C.D. Howe Series in Canadian Political History – serie

"I am not afraid to be called a politician," declared Paul Martin Sr., defending his life's work in politics. "Next to preaching the word of God, there is nothing nobler than to serve one's fellow countrymen in government." First elected to the House of Commons in 1935, Martin served in the cabinet of four prime ministers and ran for the Liberal Party leadership three times. This book examines his remarkable career as a liberal reformer and politician who tackled the issues of his day with consummate political skill and gritty determination.Cutting a broad swath through the history of twentieth-century Canada, Greg Donaghy uses extensive interviews and untapped archival sources to challenge the prevailing view of Martin as simply an ambitious Windsor ward heeler and party operator. Martin embraced a tolerant politics of compromise and accommodation that sought to unite Canadians in search of a more just and equitable world. Though some mocked his ambition and doubted his progressive politics, his resolute championing of health care and pension rights, new meanings for Canadian citizenship, and internationalism in world affairs would leave an indelible mark on Canada's political landscape.

Before official bilingualism was established in 1969, francophones were scarce in the Canadian public service. Marcel Cadieux was one of the few, becoming arguably the most important francophone diplomat and civil servant in Canadian history.Brendan Kelly's insightful, entertaining biography draws on extensive archival research and interviews to reveal a complex figure. Cadieux held the nationalist views of many young French Canadians in the 1930s, yet he made the distinctly unconventional decision to join the Department of External Affairs in 1941. Public service became the vocation of this blunt, funny, strong-minded, and sometimes undiplomatic diplomat. Against the backdrop of rising Quebec separatism and the Cold War, he headed the department from 1964 to 1970 and served as Canada's first francophone ambassador to the United States from 1970 to 1975. Cadieux's profound belief in the dignity of service speaks eloquently to readers today, when professionalism and expertise are often undervalued.

In 1975, Indonesian forces overran East Timor, just days after it declared independence from Portugal. Canadian officials knew the invasion was coming and endorsed Indonesian rule in the ensuing occupation. Challenge the Strong Wind recounts the evolution of Canadian government policy toward East Timor from 1975 to its 1999 independence vote. During this time, Canadian civil society groups and NGOs worked in support of Timorese independence activists by promoting an alternative Canadian foreign policy that focused on self-determination and human rights. After following the lead of key pro-Indonesian allies in the 1970s and '80s, Ottawa eventually yielded to pressure from these NGOs and pushed like-minded countries to join it in supporting Timorese self-rule. David Webster draws on previously untapped government and non-government archival sources to demonstrate that a clear-eyed view of international history must include both state and non-state perspectives. The East Timor conflict serves as a model of multilevel dialogue, citizen diplomacy, and novel approaches to resolving complex disputes.

Challenge the Strong Wind recounts the story of Canadian policy toward East Timor from the 1975 invasion to the 1999 vote for independence, demonstrating that historical accounts need to include both government and non-governmental perspectives.

Canadian Foreign Policy brings together leading scholars in a lively, engaging meditation on the current state and future direction of the Canadian foreign policy discipline, and on how we see Canada in the world.

Canadian Foreign Policy, as an academic discipline, is in crisis. Despite its value, CFP is often considered a "stale and pale" subfield of political science with an unfashionably state-centred focus. This book asks why. Contributors from both inside and around the field investigate how they came to view themselves as participating in CFP as an academic project – or not – and what that means for both their intellectual trajectory and the development of the field. How were they taught to think about Canada? How does that affect their interpretation of this country's place in the world? And how do they teach the subject themselves? The thoughtful essays in this nuanced collection shine a light on issues such as the casualization of academic labour, the prospect of Indigenizing the field, and the relationship between study and practice. More broadly, they offer a much-needed assessment of the boundaries, goals, and values of the discipline, and an important guide to its revitalization.

