Canada, according to Richard Gwyn, owes its
existence as nation distinct from United States of America on John A.
Macdonald.  Gwyn’s latest book, Nation Maker: His life, our times, Random
House, 2011, documents and narrates
how John A. Macdonald as Canada’s first prime minister, doggedly, stubbornly,
or was it obsessively, pursued his dream of creating one nation based on a
British centralist form of governance, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
 A defining value statement of the
constitution would be: Peace Order and God Government. The threat of being
annexed by the United States was real, and Macdonald rejected his form of
republican governance which he labeled “mobocracy.” This compelled Macdonald to
forge ahead with nation building with great urgency, against great financial
and geographical odds, using his persuasive personality and pragmatic political
action. The book is well researched; Gwyn has gained many nuggets of insight
from Macdonald’s voluminous correspondence. Though well documented and
factual, the book reads more like a narrative than a textbook. The time span
covers the time from Confederation day till Macdonald’s death. The main focus
of the book is on Macdonald’s politics of pursuing his dream, though many
insights are revealed about his personal life with his wife Agnes and their
daughter Mary.

He did write an earlier book on Macdonald, The man who made us, which I must read; I am doing the reading in a
backwards fashion. I may find there what I found missing in Nation Maker, that being the mind of
Macdonald, or more specifically, his personal philosophy and world view which
guided his action as nation builder. 
Gwyn depicts him as a pragmatic yet perceptive politician. He maintains
from the outset that Macdonald was without prejudice, but that his actions were
shaped by political necessity. Yet between the covers of the book we get to
know a Macdonald who is sometimes flexible and creative, and at other time
inflexible and insensitive. As any human being he also had a darker side (lacked
emotional intelligence), revealed especially in the rush to “develop” the West,
and especially in his relations with the First nations of the Great Plains and
the Metis. Gwyn presents us with a balanced view, I think, holding Macdonald
accountable for his failures, and describing his strengths. From this book I
came away not only knowing more about Macdonald, but also about Canada and our
current responsibilities to strive for Peace, Order, and God Government,
ensuring that the goal for the common good of current reality being truly
grounded in The Good.

Macdonald saw the need for a British style
of governance for at least a number of reasons. According to Gwyn, Macdonald saw
the need for a, “…centralized federalism in order to avoid a Northern version
of the civil war.”  A strong central
government was needed to govern with authority and respect, the differences and
sectionalisms between the French and English, Catholic and “Orange,” cultural
regions of Canada. He would come to also see the need for honouring the
distinctive rights of each Province in the federation. This provincial- federal
relationship would continue to demand ongoing dialogue with the provinces as
they developed; it still is an important need today.  Macdonald facilitated a happy medium between
singular sovereignty and regional sovereignty; unlike American republican
democracy, and its popular sovereignty, Canada was not to be a collection of
individuals, but comprised of communities; it was not to be a collection of
provinces, but one nation.  During the
early years of confederation, Macdonald also saw the need for particularly
strong central intervention in the economy to build a national railway, and then
later for a National Policy to give Canada time to grow into a unified and more
self-sufficient Canada.  For this purpose
he, at great financial cost, (including the Pacific Scandal) tied the nation
together with a national railroad and then with his economic National Policy
with high tariffs, forced Canadian industry and trade to develop within the
nation itself.  There were many
challenges and evils, such as the pacific scandal; patronage seemed to be
normal for politics of the era. MacDonald’s abuse of alcohol was at its worst
during the pacific scandal. Gwyn notes that it was his wife Agnes that provided
him with structure and care and credits her for having prevented Macdonald from
suffering from an early demise.  The Spector
of being annexed by the US was an ever present reality and it was Macdonald’s
stubborn resolve to accomplish his dream of a nation that of combining the
English and French “races” in peace; a nation distinct from the United States
on the North American continent. He got the job done; how he did it at times
can be questionable.

Gwyn suggests that Macdonald was more
regency than Victorian. He was rooted in traditional British legal, political
traditions, though he did not act out of traditionalism.  Macdonald on the one hand was sensitive to the
needs of the common person, but he opposed universal franchise. Only people
with property would have a stake in responsible elections he maintained.
Macdonald was not enamored of the new Victorian idea liberal social ideas; he
rejected that eras’ belief in endless progress. Macdonald did not think that
human nature was open to change, and he opposed social programs; what was
needed was strong but sensible rule for social order.  Even in the face of starvation in the West
suffered by the Peoples on the Prairies, Macdonald was opposed to providing
government aid; charity was the business of the church. (Meanwhile absurd
amounts of money were spent on building the railroad). According to popular
thought of the day, helping out would create dependency, if not violate the new
social doctrine of Darwinism. Social Darwinism became influential in forming
racist attitudes towards aboriginals; but, Gwyn, suggests, “MacDonald was not a
social Darwinist.”  In his relationships
with Aboriginal people in the East, MacDonald had impressive ability to relate
with them as equals. However, he had a great deal of trouble understanding and
relating to the First nations and Metis of the West; nor did he take the time
to nurture his understanding of and relationships with them. There was a lack
of consultation with the peoples of the Red River Colony and the Western Plains
as great swaths of land were taken (bought from HBC) and virtually given away
to the rail road builders (or “barons.”?) The race to finish nation building
took precedence over life it seems. 

