wellington’s ers such as the Plymouth Brethren, a dominant the base and where possible carefully inscribed, battle at Waterloo, fought nearby just a hundred religious force near his birthplace of Clifton near were the first tombstones, and sometimes the years earlier, had created an estimated 7,000 Anglo- Bristol. He was an ex-journalist, a product of the dead person’s identity was even contained on a allied dead and missing. Most of these, apart from Edwardian era, imbued with notions of empire. Its scrap of paper inside a bottle buried upside down the rescued bodies of nobility, were buried in strength, in his mind, lay in its collectivity (Crane at the gravesite. As time went on, Ware helped in anonymous pit graves near the battlefield, causing calls him “a social radical in conservative cloth- the development of identity discs designed to be the writer Thackeray to rail on behalf of the fallen: ing”). The cause he took up soon after he came to indestructible, although even these could be lost. “shovelled into a hole … and so forgotten.” France would become his life’s work. Those who Initially his group had no official status. But as cas- By contrast, at the end of the first year of the 1914 eventually would join and support him included ualties mounted it was decided to put things on a war alone, more than 16,200 officers and men had not only Britishers, such as the writer Rudyard more formal footing. The British army was acutely already been killed, 48,000 had been wounded and Kipling, the trade union leader Herbert Gosling aware, as noted in Philip Longworth’s The Unending nearly 17,000 were missing. Before it was over, there and Winston Churchill, but representatives from Vigil: The History of the Commonwealth War Graves would be more than a million lost from the British Britain’s dominions and colonies. In Canada, Commission, of “the chaos and distress caused by allied armies alone. Ontario-born Colonel Henry Campbell Osborne the neglect of graves in the Boer War.” In the early months of the war, England’s Royal (whose modest fortune came through a connection By the summer of 1915, Ware and his team Automobile Club encouraged its members to send to the Massey-Harris farm implement company were given full control over the project. The unit their cars to France to serve as ambulances. These and whose duties had kept him out of the trenches) operated under the title of the Graves Registration semi-amateur volunteer attempts to help rescue the was appointed the first secretary of the Canadian Commission, its work now fully supported by the wounded or dead from the battlefield with a hand- Agency of the commission. British Army. Longworth notes that even General ful of vehicles were soon overrun, as were early Although the idea of empire has been largely Haig, leader of the British Expeditionary Force, efforts to ensure that graves were marked and iden- discredited in the modern age, Ware embodied the who was to send so many men to their deaths, tified. Matters were hampered by the constantly best of that idea’s values. He embraced tradition gave Ware’s work official recognition, although he shifting battle lines on the field and the industrial but also modern notions of equality and non-­ reported to the British War Office that “it is fully scale of death that had never been seen before in discrimination that came directly out of that hor- recognised that the work of the organisation is of history. It was largely through the leadership of rific era. Ware believed in the individual but even purely sentimental value … It does not directly one man, Fabian Ware, that this unprecedented more in the greater collectivity based on the ties contribute to the successful termination of the war.” devastation was formally acknowledged and organ- that stretched across the empire and the ability of In May 1917 Ware was put in charge of the those collective ties to produce something memor- Imperial War Graves Commission, newly created Sarah Jennings is an Ottawa author currently work- able and worthwhile. by Royal Charter. Its job was to provide permanent ing on a non-fiction project about the aftermath Taking, as Crane’s book puts it, “a protective graves for the dead and commemoration for the of the First World War. All photos in this essay interest in the graves of the dead,” Ware started missing. By the end of the First World War, this are courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves off in 1914 with the ad hoc mobile unit of make- meant full and sole responsibility for the handling Commission. shift ambulances. With time, Ware focused more of the fallen and the memorials and cemeteries