Since the first atomic weapon was detonated in 1945, Canadians have debated not only the role of nuclear power in their uranium-rich land but also their country's role in a nuclear world.The Nuclear North investigates critical questions in these ongoing debates. Should Canada belong to international alliances that depend on the threat of using nuclear weapons for their own security? Should Canadian-produced nuclear technologies be exported to potential proliferators? Does the country's championing of arms control and disarmament on the global stage matter? What about the domestic costs of nuclear technologies and atomic research, including their impact on local communities and the environment?The contributors to this important collection consider how the atomic age has shaped Canadian policies at home and abroad. Their incisive assessment of the country's nuclear history engages with much larger debates about national identity, Canadian foreign policy contradictions during the Cold War, and Canada's place in the international order.

Since the first atomic weapon was detonated in 1945, Canadians have debated not only the role of nuclear power in their uranium-rich land but also their country's role in a nuclear world.The Nuclear North investigates critical questions in these ongoing debates. Should Canada belong to international alliances that depend on the threat of using nuclear weapons for their own security? Should Canadian-produced nuclear technologies be exported to potential proliferators? Does the country's championing of arms control and disarmament on the global stage matter? What about the domestic costs of nuclear technologies and atomic research, including their impact on local communities and the environment?The contributors to this important collection consider how the atomic age has shaped Canadian policies at home and abroad. Their incisive assessment of the country's nuclear history engages with much larger debates about national identity, Canadian foreign policy contradictions during the Cold War, and Canada's place in the international order.

Much of Canada's modern identity emerged from the innovative social policies and ambitious foreign policy of Louis St-Laurent's Liberal government. His extraordinarily creative administration made decisions that still resonate today: on health care, pensions, and housing; on infrastructure and intergovernmental issues; and, further afield, in developing Canada's global middle-power role in global affairs and resolving the Suez Crisis. Yet St-Laurent remains an enigmatic figure. Contributors to The Unexpected Louis St-Laurent assess the degree to which he set the policy agenda. They explore the features of his personality that made him effective (or sometimes less so), the changes he wrought on the state apparatus and federal-provincial relations, and the substance of his government's policies.This wide-ranging collection fills a great void in Canadian political history, bringing together seasoned professionals and new scholars to investigate the far-reaching influence of a politician whose astute policies and bold resolve moved Canada into the modern era.

The political landscape of British Columbia has been characterized by divisiveness since Confederation. As outsized personalities from Amor De Cosmos to W.A.C. Bennett dominated the halls of power, militant radicals and reformers took to the streets and hustings. A Long Way to Paradise traces the evolution of political ideas from 1871 to 1972 to explore British Columbia's journey to socio-political maturity, answering both why and how British Columbia became Canada's most fractious province. Robert McDonald explains its classic left-right divide as a product of "common sense" liberalism that also shaped how British Columbians met the challenges of a modernizing world. McDonald tackles key questions: Why were the Liberal and Conservative parties obliterated in the 1950s? What can account for Bennett's decades-long reign? And why did parties as diametrically opposed as Social Credit and the NDP succeed? This lively overview provides fresh insight into the fascinating story of provincial politics in Canada's lotus land.

The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism investigates the groundbreaking inquiry launched to reconstruct the federal system and reveals its legacy for Canadian federalism today.In 1937, the Canadian confederation was broken. As the Depression ground on, the provinces faced increasing obligations but limited funds, while the dominion had fewer responsibilities but lucrative revenue sources. The commission was struck to review the system. Overcoming a process beset by conflicts, the report proposed a bold new form of federalism based on the national collection of major tax revenues and unconditional transfers of these revenues to provinces based on fiscal need.Robert Wardhaugh and Barry Ferguson dig through the evidence and counter misconceptions to demonstrate that even though the report was at first rejected, it provided a storehouse of innovative ideas that redefined the nature of federal government and shaped policy – and thinking – about federalism for decades.