One distinctively Canadian institution was
wisely put in place in the West by Macdonald in late 1872; the North West
Mounted Police. Modeled after the Irish Constabulary, Macdonald commissioned
them to bring order first rather than fight disorder.  Gwyn points out that the American west had
been developed by the American people themselves as individuals and families;
in Canada by contrast, the West would be developed by the government. In the
early years the force built respect and gained the trust and respect of the
First Nations, but this trust deteriorated after the Northwest Rebellion. The
new railroad had carried a virtual military force of NWMP to settle the
discontent and disputes of the Metis and the First Nations. Macdonald had forgone,
as “Old Tomorrow,” timely consultation and negotiation with the residents of
the Great Plains, and used a military solution which proved to be a pyrrhic
victory for Macdonald and Canada.  Macdonald’s adamant decision to execute Louis
Riel was the worst mistake of his career, suggests Gwyn, by turning Riel into a
martyr for the Metis and the French. Macdonald had been advised by George Munro
Grant to take a different course, but Macdonald gave the order to execute Riel
and eight Cree men.  Gwyn dutifully
mentions each Cree man’s name lest they be forgotten. Gwyn describes this sad
period in Canadian history. The judicial process dealing with the Northwest rebellion
revealed a deep racial bias: Gwyn writes that the whites and Metis were treated
as Canadians; the “Indians as Indians.” Adding to this was the fact that the
Cree men were hanged publically when in fact public hanging had been abolished
in Canada by Macdonald in 1867.  The
whole aboriginal community was forced to watch this humiliating horror.
Macdonald was to have said that he ordered the executions to show that the
white man governs. From then on more restrictive policies such as the pass
system were imposed on First nations peoples; they were expected to learn
farming and become like white settler farmers according to Macdonald; yet
popular public opinion of the non-aboriginal farmers pushed into place policies
which allowed for First nations people to be limited to be peasant farmers
only.  Gwyn notes that for close to a
century after this, “…to be an Indian was to be invisible, so far as government
and the majority of Canadians were concerned.”

 Riel’s defense lawyer had tried to reduce his
sentence by declaring him insane; however, perhaps Riel had more insight and
could see the insanity of a free enterprise type culture coming and destroying
the Metis and First Nations’ cultures. Riel’s vision for the Metis was one of
being a “distinct society”, a concept which did not yet exist. Gwyn depicts the
rebellion as a watershed in Macdonald’s career as a nation builder; the
relationships between French and English populations in Canada were never the
same because Quebec had been totally opposed to Riel’s execution. Of course
Life was not ever going to be the same for the First nations of the West.  One wonders what John A. Macdonald would
thing of the very concept of “first Nations?” For him and his contemporaries it
seemed that there were only two founding “nations”, the French and the English.
Gwyn concludes his book suggesting that if Macdonald were to visit Canada
today, he would see many changes, but recognizes the economic and political
foundations that he helped forge. Gwyn concludes:

He would note
that while relations between French and English matter less today than they did
in his time, they remain critical – not only in themselves, but as a model for
achieving accommodations among the nation’s multiplicity of peoples…. With some
surprise and disappointment, he would realize that the degree of understanding
between Aboriginals and other Canadians (the term “European Canadians” being
obsolete now) has scarcely advanced from his time, if at all.

This is a timely book. It does celebrate
the importance of the British roots that John A. Macdonald put into place
intentionally to set Canada apart from the American Republic. We hardly need to
be reminded as many Canadians celebrate and contemplate the significance of the
New born British prince, Prince George. But more soberly, as Canada prepares
for Reconciliation events and walks this September (Sept. 16-22, 2013) Gwyn’s
book is a helpful source of information about what we as Canadians collectively
need to seek reconciliation for.  As John
Fraser in Aug. 12, 2013 MacLean’s
reminds us, the Royal baby may signify for us largely a symbolic relationship,
but, “The symbolism of the Crown’s relationship with First Nations is enshrined
in centuries-old Crown treaties which we have belittled or dismissed to our
national detriment (p.69). With expanded awareness, we can extend the desire
for, and reality of, social harmony between the “races” beyond what Macdonald
could dream of.