28 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada a commitment that each government continues to honour and the money is used to fund the commis- sion’s current work. It was and remains an inter- national organization immune to domestic cuts in budgets for veterans or defence affairs. As one walks the rows of headstones in any one of the commission’s cemeteries today, one cannot help but be inspired by the peace and contemplative tranquility that these places engen- der. In this regard the aesthetic adopted by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has a powerful role to play. When it became clear that the dead were to be grouped into cemeteries large and small through- out the war area, it was Ware who achieved an agreement with the French government that turned over land forever for this purpose. The implementa- tion of the commission’s design meant that “new narratives of nationhood” were being formed as Ware made sure that the wishes of the dominions and colonies (which included Newfoundland) Ypres, 1927 – Unveiling of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing were considered. He also aimed to shift away from that would mark what was now the more than a and retrieve their dead. Some, a few, succeeded, hierarchical views of empire, to a collective notion million lost British subjects. It was a Herculean task. spiriting the corpses of their loved ones away, to of an “empire of equals.” The planning and execu- Another 600,000 graves were to be added at the end be buried in family plots, in familiar cemeteries at tion of his project were exemplary in the impetus of the Second World War under the remit that the home. These included a celebrated Canadian case for the gradual emergence of the Commonwealth commission had been given “for the graves and in which a Toronto mother, Anna Durie, after sev- in later decades. remembrance of all those, anywhere, who died on eral unsuccessful attempts and likely against her No expense was spared in the creation and active service.” dead son’s wishes (he was killed at Passchendaele) maintenance of the cemeteries and monuments, The commission’s work was driven by three key retrieved his body from a War Graves cemetery and every effort was made to satisfy religious as principles. The first was to end the class discrimina- and brought it back to Canada in 1925, after well as military sensibilities. The battlefield had, tion that had led in the past to recognition for the eight years of effort. A modest death notice in the in the words of David Crane, “obliterated not just great and the wealthy but little for the common sol- Toronto newspapers marked his quiet reintern- the individuality of the fighting man but also his dier, now numbering hundreds of thousands from ment in Toronto’s St. James Cemetery. A thriving very physical integrity.” Now the task was to devise a all ranks of society. It was decided that, for the first illicit but lucrative trade had grown up around the pastoral world that would restore the essence of the time in known warfare, officers and men would be battlefields to assist these grisly attempts. But these fallen. Ware immediately sounded the arts com- treated exactly alike in death with no special con- activities were vigorously resisted and condemned munity for ideas on the treatment of the war graves, sideration based on military rank or social status. by the authorities. engaging among others the services of Edwin This meant all ranks would lie beside one another In Canada, the non-repatriation policy created Lutyens, Herbert Baker and Reginald Blomfield, in identical graves or be named in the same manner many anguished letters to the Canadian Agency leading architects of their day, as well as other on the commemorative plaques to the missing. Nor of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in prominent figures, including Arthur Hill, the direc- would there be monuments raised to individual Ottawa, each personally and patiently answered tor of the Botanical Gardens at Kew near London, heroes, at least not under the commission’s aegis. by Osborne, but with no softening in the commis- who was already advising on horticultural matters. With the end of the war, Longworth recounts, sion’s position. This issue refused to abate and led Hill made a research trip to the battlefields in the army orders against the exhumation and repatria- in 1920 to a protracted parliamentary debate in spring of 1917 when a profusion of poppies were in tion of bodies lapsed. The Americans had promised Britain. Families opposed to the decision could not full bloom across the French and Belgian country- to repatriate all their dead, but their casualties were understand why those who could find their dead side. Lutyens, alternatively, visited the areas in the relatively few. The British government had made no could not bring them home. But the commission’s grim grey weeks of November. Both experiences such commitment. Ware and his commissioners stand was eventually upheld and the sparring par- were to infuse the outcome. The dominions wished had to move fast to decide what their policy would ties decided there should be no divisive vote on an to use native species to mark their dead, and in be on this second crucial question. They agreed that issue so deeply sensitive to all parties. It was a moot this the Canadians were lucky as cedar hedges and the bodies of the dead were not to be repatriated point for those families who had no trace, and never maple trees could flourish in the cold climates of but buried and commemorated as close as possible would, of the remains of those they loved. both countries. to where they had fallen. Longworth notes that “the Lastly, recognition for the fallen was to be For Baker, the serenity of a quiet English Commissioners judged that ‘to allow the removal ensured “in perpetuity,” as indicated in the Royal churchyard was what he had in mind, while for by a few individuals (of necessity only those who Charter, a reminder of what really was then thought Lutyens something more austere and abstract could afford the cost) would be contrary to the prin- to be “the war to end all wars.” The commission’s that would transcend the multiplicity of religions ciple of equality of treatment … [and] … a higher financing was to be permanent, paid by a care- and races involved was central to his vision. (He ideal than that of private burial at home is embod- ful formula based on the number of dead from tried to persuade the archbishop of Canterbury to ied in these war cemeteries in foreign lands’.” Those each country associated with the British empire— his view in an encounter at their London club but who had fought and died together should remain Canada’s share, 7.78 percent, was based on its only succeeded in alarming the Christian prelate together in their last resting place. No other prin- calculated portion of the total war dead, estimated with his views.) As in all government-associated ciple was to cause more anguish or protest among at roughly 65,000 men. This formula with some artistic projects, a compromise was sought, and Sir those who had the means and connections to try refinements (Canada’s share today is 10 percent) is Frederic Kenyon, director of the British Museum,