A Cooperative Disagreement demonstrates how Canada and the United States successfully kept divergent policies on revolutionary Cuba from damaging their bilateral relationship. Covering the period from 1959 to the end of the Cold War, John Dirks investigates the efforts of Canadian and US diplomats and bureaucrats to cooperate despite their respective approaches toward Cuba. Washington sought the downfall of the communist regime through political and economic isolation. Ottawa chose engagement instead. The burden fell largely on Canada, as the smaller power, to mitigate potential frictions. Ultimately, these two North American powers continued to adhere to the hard policy boundaries set by their own governments while establishing a mutually beneficial relationship on issues of intelligence, travel, and other areas of engagement with Cuba. Drawing on archival documents from both sides of the border, many newly declassified, this comprehensive study reveals how officials in Ottawa and Washington managed to preserve bilateral harmony despite ongoing policy divergence

A Cooperative Disagreement demonstrates how Canada and the United States successfully kept divergent policies on revolutionary Cuba from damaging their bilateral relationship. Covering the period from 1959 to the end of the Cold War, John Dirks investigates the efforts of Canadian and US diplomats and bureaucrats to cooperate despite their respective approaches toward Cuba. Washington sought the downfall of the communist regime through political and economic isolation. Ottawa chose engagement instead. The burden fell largely on Canada, as the smaller power, to mitigate potential frictions. Ultimately, these two North American powers continued to adhere to the hard policy boundaries set by their own governments while establishing a mutually beneficial relationship on issues of intelligence, travel, and other areas of engagement with Cuba. Drawing on archival documents from both sides of the border, many newly declassified, this comprehensive study reveals how officials in Ottawa and Washington managed to preserve bilateral harmony despite ongoing policy divergence

Biography is "not on the periphery of history but in the middle of it," historian Peter Waite astutely remarked. People, Politics, and Purpose brings the historian's myriad tools to bear on Canadians, from prime ministers to lumberjacks to Indigenous leaders. Drawing on the rich details of biography – the what – the contributors also address the larger questions of motivation – the so what – that drive history. In the process, they prove the value of analyzing both macro- and micro-dynamics within Canadian politics and society to illuminate the roles of political actors. As such, the biographies in People, Politics, and Purpose are not simply stories about the lives of individuals but critical reflections on subjects who are directly involved in, and affected by, politics in Canada. This book makes for lively reading that stimulates fresh thinking about political biography and the direction of political history more generally.

Biography is "not on the periphery of history but in the middle of it," historian Peter Waite astutely remarked. People, Politics, and Purpose brings the historian's myriad tools to bear on Canadians, from prime ministers to lumberjacks to Indigenous leaders. Drawing on the rich details of biography – the what – the contributors also address the larger questions of motivation – the so what – that drive history. In the process, they prove the value of analyzing both macro- and micro-dynamics within Canadian politics and society to illuminate the roles of political actors. As such, the biographies in People, Politics, and Purpose are not simply stories about the lives of individuals but critical reflections on subjects who are directly involved in, and affected by, politics in Canada. This book makes for lively reading that stimulates fresh thinking about political biography and the direction of political history more generally.

Domination by – and distinction from – the United States is a recurrent concern for Canadians. In the tumultuous 1960s, this theme found political expression in the Waffle movement. Working through the New Democratic Party, Waffle members advocated for a sovereign, socialist Canada that was to be achieved not through protest alone but also through electoral politics. The New Left in Canadian Politics investigates this important chapter in the history of the Canadian left.Bursting onto the scene in 1969, the Waffle challenged the NDP to pursue leftist nationalism by promoting socialist measures to combat American economic might and ensure Canadian independence. However, party leaders and allied trade unions were reluctant to adopt a radical approach, and by 1975 the Waffle had faded as a political force.Nonetheless, as this compelling history of the Waffle's successes and failures shows, the movement influenced Canadian politics during its short lifespan and beyond.

