$7.95 1 2 MARLO ALEXANDRA BURKS Democracy Now KRZYSZTOF PELC Information Overload 0 2 H SHANNON HENGEN MARK LOVEWELL Atwood the Poet London, We Have a Problem C R A M Literary Review of Canada A JOURNAL OF IDEAS How will the next indie book inspire you? Expand your world. Immerse yourself. Discover new stories crafted by some of Canada’s most provocative and passionate writers. Read up. Canadian Indie Literary Publishers. AllLitUp.ca/lpg MARCH 2021 ◆ VOLUME 29 ◆ NUMBER 2 A JOURNAL OF IDEAS FIRST WORD BYGONE DAYS THIS AND THAT A Pronounced Problem The History Books Pack Together, Pack Apart Kyle Wyatt On the Cundill Prize short list Down at the dog park 3 Christopher Moore Dan Dunsky 15 FURTHERMORE 28 Robert A. Stairs, Lawrence Wardroper, At Daggers Drawn HEALTH AND WELLNESS Antanas Sileika, Joel Henderson, Margaret MacMillan soldiers on J. L. Granatstein Fragments Ian Waddell When your mother can’t 17 5 remember your name THE PUBLIC SQUARE Jigging for Answers Katherine Leyton Scratched records of 29 Slouching toward Democracy a Métis family Where have all the wise men gone? Heather Menzies LITERATURE Marlo Alexandra Burks 19 The Prophet 6 OUR NATURAL WORLD Atwood’s poetic voice Royal Descent Shannon Hengen Rideau Hall is brought down to earth Thereby Hangs a Tail 31 Mark Lovewell With the ghosts of Madagascar Alexander Sallas On the Rocks 7 Peter Unwin’s new novel 20 RULES AND REGULATIONS Larry Krotz Around the Bend 34 Wait, Wait. Don’t Tell Me The many ways rivers run through it The pros and cons of disclosure Robert Girvan Home Sweet Unhomely The latest from André Alexis Krzysztof Pelc 21 8 Spencer Morrison CLIMATE CRISIS 35 POLITICKING Whatever the Cost May Be BACKSTORY Share and Share Alike Preparing for the fight of our life How Ottawa slices the pie John Baglow Trash Talk Murray Campbell 24 Myra J. Hird 12 36 COMPELLING PEOPLE Wild Rose Diplomacy Negotiating Alberta’s uncertain future The Diarist Bruce Campbell Making tracks in a new land 13 John Lownsbrough 26 POETRY Bardia Sinaee, p. 25 Tyler Haché, p. 27 Michael Lithgow, p. 30 Margo Wheaton, p. 33 OUR CONTRIBUTORS John Baglow reads and writes in Ottawa. J. L. Granatstein writes on Canadian political John Lownsbrough is a journalist in Toronto and military history. and the author of The Best Place to Be: Marlo Alexandra Burks is working on a book Expo 67 and Its Time. on the Austrian author Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Shannon Hengen reads poetry while trying to stay warm in Regina. Heather Menzies has written ten books, Bruce Campbell is a senior fellow with the including Reclaiming the Commons. Centre for Free Expression, at Ryerson University, Myra J. Hird is a professor in the School of and the former executive director of the Canadian Environmental Studies, at Queen’s University. Christopher Moore is a historian in Toronto. Centre for Policy Alternatives. Larry Krotz wrote Diagnosing the Legacy: Spencer Morrison teaches American literature Murray Campbell is a retired Globe and Mail The Discovery, Research, and Treatment of at the University of Tel Aviv. columnist and reporter. Type 2 Diabetes in Indigenous Youth. Krzysztof Pelc is a professor of political science Dan Dunsky was executive producer of Katherine Leyton is writing on a book about and international relations at McGill University. The Agenda with Steve Paikin, from 2006 to the politics of motherhood. 2015, and is the founder of Dunsky Insight. Alexander Sallas is working on his doctorate. Mark Lovewell has held various senior roles ◆ Robert Girvan is a former Crown prosecutor and at Ryerson University. He is also one of the the author of Who Speaks for the River? magazine’s contributing editors. On the cover: “Out of Office,” by David Parkins. WITH THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS Made possible with the support of Ontario Creates “THE TRUTH MUST BE TOLD, REGARDLESS OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT TRUTH.” — HANNAH ARENDT (1906–1975) “STUNNING.” — Janice Gross Stein, political scientist and founding director, Munk School of Global Affairs A groundbreaking biography of Hannah Arendt, whose insights into the power of lies, the corruption of the human spirit, and the “banality of evil” are eerily and urgently relevant half a century later. ANANSI PUBLISHES VERY GOOD BOOKS HOUSEOFANANSI.COM @HOUSEOFANANSI FIRST WORD A Pronounced Problem HE CBC, THE BBC, AND NPR ARE ALL international border — so clearly, in fact, that part of my daily radio diet, but I just about all of us can mimic them perfectly. tend to indulge in more lighthearted At this point, we would find it unforgivable fare early in the mornings, especially for on-air talent, however serious or saccharine, if I’m about to head out for a hard whether in the U.S. or Canada, to mispronounce Trun. Grinding through fast kilometre repeats the first name of the new vice-president. At the is just easier with a pop song stuck in my head very least, one host would try to subtly correct than with the reality of the latest newscast