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 29 NEW FICTION FROM DUNDURN

LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS by Sam Wiebe

“Not a beach read but a literary achievement.” —Booklist, starred review What do a necrophile, a missing boy, and an unsavoury P.I. have in common? Private detective Michael Drayton is about to find out…

Ypres, present day – The Maple Copse Cemetery THE INDIFFERENCE LEAGUE by Richard Scarsbrook made vice-chair of the War Graves Commission the French and was unveiled in 1936. in 1917, was brought in to reconcile differences. Traditions of honesty, simplicity and good This led eventually to the placing of both Lutyens’s design marked the commission’s work from the great Stone of Remembrance as well as a Cross of gravestones themselves to “the dignity of the layout Sacrifice—Blomfield’s design was endorsed—in all to the beauty of the trees, grass and flowers” that cemeteries, the latter satisfying powerful interests surrounded them. It has been the hallmark of the in Britain and elsewhere that the Empire had been, commission’s work. And the work goes on—newly or at least so they thought, primarily Christian. Still, found dead are still being discovered and recog- strong efforts were made to recognize the religious nized, and existing graves and cemeteries remain, precepts of non-Christian combatants. This was as always, to be maintained and rejuvenated, in also later true for the graves of the Second World perpetuity, even though the commission’s respon- War. sibility ends with the dead of the Second World War. The Avengers for children of the Great Recession, The essential restriction—that there should Since 1945, our approach to the Canadian The Indi erence League takes an obsessive, confused, be no difference made between officers and fallen—in Korea, in Afghanistan and on peace- and stressed-out look back at their old, superheroic men—remained completely intact. The shape of keeping duty with the United Nations—has been dreams. When eyes get blurry trying to spot the line the headstones, their placing in serried rows, the different. We no longer fight for empire or com- between good and evil, failure and success, some- choice of language to identify and commemorate monwealth, and recognition of those killed in our times the most important question is “why bother?” each soldier were strictly set. There was place for wars is now a national responsibility. The reception only a short phrase of commemoration by families ceremonies of recent years for the returning dead restricted to no more than four lines and these from the Afghan war have been deeply moving SAD PENINSULA were subject to the “absolute power of acceptance for those able to attend and, without question, by Mark Sampson or rejection by the Commission.” Many were for- have provided solace and honour to the bereaved mulaic: “Rest in peace”; “Gone but not forgotten.” families. The generic naming of main autoroutes But as documented in a recent article by Toronto a “Highway of Heroes (or Veterans)” seems an writer Eric McGeer, it also led to some heart- impersonal imitation of a habit initiated south of rending choices: “Death is not a barrier to love, the border. One-day-only government salutes— Daddy”; “Sacrificed to the fallacy that only war can recently one occurred to acknowledge our sol- end war”; “My heart knoweth its own bitterness, diers’ brave service in Afghanistan, and previously Mother”; “Many died and there was much glory.” one for service in Libya—are set apart from our Many of the sentiments, McGeer has tabulated, national day of remembrance marked each year touch on the dreadful contradictions of the war. on November 11. None of these official gestures, All was under the centralized control of the including the formal establishment of the National commission, a fact that would create a powerful Military Cemetery similar to Arlington Cemetery in The lives of Eun-young, a former Korean “comfort backlash in later years against what was described the United States, on a piece of land at Beechwood woman,” and Michael, a troubled young Canadian as, and indeed was, its authoritarian approach. Still, Cemetery in Ottawa, can instil in the mind of ESL teacher, become intertwined through love, it was the meticulous work with which it pursued the wider public the same profound peace and con ict, and history. its mission that ensured that not only the half mil- permanence that the Commonwealth War Graves lion known dead were recognized, but also that the Commission cemeteries evoke. In the wafting scent further half million men who were missing forever of the mature cedar boughs circling the site of “The AVAILABLE FROM YOUR FAVOURITE would also be acknowledged, on the great monu- Brooding Soldier” at St. Julien in Flanders, or in BOOKSELLER AND AS EBOOKS. ments of the Menin Gate in Ypres, at Thiepval on the soaring giant Caribou sculpture at Beaumont- the Somme and in other great memorials that were Hamel, which recalls the Newfoundland regiment raised under the commission’s mandate. In addi- in the graveyard nearby, annihilated almost to a /dundurnpress | @dundurnpress | dundurn.com tion the dominions added their own monuments. man on their first encounter with battle, or at any Canada raised the magnificent Vimy Memorial at other of the cemeteries or memorials that mark Vimy Ridge near Arras, where Canadians had so where our people fought and died, therein lies the distinguished themselves in battle in 1917. The profound and eloquent memory of who we were monument was built on land given to Canada by then and who we are now.