Foreign policy is a tricky business. Typically, challenges and proposed solutions are perceived as disparate unless a leader can amass enough support for an idea that creates alignment. And because the prime minister is typically the one proposing that idea, Canadian foreign policy can be analyzed through the actions of these leaders.Statesmen, Strategists, and Diplomats explores how prime ministers from Sir John A. Macdonald to Justin Trudeau have shaped foreign policy by manipulating government structures, adopting and rejecting options, and imprinting their personalities on the process. Contributors consider the impact of a wide range of policy decisions – increasing or decreasing department budgets, forming or ending alliances, and pursuing trade relationships – particularly as these choices affected the bureaucracies that deliver foreign policy diplomatically and militarily.This innovative focus is destined to trigger a new appreciation for the formidable personal attention and acuity involved in a successful approach to external affairs.

In 1941, influential US publishing magnate Henry Luce declared the world was in the midst of the first great American century, believing his nation held the power and vision to lead and transform the world. What did a newly outward-looking and hegemonic United States mean for its northern neighbour? North of America is a sharp-eyed volume providing a unique look at postwar Canada, bringing to the fore the opinions and perceptions of a broad range of Canadians – from consumers to diplomats, jazz musicians to urban planners, and a diverse cross-section in between. As they grappled with issues including constitutional reform, transit policy, national security, the arrival of television, white supremacy, and postwar domesticity, Canadians were ever mindful of the unfolding American experience and its influence.

In 1941, influential US publishing magnate Henry Luce declared the world was in the midst of the first great American century, believing his nation held the power and vision to lead and transform the world. What did a newly outward-looking and hegemonic United States mean for its northern neighbour? North of America is a sharp-eyed volume providing a unique look at postwar Canada, bringing to the fore the opinions and perceptions of a broad range of Canadians – from consumers to diplomats, jazz musicians to urban planners, and a diverse cross-section in between. As they grappled with issues including constitutional reform, transit policy, national security, the arrival of television, white supremacy, and postwar domesticity, Canadians were ever mindful of the unfolding American experience and its influence.

Since Confederation, Canadian prime ministers have consciously constructed the national story. Each created shared narratives, formulating and reformulating a series of unifying national ideas that served to keep this geographically large, ethnically diverse, and regionalized nation together. This book is about those narratives and stories.Focusing on the post–Second World War period, Raymond B. Blake shows how, regardless of political stripe, prime ministers worked to build national unity, forged a citizenship based on inclusion, and defined a place for Canada in the world. They created for citizens an ideal image of what the nation stood for and the path it should follow. They told a national story of Canada as a modern, progressive, liberal state with a strong commitment to inclusion, a deep respect for diversity and difference, and a fundamental belief in universal rights and freedoms. Ultimately, this innovative history provides readers with a new way to see and understand what Canada is, and what holds us together as a nation.

Building a Special Relationship offers thoughtful insight into Canadian and American foreign relations during the 1950s, when Canada and the United States found new diplomatic footing as allies in the shadow of the Cold War. This book shows how the Eisenhower years were crucial in forming the bilateral relationship that currently exists between Canada and the United States. Under President Eisenhower and Prime Ministers St. Laurent and Diefenbaker, policy makers on both sides of the border collaborated with an air of "tolerant accommodation" on significant issues of the day. Despite frequent differences, they established frameworks for defence, foreign policy, economic growth, and resource management, many of which endure today. For scholars and readers of political history, international relations, and diplomacy, Building a Special Relationship makes a compelling case that the Eisenhower era is key to understanding the ongoing bond between these two nations.

A giant of Canadian history. A racist and anti-Semite typical of his generation. A devoted occultist. An uncontested Liberal Party leader. The Enduring Riddle of Mackenzie King explores the character, thoughts, and actions of Canada's longest-serving prime minister.Patrice Dutil leads a who's who of political historians to explain William Lyon Mackenzie King. Although King often headed minority governments and was sometimes personally defeated in elections, his accomplishments are unmatched. He led the nation during the expansionist 1920s and part of the 1930s Depression, and managed the Canadian war effort in the 1940s, garnering both praise and blame. His inaction on numerous files and the racism of many of his policy approaches were reprehensible, but he kept the country united during the Second World War and ushered in the welfare state.These essays shed new light on how King may – or may not – be the greatest of all Canadian prime ministers.

