Essays in Honour of Grant Notley: Socialism and Democracy in Alberta

Andrew Molloy is a professor of Political Science at Concordia
University in Montreal.

Socialism and Democracy in Alberta is an important contribution to the literature of the last decade regarding Western Canada. The 10 essays that comprise the book touch on familiar themes which symbolize the Western Canadian social democratic experience. Populism, alienation, stagnation, the “quasi-party” system and dependency are the key words to describe the fate of a social democratic politician, such as Grant Notley. Notley played an important role during the transitional era of the late 1960s. It was during this time that the New Democratic Party (NDP) took over the mantle of social democracy from the fading Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta.

While the overall theme is one of optimism about the future of the NDP, the essayists do not attempt to create an artificially consistent political pattern of thought. They engage, instead, in a lively historical debate by providing for a methodological empirical basis, in order to prove their theses. One can, therefore, clearly differentiate between the arguments presented in each of the essays, and understand the more controversial interpretations that are attached to turning points in Alberta’s recent history. As a result the book is quite accessible to the casual reader who wants to understand the current decline of the ruling Conservative Party in Alberta.

These essays also provide to the more theoretically inclined, such important Canadian thinkers as C.B. MacPherson, James Mallory, R.M. Dawson, John Porter, and R. Whitaker. Moreover, Larry Pratt’s probing essay on the life of Grant Notley should be compulsory reading for anyone learning about Alberta politics or who has an interest in Canadian politics.