30 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada Letters and Responses

Re: “Parliamentary Discontent,” by Ken Re: “Rethinking the Great Depression” Progress without Planning: The Economic History Dryden (June 2014) by Edward Whitcomb (June 2014) of Ontario from Confederation to the Second World n his review of Tragedy in the Commons: dward Whitcomb’s essay raises interesting War, by Ian Drummond; Tax, Borrow and Spend: IFormer Members of Parliament Speak Out Equestions, both factual and historiographic. Financing Federal Spending in Canada, 1867–1990, about Canada’s Failing Democracy, Ken Dryden In hindsight all three levels of government might by W. Irwin Gillespie; and in “Ontario Municipal incorrectly articulates the book’s purpose, which have been able to do more to ease the misery Finance, 1886–1940,” and in my doctoral thesis. is not, as he states, to “increase political participa- caused by the collapse of the world trading and Almos Tassonyi tion,” but rather to better understand the experi- financial systems, the western wheat economy, Toronto, Ontario ences of those who served in Canada’s Parliament, and the Ontario auto and forest-based industries. and to share their reflections and advice. Canada was, however, a very small open economy Re: “Top Dog at External,” by David M. Dryden expresses concerns about our meth- with only a nascent capacity for implementing a Malone (June 2014) odology, asserting we “did not talk to [the MPs] broad Keynesian agenda. Furthermore, the fiscal n his review of this collection of writings by O.D. long enough.” Our methodology was approved by bargain struck in 1867 clearly sought to put the ISkelton, David M. Malone has done an admir- Carleton University and included recorded inter- most visible and accountable forms of taxation in able job in summarizing the importance of one of views with 80 former MPs from across Canada the hands of the provinces and their “creatures” the key figures in the building of an independent and from all political parties. In nearly all cases, while reserving a broad spending power and the Canadian foreign policy. we travelled to the MPs, met in their homes or a possibility of greater centralization to the federal Like many reviews, it provides insight into the nearby café, which afforded the MPs a significant government. The 1930s posed a huge challenge thinking of the reviewer. Malone is nostalgic for an opportunity to reflect on their service to the coun- to all levels of government, particularly as the era when deputy ministers were policy advisors, try. The extent of our interviews and the responses provinces were fiscally small players compared to not managers, and largely uncontested. received surpass anything collected in Canada to the federal and aggregate municipal sector. By the His language is revealing. Skelton’s advo- date. The themes and recommendations in the end of the Depression, however, the Dominion cacy was “relentless”; diplomacy is no longer book reflect what the former MPs told us, and we had acquired significant capacity to implement for the “select few,” has “migrated downscale.” are grateful they shared so openly with us. economic policy, as had the larger provinces with Governments “pander on foreign policy” to ethnic Dryden also writes that speaking with former respect to delivering the “infant welfare state” and communities. “Platitudes, political correctness … parliamentarians is looking in “the wrong place” the stricter regulation of municipal finances. and safe opinions” have replaced “sharp, poten- and suggests that we focus our efforts on speaking Between 1928 and 1932, Dominion revenues tially controversial thought.” to citizens. To clarify: in addition to writing this fell by 23 percent; expenditures were increased by In many ways, Malone is correct. However, it book, we are the co-founders of Samara, a non- nearly 40 percent and the deficit was 34 percent was a simpler time. While the policy issues were partisan charity that conducts research and educa- of expenditures. Government, however, was not as complex (i.e., building multilateral institutions), tion to advance greater participation in politics. inactive: the banks were allowed to artificially the decision-making process was much simpler. We have