Hartland de Montarville Molson: Man of Honour

Graeme S. Mount is a professor of history at Laurentian University. He
is the author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable
Kingdom, Chile and the Nazis, and The Diplomacy of War: The Case of
Korea.

A book by one close relative about another is problematic. The author
usually has information and insights not available to other writers, but
the information may well be selective. One does not want to embarrass or
create strife with other family members. Thus, how reliable can it be?

The author clearly admires Senator Molson, an athlete, scholar,
soldier, businessman, and senator. The book is clearly a labour of love.
The writer writes well, and there is a fine selection of pictures. The
story is interesting. That he became an officer of the Order of Canada
in 1995 indicates a praiseworthy track record. However, privacy laws
prevent anyone outside the family from double-checking for errors and
omissions in most areas.

The most readily verifiable part of Molson’s life was his career as a
senator, a position he held from 1955 until 1993, and there the author
gives a thorough and accurate account. He quickly became a key member of
the Transport and Communications Committee. He was keenly interested in
physical fitness and the participation of young people in sports. He
detested LSD-freak Timothy Leary and regarded the Pearson government’s
efforts to abolish capital punishment as a waste of parliamentary time.
He protected the interests of Montreal’s anglophones, doing his best
to see that the port of Montreal remained open throughout the year and
questioning whether the “distinct society” clause in the Meech Lake
Accord sufficiently protected the rights of Anglo-Quebecers.

As the author says, the senator gave qualified support to the 1988 Free
Trade Agreement, but she does not mention his comments that Parliament
was considering free trade with the United States while interprovincial
barriers remained in place. Products from Molson’s Brewery were
unnecessarily expensive, he told the Senate on November 14, 1988,
because each province required a brewery within its boundaries.
Economies of scale could lower the price of beer. Karen Molson does not
report that speech nor the question whether what might have been good
for Molson’s would have been good for Newfoundland or Saskatchewan
(fewer jobs, more car accidents).

Hartland Molson merits a biography, and Karen has provided a good one.