Conventional wisdom holds that foreign policy was not a priority for Jean Chrétien over his ten years as Canadian prime minister. Chrétien and the World combines the perspectives of key players of the time with analyses by leading scholars to reveal something unexpected: an often ambitious, activist approach to international affairs.Contributors draw on personal recollections, interviews, and research to portray a coherent and engaged foreign policy. Chrétien responded to events that reshaped the international landscape, notably 9/11, the war on terror, the US-led invasion of Iraq, and Canadian involvement in Afghanistan. Working with trusted ministers, he emphasized trade liberalization, strong bilateral and multilateral relations, human security, and humanitarian intervention. Often characterized as purely pragmatic, Chrétien's tenure in fact marked a high point of liberal internationalism.This insightful collection demonstrates how Canada navigated crucial years between the end of the Cold War and the emergence of a new geopolitical reality.

Diplomacy works better than bluster, as John Hart knew well. Hart, an Irish immigrant with a talent for compromise and a famously winning smile, was at the heart of BC politics for much of the first half of the twentieth century. Drawing on government records, politicians' papers, and newspaper reports, John Hart illuminates his achievements as finance minister and premier.A businessman and Liberal, Hart managed British Columbia's finances during both world wars and the Depression. As premier during much of the Second World War, he led a coalition with the Conservatives that provided businesslike governance and established the persistent BC political theme of free enterprise versus socialism.This lively account helps fill a significant gap in the political and economic history of British Columbia.

J.L. Ilsley, federal finance minister from 1940 to 1946, was responsible for financing Canadian participation in the Second World War. A Wartime Finance Minister tells the story of how his efforts to do so transformed the tax system and established the financial basis of the modern welfare state.Between 1939 and 1943, Canada's war effort boosted federal spending and revenue tenfold, a commitment Ilsley financed by borrowing through Victory Bond campaigns and extending income tax to most of the working population, at sharply progressive rates. Agreements made with the provinces in 1941 became the foundation of modern federal–provincial fiscal relations. Ilsley preached that the war required high but fair taxes, wage and price controls, and frugality, winning public confidence in the measures partly through his own example of self-sacrifice.As this compelling account of his life and career reveals, Ilsley's promotion and defence of these policies brought lasting benefit to Canada.

The Call of the World takes us on an unprecedented behind-the-scenes tour of defining moments in recent global history. Bill Graham – Canada's minister of foreign affairs and then its minister of defence in the tumultuous years following 9/11 – is an insightful and wryly humorous guide, steering readers through an astonishing array of national and international events, explaining important geopolitical relationships, and revealing the human side of global affairs through his deft portraits of world leaders.An engaging storyteller, Graham offers personal reflections as well as a riveting account of his years in office. He recalls his fortunate childhood in Vancouver and reflects on his time working as an international lawyer in Paris, as a backbencher in Ottawa, and as a cabinet minister during the Chrétien-Martin years. While his political career took him around the world, he remained a devoted champion of his constituents in his riding of Toronto Centre.During his time as a member of Parliament, Graham was a passionate promoter of bilingualism and an early advocate for gay and lesbian rights. He is perhaps best known, though, for his role in keeping Canada out of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for his work in rebuilding the Canadian Armed Forces, and for stepping up as interim leader of the Liberal Party following Paul Martin's resignation.Many of the issues tackled in The Call of the World remain as immediate as today's headlines. Graham demystifies globalization, free trade, human rights, peacekeeping, and multilateralism. All the while, he offers a bold appraisal of Canada's current role on the global stage and makes a case for why international law offers the best hope for a safer, more prosperous, and just world.