published numerous reports that examine inflate the value of their holdings of securities, Skelton was part of a small close-knit elite Canadians’ views on and experiences with the pol- three Prairie wheat pools were provided finan- of English-Canadian white males. Canada had itical system, all of which are regularly referenced cial guarantees and the debts of Newfoundland little diversity, aboriginal Canadians were largely in the media and available on Samara’s website. were also guaranteed at the behest of the British invisible, and women did not play a public role. In addition, we run a program called “Democracy ­government. A smaller government role had less need for Talks” that collaborates with community organiza- Furthermore, by 1934, federal supervision horizontal coordination. Greater deference was tions that serve young people and newcomers to for the western provinces and the idea of a loan granted to elites, with fewer competing centres of Canada to help introduce them to politics. council to force “fiscal consolidation” were expertise (or at least opinion!). Grass roots advo- Declining participation and citizens’ percep- being seriously considered. Municipal insol- cacy was limited and ethnic communities smaller tions of politics will make for an interesting book; vency and provincial supervision had occurred and less effective. however, it was not the subject of this one. in 40 municipalities in Ontario, Montreal and Policy makers today have to consider a broader Finally, Dryden asserts that “Canadians are suburban Vancouver. Ultimately, Saskatchewan range of issues and interests that no one bril- checking in to innumerable other ways of engage- and Manitoba (Winnipeg) were bailed out in the liant mind can do alone. Deputy ministers and ment.” This concept—that people are moving from aftermath of the Alberta default (whose debts were senior managers have to focus on the process formal politics into informal politics—is one that ultimately refinanced). The squeeze at all levels of getting decisions as much as policy advice. Samara researched last year, and unfortunately was very real. Cabinet requires compromise and consensus, this is not the case. Our report “Lightweights? The British North America Act was a conven- given that many issues involve more than one Political Participation Beyond the Ballot Box,” ient scapegoat for the politicians of the era in the department. Having deputies with experience in which examines 20 different ways Canadians continuous federal-provincial wrangling over multiple departments facilitates managing cross-­ participate between elections, revealed that in the financing of relief, not just during the Great departmental issues. no area, including online activity, volunteering Depression but also in the aftermath of the Great The long-term trend toward less deference to or joining groups, does Canadians’ participation War. However, the provincial premiers of the larger officials started under Liberal governments but exceed voter turnout. Furthermore, even if it did, provinces actively opposed federal policy deemed was always more apparent following transitions to a vibrant community is no substitute for effective, to be too intrusive or contrary to their provincial Conservative governments. Conservatives, given representative government. interests. long-term Liberal governments, viewed officials as We have been overwhelmed by the interest and These historical complexities come through suspect. response to Tragedy in the Commons since its pub- clearly in works such as “Constraining Subnational Under Stephen Harper, distrust rose dramatic- lication. We hope this means that Canadians agree Fiscal Behaviour in Canada: Different Approaches, ally, combined with a sharper ideological tone. that a discussion on repairing our political system Similar Results?,” by myself and Richard Bird, Evidence was often contested, ignored or replaced is much overdue. in Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of by anecdote. “Fearless advice” was unwelcome; Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan Hard Budget Constraints, edited by Jonathan “loyal implementation” was expected. Toronto, Ontario Rodden, Gunnar Eskeland and Jennie Litvack; Nor was the public service blameless. It failed

