A Short History of Ontario

R. Douglas Francis is a history professor at the University of Calgary
and author of Images of the Canadian West.

“Ontario — Does it Exist?” Arthur Lower first posed the question back in the 1960’s. One can elaborate with two further questions. Is Ontario distinct from Canada as a whole, or is Canada simply Ontario writ large? Does this large amorphous province with a diversity of geographical areas and a multiplicity of ethnic, religious, and cultural traditions have anything in common to give it an “Ontario identity?” Lower, and other analysts, have generally concluded negatively. Yet in one basic respect, Ontario does exist — in its past. A study of Ontario’s history reveals a province that has dominated Canada to a large extent, but one that has just as often been at odds with the national interest. Equally, the province’s history includes, and yet at the same time transcends, the regional differences within its boundaries.

Robert Bothwell’s A Short History of Ontario presents a popular capsule history of the province which explains its regional differences and which offers insight into the precarious relationship of province and nation. The author presents his chapters in a lively style, focusing largely on political developments.

For the most part Bothwell succeeds in recreating the history of the “province of opportunity.” Its obvious strengths aside, however, the study has several shortcomings. In his treatment of the early history of the province, the author provides information so scant as to be superficial. Second, the political emphasis of the volume says little about Ontarians as a people — their ethnic makeup, their social life, their cultural interests and values. Finally, Bothwell does not attempt in a brief concluding chapter to summarize what it is about Ontario’s past that makes it significant.

Two small errors exist in the book. Montgomery’s Tavern, at which William Lyon Mackenzie gathered his troops in 1837 for his abortive rebellion, was not “a radical watering-hole in Hog’s Hollow near where Toronto’s York Mills subway now sits.” It was on the outskirts of what was then the city of Toronto and presently a post office just north of Eglinton Avenue on Yonge street occupies the location. Second, in the appendix, a final proofreading has missed the reference to Mitchell Frederick Hepburn as a “Conservative” premier. Hepburn would have been horrified!

Mel Hurtig has commissioned additional studies of the other provinces of Canada. On the basis of A Short History of Ontario, his series will make a valuable contribution to informing Canadians about their own history at the provincial level. One might recommend, however, a little more overall analysis, and more attention to social and economic issues.