Charles M. Johnston – författare

In a fiercely fought provincial election in 1919, a new political movement came to power in Ontario. The victorious party was the United Farmers of Ontario. Its leader, Ernest Charles Drury (1878-1968), became the province''s eighth premier.

Idealistic agrarian reformer, staunch temperance man, free-trade advocate, Simcoe County ''yeoman,'' and progressive populist, Drury was a man of the people and of the land, inevitably tagged the Farmer Premier. In this biography, Charles M. Johnston follows the career of Drury through agrarian activism and partisan politics, and explores the personal and ideological forces that directed him.

Drury began his career in the farm movement as leader of the Dominion Grange and Farmers'' Alliance. He went on to act as the driving force behind the Canadian Council of Agriculture, and then co-founded the UFO in 1913.

Activist though he was, Drury as a premier sought no dramatic departures from established political procedures. When others of his party did, notably J.J. Morrison and W.C. Good, Drury disavowed their class-consciousness and their formula of group government. Instead he advocated the creation of a people''s party, based on what he called Broadening Out – an appeal to all citizens, regardless of class, occupation, or political stripe, who were seen to share the farmer''s desire for a more humane, moral, and progressive society in the wake of the First World War.

The question of Broadening Out was a controversial one within agrarian ranks, and it led to dissension among the leaders. This weakening of the party combined with the shrewd tactics of Howard Ferguson''s Tories to bring about the Drury government''s downfall in 1923. During its four years in power it had enacted some solid social welfare legislation, but its defeat was resounding. With it came the effective end of Drury''s political career.

Johnston offers a revealing study of a brief chapter in Ontario history and of the man whose principles and ideals shaped it.

This volume traces the history of the Indians in the Grand River Valley from the first written record in 1627 until the middle of the nineteenth century. Much of the book is devoted to the Six Nations Indians who, dispossessed of their homes in the Mohawk River Valley because of their allegiance to the British cause during the American War of Independence, were granted lands on the Grand River in Ontario after the war. From this grant arose many problems—the Indians'' right to sell their land, the difficulties of such sales, their transition from a fur to an agricultural economy, the position of the Six Nations in the War of 1812 and the Rebellion of 1837, and the adjustment of the Indians to a European way of life, religion, and education. All of this is told in the words of the missionaries, travellers, army officers, government officials and settlers, as well as in the vigorous letters and speeches of the Indians themselves.

(Ontario Series of the Champlain Society, Volume 7)

In a fiercely fought provincial election in 1919, a new political movement came to power in Ontario. The victorious party was the United Farmers of Ontario. Its leader, Ernest Charles Drury (1878-1968), became the province''s eighth premier.

Idealistic agrarian reformer, staunch temperance man, free-trade advocate, Simcoe County ''yeoman,'' and progressive populist, Drury was a man of the people and of the land, inevitably tagged the Farmer Premier. In this biography, Charles M. Johnston follows the career of Drury through agrarian activism and partisan politics, and explores the personal and ideological forces that directed him.

Drury began his career in the farm movement as leader of the Dominion Grange and Farmers'' Alliance. He went on to act as the driving force behind the Canadian Council of Agriculture, and then co-founded the UFO in 1913.

Activist though he was, Drury as a premier sought no dramatic departures from established political procedures. When others of his party did, notably J.J. Morrison and W.C. Good, Drury disavowed their class-consciousness and their formula of group government. Instead he advocated the creation of a people''s party, based on what he called Broadening Out – an appeal to all citizens, regardless of class, occupation, or political stripe, who were seen to share the farmer''s desire for a more humane, moral, and progressive society in the wake of the First World War.

The question of Broadening Out was a controversial one within agrarian ranks, and it led to dissension among the leaders. This weakening of the party combined with the shrewd tactics of Howard Ferguson''s Tories to bring about the Drury government''s downfall in 1923. During its four years in power it had enacted some solid social welfare legislation, but its defeat was resounding. With it came the effective end of Drury''s political career.

Johnston offers a revealing study of a brief chapter in Ontario history and of the man whose principles and ideals shaped it.

This volume traces the history of the Indians in the Grand River Valley from the first written record in 1627 until the middle of the nineteenth century. Much of the book is devoted to the Six Nations Indians who, dispossessed of their homes in the Mohawk River Valley because of their allegiance to the British cause during the American War of Independence, were granted lands on the Grand River in Ontario after the war. From this grant arose many problems—the Indians'' right to sell their land, the difficulties of such sales, their transition from a fur to an agricultural economy, the position of the Six Nations in the War of 1812 and the Rebellion of 1837, and the adjustment of the Indians to a European way of life, religion, and education. All of this is told in the words of the missionaries, travellers, army officers, government officials and settlers, as well as in the vigorous letters and speeches of the Indians themselves.

(Ontario Series of the Champlain Society, Volume 7)

Of all Dr. Charles Johnston''s writings, Insight most unabashedly highlights what is original and of major significance in his thinking. From the book''s back cover: 

"When we understand them deeply, the ideas of Creative Systems Theory and the concept of Cultural Maturity come to seem like common sense. But this kind of common sense is new-a product of a fundamental leap in how we understand. Many of Creative Systems Theory''s core observations are thus appropriately thought of as radical-indeed, audaciously so. They reflect contributions new to the evolving story of human thought. 

"Insight turns to those radical observations and just what makes them new and important. It delves into how the changes that the concept of Cultural Maturity describes will be essential to the future of the species. It examines how a creative frame brings a fundamentally new kind of depth to our understanding of why we believe what we do and the workings of human intelligence. It also looks at how Creative Systems Theory''s systemic vantage lets us successfully address eternal conceptual quandaries, from the nature of free will to the ultimate relationship between the contributions of science and religion-and much more." 

Intelligence''s Creative Multiplicity addresses one of our time''s most essential insights if we are to think with the sophistication our future demands. Intelligence has multiple aspects each of which is critical to understanding ourselves and to addressing the important questions before us as a species. 

From the book''s back cover: "We take appropriate pride in our rationality, but other aspects of our cognitive complexity-the imaginal, the emotional, the intelligence of the body-play equally important roles in our unique toolmaking, meaning-making natures. Creative Systems Theory brings particular attention to the role of intelligence''s multiplicity in what makes us human. And it argues that a greater appreciation for intelligence''s multiple aspects will become more and more critical in times ahead. The theory describes how a more conscious and encompassing relationship to the whole of intelligence is key to the more nuanced and mature-we could say simply wise-kind of decision-making that will be increasingly necessary in all parts of our lives. Intelligence''s Creative Multiplicity offers a deep-dive look into this rich and dynamic new picture of cognition''s workings."