In this unusual biography of one of Canada's most well-known public figures, author Frank Milligan traces the intellectual foundations on which Eugene Forsey's world-view was constructed. By studying Forsey's beliefs--both religious and political--Milligan unearths the philosophical underpinnings of many of Canada's early twentieth-century political, economic, religious, and social reform movements.
Explores Canada's parliamentary system, from the decisions made by the Fathers of Confederation, to the daily work of parliamentarians in the Senate and House of Commons. Useful information on Canada's constitution, the judicial system, and provincial and municipal powers is also gathered together in this one reference book.
"Born in Grand Bank, Newfoundland, Eugene Alfred Forsey (1904-1991) became one of Canada's foremost constitutional experts and served in the Senate from 1970 to 1979. Legendary for his sharp wit and his distinctive view of Canadian society, Forsey brought deep research, high principle, and irascible tenacity to the cause of constitutional democracy, justice, and equality for all. Those themes resound through this book. Raised a Conservative, Forsey converted to social democracy as a young academic in the1930s. He spent the following decades working for the labour movement and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (now the New Democratic Party) and calling governments to account in speeches, articles, and letters-to-the-editor. As a senator, he sat asa Trudeau Liberal, but soon resumed his more natural role as non-partisan critic and gadfly. Whether delivering his urgent messages in labour halls, university classrooms, broadcasting studios, or the Senate chamber, Forsey entertained even as he educated"--Pub. website.
A century ago, governments buoyed by Progressive Era–beliefs began to assume greater responsibility for protecting and rescuing citizens. Yet the aftermath of two disasters in the United States–Canada borderlands--the Salem Fire of 1914 and the Halifax Explosion of 1917--saw working class survivors instead turn to friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family members for succor and aid. Both official and unofficial responses, meanwhile, showed how the United States and Canada were linked by experts, workers, and money. In Disaster Citizenship, Jacob A. C. Remes draws on histories of the Salem and Halifax events to explore the institutions--both formal and informal--that ordinary people relied upon in times of crisis. He explores patterns and traditions of self-help, informal order, and solidarity and details how people adapted these traditions when necessary. Yet, as he shows, these methods--though often quick and effective--remained illegible to reformers. Indeed, soldiers, social workers, and reformers wielding extraordinary emergency powers challenged these grassroots practices to impose progressive "solutions" on what they wrongly imagined to be a fractured social landscape.
This timely book examines recent history and ongoing controversies as it makes the case for restoring power to where it belongs - with the people's elected representatives in Parliament.
Eugene Forsey was one of the most colorful, high profile Senators Canada has ever known. Born in 1904, he was a Rhodes Scholar, university teacher, research director, author, and acquaintance of many prominent politicians. Forsey also achieved an unusual form of national prominence as Canada's most prolific writer of Letters to the Editor, which have become well known as being witty, hard-hitting, and well-informed. Covering a wide range of events and subjects, including his early life; his student years at McGill and Oxford; his work for the Labour Congress, in the Senate, and in retirement; and including chapters on politics and politicians, these memoirs offer a rich variety of anecdotes and salutary opinions.
"In true democratic fashion the great Canadian academic and constitutional aficionado Eugene Forsey chose to air his heartfelt opinions in the broadest of public forums, the letters-to-the-editor page. His foremost concern was the survival and success of Canada as a unified nation, but the demise of the English language, litter, and the misguided aesthetics of government agencies in the placing of public statuary did not escape his at times acerbic pen." "Selecting from some eight hundred letters written over sixty years, Hodgetts weaves together a remarkably full picture of this patriot, whose debates in the press ranged from the role of the governor general, the senate, the judiciary, and the rule of law, to his last battle over the Meech Lake Accord. In answering the question of why such a prominent public figure would attach himself to this particular genre, The Sound of One Voice broaches the greater meaning of the letter to the editor, a much neglected area in the literature of democratic politics." "Friends made through the press will be delighted to read this collection; those who missed his public voice by a generation will get a veritable crash course in Canada's central national issues."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This collection of essays provides a generous introduction to the vibrant field of labour and working-class history in Canada's eastern provinces. Organized in four sections covering pre-industrial labour, the industrial revolution, labour's wars of the early twentieth century, and the rise of industrial legality, the book should prove useful in university classrooms and for all readers interested in the history of the region's ordinary people. Concluding chapters address topics of current interest such as public sector unionism, the role of women in the fishery, and the horrors of the Westray mine disaster. The editors provide an introduction, section heads, and suggestions for further reading.The volume is edited by David Frank, Department of History, University of New Brunswick, the former editor of Acadiensis, and Gregory S. Kealey, Department of History, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Dean of Graduate Studies. Authors include T.W. Acheson, Rusty Bittermann, Sean Cadigan, Jessie Chisholm, Patricia M. Connelly, Peter DeLottinville, E.R. Forbes, Eugene Forsey, Harry Glasbeek, Linda Little, Martha MacDonald, Robert McIntosh, Ian McKay, D.A. Muise, Nolan Reilly, Eric W. Sager, Anthony Thomson, and Eric Tucker.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau – radical progressive or unavowed socialist? His legacy remains divisive. Most scholars portray Trudeau’s ties to the left as evidence either of communist affinities or of ideals that led him to found a progressive, modern Canada. The Constant Liberal traces the charismatic politician’s relationship with left and labour movements throughout his career. Christo Aivalis argues that although Trudeau found key influences and friendships on the left, he was in fact a consistently classic liberal, driven by individualist and capitalist principles. While numerous biographies have noted the impact of the left on Trudeau’s intellectual and political development, this comprehensive analysis showcases the interplay between liberalism and democratic socialism that defined his world view – and shaped his effective use of power. The Constant Liberal suggests that Trudeau’s leftist activity was not so much a call for social democracy as a warning to fellow liberals that lack of reform could undermine liberal-capitalist social relations.
