Searching for Certainty: Inside the New Canadian Mindset

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

Billed as a comprehensive report on the new economic, social, and
cultural Canada, Searching for Certainty examines changes sparked by
globalization and technological innovation over the last two decades.
One example is the rapid expansion of the Internet, which some feared
would lead to job losses. Quite the opposite. As the authors point out,
it has improved Canadians’ health care, shopping habits, and even our
power relations with governments and corporations.

Bricker, who holds a doctorate in political science, is president of
Ipsos Reid, one of Canada’s leading public-opinion research firms.
Greenspon is a columnist with The Globe and Mail, and that newspaper’s
political editor. Over their chosen period, Canada has changed rapidly.
The authors argue that the country has developed into a more dynamic
society while preserving its traditions of tolerance and community.
Searching for Certainty is a factually backed account of the rapid
changes since 1980, changes that have enriched Canadian lives in many
ways. Their final description of the national mindset is whimsical:
“Canadians are neither bulls nor bears, we are instead a nation of
patient owls.”

Analyzing the moods and mind-set of a nation is a difficult
intellectual game, but one that researchers find irresistible and that
thoughtful readers like to consider. Searching for Certainty is well
worth considering.