Canadian Political Thought

Lovell Clark was Professor of History at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.

This is an indispensable collection of readings, not only for political studies but for history and other disciplines as well. The excerpts range from Bishop Plessis’s “Sermon on Nelson’s Victory at Aboukir” in 1799, in which he gives the providential view of the Conquest of 1760, to George Grant’s “Teaching What Nietzsche Taught” in 1979. In between are such items as William Lyon Mackenzie’s Draft Constitution, Macdonald’s speech in the Confederation Debates, Laurier on Liberalism, W.L. Morton on Conservatism, David Lewis on Socialism, and the Regina Manifesto, along with excerpts from Goldwin Smith, Bourassa, Leacock, Underhill, and many other writers.

The editor has selected 51 items in all, and he explains in a brief Preface that he has tried to “highlight individuals whose writings throw a clear light on the main course of our history.” Each item is prefaced by a brief biographical note and comment, and the footnotes provide further useful information. The editor was unable to adhere to his original resolve to use only complete excerpts, rather than snippets, but at least half of the items are complete. Such topics as corporatism, feminism, and the many varieties of Marxism and Social Credit have been omitted, as have passages from King’s Industry and Humanity and Grant’s Lament for a Nation.

There will, of course, be quibbles about the editor’s choice of items, why this author rather than that, why this document and not some other, but teachers and students will find all of them useful. The brief bibliography should include one other anthology: R. Douglas Francis and Donald B. Smith (editors), Readings in Canadian History (1982).