July/August 2014 reviewcanada.ca 31 to understand the ideological roots and values of the Conservatives. Too much time was spent in repeating advice contrary to government prior- A Fine Balance is the great masterpiece. Alice Munro ought to have ities, contributing to perceptions of disloyalty. And while policy by anecdote is never wise, the the Nobel Prize. A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder is public service failed to acknowledge its own ideology and the limitations to its expertise and the weirdest novel. Skaay and Ghandl are the greatest poets. evidence. Public servants also sometimes get it John Ralston Saul, public thinker wrong. External Affairs largely opposed John Diefenbaker’s role in expelling South Africa from the Commonwealth and Brian Mulroney’s role in imposing sanctions. None of this detracts from Skelton’s consider- able achievements. As Malone notes, he was a man for his time. But our time is different, and that is the world we live in. Andrew Griffith Ottawa, Ontario

Re: “Risky Driving,” by Patrick Luciani (June 2014) want to thank Patrick Luciani for reviewing, Iand bringing attention to, my book, No Accident: Eliminating Injury and Death on Canadian Roads. Luciani suggests, however, that it does not give enough attention to the declining death toll over the past few decades in Canada. My reasoning is that there is already ample focus on past successes, yet people continue to be killed and traumatized by motor vehicle crashes every day, and as such the only meaningful vision for our country is to put an end to this. In addi- tion, much of the progress we have made to date has not provided benefits to all ages and types of road users equally. Luciani references Steven Levitt’s claim that there are no safety benefits associated with child seats for children aged two and older. Yet Levitt subsequently co-authored another paper that actually found that injury rates for children in child seats were somewhat lower than for chil- dren in adult seat belts. The authors stated that the police data they used could not differenti- ate between properly and improperly installed child seats, and therefore their study likely underestimated the benefits of properly installed child seats. Lotta Jakobsson, Ulf Lechelt and Eva Walkhed tell us that the iliac spines of the pel- vis, important for adult seat-belt fit, are not well developed until children are about ten years old. Using still other methodologies, researchers have shown that restraints for children aged two to six years reduce the odds of death by 28 percent, and for children aged approximately four to eight years, reduce serious injury in the range of 45 to 59 percent. Ultimately, we must look at the com- plete body of scientific evidence. Finally, risk homeostasis is a theory with little real-world application in the modern field of road safety, because otherwise we would not have the staggering nine-fold difference in road safety performance between many countries today. Even though Canada has made much progress in road safety since the 1970s, we are not anywhere near our potential. If we pause to consider that we had the technology to build an atomic bomb in the 1940s, identify the double-helix model of the DNA structure in the 1950s and send a man to the moon in 1969, it becomes ludicrous to think that we could not eliminate injury and death from ordinary land-based transport in the 21st century. And why would we not want to do that? Neil Arason Victoria, British Columbia Read Well 32 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada First Texts Devil in DE RKS

First Voices

Edited and with anAnahareo afterword by Sophie McCall

The First Voices, First Texts series aims to reconnect contemporary readers with some of the most important Indigenous literature of the past by providing newly re-edited texts that are presented with particular sensitivity towards Indigenous ethics, traditions, and contemporary realities.

IN BOOKSTORES NOW Anahareo (1906–1985) was a Mohawk writer, environmentalist, and activist. Devil in Deerskins is Anahareo’s autobiography up to and including her marriage to Grey Owl, a.k.a. Archie Belaney. In vivid prose she captures their extensive travels through the bush and their commitment towards environmental and wildlife protection.

AVAILABLE FALL 2014 With the publication of Indians Don’t Cry Anishinaabe poet and playwright George Kenny joined the ranks of Maria Campbell, Basil Johnson and Rita Joe, whose work melded art and political action. These poems and stories, originally published in English and now accompanied by a Anishinaabemowin translation, depict the challenges of Indigenous people living within urban settler society. SUMMERLeacoc FESTIVALk JULY 22-27, 2014 AUTHORS ◦ BOOKS ◦ READERS The Mysterious Death of Tom Thomson A Wordless Narrative in 109 Wood Engravings with artist George Walker at the Orillia Museum of Art & History Annual Letters Dinner with Wayne Johnston Wayne Johnston reads fom his latest novel Son of a Certain Woman Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town: The Musical A Concert Style: Read Through / Sing Through of a new musical theatre adaptation of the Stephen Leacock classic. Music by: Craig Cassils, Book by Craig Cassils & Robin Richardson Blair J. Bailey, Musical Director Three Shows: July 23, 24 & 26 - Orillia Opera House David French’s Salt Water Moon Single Thread Theatre presents the timeless David French play on the front porch of Leacock House. Featuring Michelle Langille and Michael MacEachern. Directed by Liam Karry. Two Performances: July 24 & 25 CHILDREN’S DAY: Salute to Robert Munsch Paul Quarrington Humour Showcase Host Terry Fallis reads with Kim Moritsugu and Peter Norman at Lakehead University Commons - Orillia Campus Happy Hour with Mark Kingwell Noted philosopher, author and contemporary culture commentator Mark Kingwell reads with M.A.C. Farrant and Ann Dowsell Johnston. But Seriously…. Three former Leacock Medal winners read from their new ‘serious’ fiction featuring Trevor Cole, Joe Kertes and Morley Torgov For Tickets and Information: 705-329-1908 www.leacockmuseum.com

THE Leacock aSSOCIATES Leacock Museum National Historic Site Orillia, Ontario, Canada CITY OF ORILLIA - PARKS, RECREATION & CULTURE DEPT. M y MARIPOSA STARTS HERE LRC_LSF2014 _FullPage_Times.indd1 1 6/09/14 3:20:23 PM