set- the other’s mistake. But butchering a vowel in tling in (that can wait until I’m back at my desk). Rideau Hall, with thousands and thousands of My typical morning soundtrack is a highly early risers listening — that blunder goes uncor- rated Toronto station with three likeable hosts, rected and, I worry, unnoticed by far too many. who mix silly games and celebrity gossip with Rideau Hall may be little more than a sym- quick hits on the usual topics — the traffic, the bol, but it’s our symbol, one that represents weather, the latest COVID-19 numbers, and, of the apogee of our political and civic order. Its course, American politics. Last year, the presiden- pronunciation matters because what goes on tial primaries and general election got plenty of there matters, just as much as what goes on at airtime in between Top 40 hits, just as the MAGA 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or 10 Downing Street marauders of January 6 and the swearing-in of or any other stately address that captivates the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did earlier this year. collective imagination. Its neglect is sympomatic Canadian politics and politicians, meanwhile, of a larger problem, a reminder that we must tend to fly under the radar; who cares about Sean not allow urgent debates about the future of Casey or, for that matter, Justin Trudeau when Canadian content — whether they’re around the you have Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber. CBC’s broadcasting licence, around social media But even my morning radio hosts couldn’t companies compensating news organizations ignore the sudden departure of Julie Payette, on for content, around more publishers wanting to January 21, as Canada’s twenty-ninth governor merge, or around the very survival of our news- general. The DJ who plays the role of the smart paper and magazine industry — to be drowned one briefed listeners on the unfolding drama out by the entertaining circus animal next door. the morning after the former astronaut aborted We all felt the emotional baggage of the presi- her mission: the allegations, the official state- dency just past. We all felt the horror as rioters ments, the high-profile lawyers who had been descended on the U.S. Capitol, as well as the retained, even a cringeworthy refresher on what relief of a successful inauguration two weeks the governor general actually does. And see- later. I suspect we all feel some hope that the next ing as this was palace intrigue at its most vice- four years will be far less exhausting than the past regal, she also mentioned the name of the GG’s four, even those who are upset that Biden has New Edinburgh palace several times. cancelled Keystone XL. But, on the whole, do we What troubled me on my run the morning feel anything so viscerally about the goings-on at of January 22 was not the pace of the workout Parliament Hill? Do we listen with the same rapt or the news of Payette’s resignation, which had attention we give Washington? consumed me the night before. What troubled For the time being, Donald Trump is holed me was how the young broadcaster — fully up in Mar-a-Lago, an address that no Canadian educated in Ontario, according to my sources radio personality would ever mispronounce. at LinkedIn — repeatedly pronounced Rideau For the time being, a sense of decency has Hall as “Rye Dough Hall,” as if we were about to returned to the West Wing. We can’t ignore the make a loaf of bread. It’s a small thing, yes, but elephant — that would be naive and impos- one that speaks to something larger. sible — but maybe we can adjust the dial and One of the things about sleeping next to an spend more time talking about ourselves, about elephant is just how loud pachyderms can be, things like the new governor general and the with their constant rumbling and trumpeting new governor general’s secretary — who those and stomping. In the wild, their sounds can people are, how they are selected, and how their be heard from up to thirteen kilometres away. jobs affect all Canadians, no matter which part In metaphor, they can be heard across a closed of our news ecosystem we turn to. Kyle Wyatt, Editor-in-Chief MARCH 2021 3 Literary Review of Canada Massey College 4 Devonshire Place Toronto, ON M5S 2E1 [email protected] EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kyle Wyatt [email protected] MANAGING EDITOR Michael Strizic ASSISTANT EDITOR Rose Hendrie POETRY EDITOR Moira MacDougall COPY EDITOR Barbara Czarnecki ART DIRECTOR Brian Morgan CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Cristina Austin, Marlo Alexandra Burks, Murray Campbell, Bronwyn Drainie, Basil Guinane, Beth Haddon, Mark Lovewell, Cecily Ross, Alexander Sallas, Derek Ungless PUBLISHER Eithne McCredie BOARD OF DIRECTORS John Macfarlane (Chair), Marina Glogovac, Scott Griffin, Neena Gupta, John Honderich, Kelly Jenkins, Joseph Kertes, Amela Marin, Don McCutchan, John Stackhouse, David Staines, Jaime Watt CORPORATE SECRETARY Vali Bennett FOUNDED IN 1991 BY P.