bout de papier, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1987) — Spring 1987 // Printemps 1987, pp. 44–45
Canada 1957-1967: The Years of Uncer-
tainty and Innovation, by J.L. Granatstein,
McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1986.
375 pp. $39.95.
Jack Granatstein is one of Canada’s foremost historians. This book, which caps the nineteen-volume Canadian Centenary Series, should be counted as one of his finest works. Writing contemporary history isn’t easy. There are too many vivid memories of familiar events, too many bruised egos anxious for a kind reappraisal, and too many crises in need of frank, dispassionate judgment. But Granatstein has risen to the occasion with a balanced and fair assessment of a controversial era.
The Diefenbaker/Pearson era was a tough struggle. Gone were the easy years of almost effortless economic growth and government by the “chairman of the Board”. By 1957, Canada was heading into its first serious post-War recession, and new international issues were confronting a political party that had last seen office some twenty-two years before. Foreign policy, international economic questions and defence issues were assuming an importance not seen in Canada for a decade. The foreign policy environment was growing harsher, and the issues were increasingly complex. Eisenhower left the scene, succeeded by a more aggressive administration with little patience for Diefenbaker and no feel for Canadian questions.
44 bout de papier Vol.
By 1962, the largest parliamentary majority in Canadian history had dissolved into minority government, as the Coyne affair, recession and an increasingly disturbing picture of Cabinet disarray took its toll. A year later, Diefenbaker was out, Pearson was in, and a persistent minority government was set to tackle medical care, pensions, a national flag and the therapeutic ecstasy of Centennial Year, amid a distressing and distasteful aroma of political corruption.
Granatstein organizes all of these disparate themes in a simple, effective manner. After the obligatory introductory chapter setting the post-War framework, he analyses the political evolution of the Diefenbaker years, setting the context for thematic sections to follow. He then explores foreign policy (“The End of the Empire Tie”), economics and the Coyne affair, defence policy (“The Defence Debacle, 1957-1963”), cultural events, social issues, the rise of Canadian nationalism, the unification of the Canadian Forces and the emergence of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec. A final political chapter endeavours to capture the Pearson years, and a concluding section wraps some thoughts around the idea of Centennial Year, pointing the way to the Trudeau era to follow.
If there are few surprises in this carefully-crafted narrative, there is much of interest. The NORAD agreement of 1957, we are told, was adopted without Cabinet consideration, mainly through the persistence of the Canadian military, and largely behind the back of External Affairs. Granatstein suggests that the Coyne affair, perhaps the single most damaging conflict of the Diefenbaker period, could have been avoided, had the Prime Minister not balked at Coyne’s pension arrangements and thereby called into question the personal integrity of the head of the Bank of Canada. The AVRO Arrow, the author concludes, was doomed from the start, a victim of limited markets and the emergence of the ICBM. On these and other points, Granatstein confirms the old adage that history is the great leveller. With the passing of time, the partisan edges have worn thin; the intemperance of contemporary judgment has given way to more balanced conclusions.
There are few heroes in this decade tarnished by confict and divisiveness. Perhaps the only less than sympathetic portrait is that of Diefenbaker. Uncertain of the loyalties of his Ministers, he proved incapable of surefooted, consistent leadership. The charismatic figure who carried his party to such heights was almost single-handedly responsible for its demise. If none of the key political figures quite lives up to their autobiographies, the Canadian public service receives full and gracious recognition. But a pat on our collective heads is not unexpected, given the author’s two previous books on the Canadian “mandarinate”
Beyond Granatstein’s analysis of everyday issues, one special theme stands out. Simply put, and perhaps stretching the time frames slightly in either direction, this was the era in which Canada came of age. Canada before the mid-1950s was a rough jewel, a resource-driven, semi-developed country with a constrained industrial base, a nation without first-rate universities and lacking the most elementary devices for supporting and cultivating artistic, cultural, sporting and scientific achievement. A decade and more later, we had conquered the residual self-doubts of earlier years, created new measures for fostering a more balanced identity, and begun to confront even the most intractible problems of national unity. Across a spectrum of literary and artistic endeavours, Canadians were taking their places as first-rate achievers at the international level. If Expo ’67 was an invitation for the world to see Canada, it was also an invitation to Canadians to witness their own new reality. Granatstein captures the mood, setting and accomplishments of this Canadian transformation with subtle skill.
Diefenbaker and Pearson are part of Canada’s mythology. Many of our colleagues worked with them. Many of their colleagues are still with us. Their epic struggles are part of the lexicon of Canadian politics. In short, it’s difficult to think of their administrations as “history”. But history it certainly is, and Jack Granatstein has, in essence, produced the first serious study of this compelling and decisive decade.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1987) — Spring 1987 // Printemps 1987, pp. 44–45. Read the rest of this issue →
