Inside Outer Canada

Agar Adamson is the author of Letters of Agar Adamson, 1914–19 and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

Kilgour is a member of Parliament who resides in the wrong country. In
Britain, he would be respected and his views given serious debate. In
Canada, however, he is seen as a “maverick” and his views are given
little publicity save in this book and in Policy Options. This is indeed
unfortunate. No one has a lock on wisdom, and the more we debate public
policy, the more likely we are to find acceptable solutions.

Kilgour was elected as a Tory in Edmonton in 1979 (then re-elected in
1980, 1984, and 1989), but has now done the “unthinkable,” by
Canadian standards, “crossing the floor” and joining the Liberals.
He changed parties after his brother-in-law John Turner retired as party
leader. Kilgour’s purpose in writing this book “is to explore ideas
that might strengthen national unity, to seek a political catharsis that
might produce a unifying vision . . . and to serve as a catalyst . . .
to reconcile regional differences in future national policy making.”

He succeeds, insofar as he presents thoughtful and provocative
arguments. Some of these are not of his own making (for example, his
chapter on Atlantic Canada), but in the main he uses the research of
others to supply ammunition for his own arguments. His chapters on
economic policy and regional development are stronger, and more useful,
than those on the Constitution and on French-English relations.

There is no doubt that “inner Canada” (Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal) has
a disproportionate influence on the development of public policy, but
will Senate reform solve this problem? Not likely. On the other hand, a
new economic policy, one that does not destroy the fragile economic
health of “Outer Canada,” would be welcome news to many Canadians.

His views on the Meech Lake Accord (MLA) may please some Canadians, but
it is unfortunate that Kilgour could not see the Accord’s merits. If
he, and those who agree with him, had supported the MLA, we might now be
able to experiment with some of his proposals to bring “Outer
Canada” in from the cold.

Kilgour is to be congratulated. We need more MPs who have the courage
to stimulate us to think about our future. From one “Outer Canadian”
to another, thank you for making the people of “Inner Canada”
realize we exist. We do have problems that need to be solved “in
situ,” not “down the road.”