Review of Bill Blaikie's 'The Blaikie Report' -- by Ron Dart

Bill Blaikie, The Blaikie Report: An Insider’s Look at Faith and Politics (The United Church of Canada, 2011).                                    

We in what is called the “mainstream” media tend to be secularists who either consider religion to be a private matter or have no religious faith at all. We tend therefore to minimize or miss the importance of religion in politics.

Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail: October 10 2012)

The ongoing dialogue about faith and politics is often a contentious one, but not to ponder the significance of the conversation is to capitulate to the prejudices of secularism. The publications of The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada (Marci McDonald: 2010) and Pulpit and Politics: Competing Religious Ideologies in Canadian Public Life (Dennis Gruending: 2011) have made it abundantly clear that many who take their faith journey seriously become political.

The publication of The Blaikie Report should be welcomed with much eager interest—the book is, as the subtitle states, ‘An Insider’s Look at Faith and Politics’. The Blaikie Report is part political autobiography and part political memoir—all of the tough issues are faced with integrity and a searching mind. There can be no doubt where Blaikie draws his political vision from: ‘The Social Gospel’ (2) and ‘The Prophetic Tradition’ (5) have done much to shape and define how and why Blaikie has turned to the NDP for many a decade to live forth the faith-politics tension.       

There has been a tendency, regrettably so, for the political right to claim to be the authentic voice of faith in Canada, and the political centre and left are, by default, often seen as the bearers of secularism. Needless to say, such a way of interpreting the faith-politics dilemma seriously distorts the reality of Canadian politic life. ‘The God Squad’ (1) and many other compact chapters in The Blaikie Report clearly illustrate that there are many on the political left that are deeply motivated by faith, and, equally so, substantive ethical, economic, cultural and social positions---see ‘Culture Wars’ (3).  It is simply false, dishonest and silly to assume the political left is secularist and a plaything of fashionable liberalism, whereas the political right is religious and upholds traditional Christian values. The underlying thesis of The Blaikie Report, from a time tried political insider’s perspective, poignantly and consistently, seeks to  dissolve dysfunctional caricatures and restore political discourse and activism to a more meaningful level---such a clarion call is desperately needed in our ethos of entrenched religious and political tribalism.

There can be no doubt The Blaikie Report is a much needed antidote to the toxins in the body politic of our troubled times. This is a book of much wisdom and insight by a politician who has lived the talk. There is  a minor criticism I have of this otherwise gem and must read of a book. I was somewhat disappointed that the historic Red Tory Tradition of Stephen Leacock, Judith Robinson, George Grant and many other distinguished Canadians (who stand within such a heritage) were omitted.  I should mention, though, that it was Bill Blaikie in the autumn of 1988, when George Grant had recently died, that mentioned Grant’s death in the House of Commons (most in the Progressive Conservative Party at the time would not have known Grant in any depth)---this speaks much about Blaikie’s understanding of the obvious affinities between the historic Social Gospel tradition and Red Toryism.  We have a form of historic Toryism in Canada that stands, almost, at the opposite end of the political spectrum than the ideological conservatism (much closer to American republicanism) in Canada today. My recent book, Keepers of the Flame: Canadian Red Toryism (2012), deals with such a problem. In short, a chapter ‘Red Toryism’ in The Blaikie Report would have made this book of fine gold pure gold.

Ron Dart

Department of Political Studies/Philosophy/Religious Studies

University of the Fraser Valley

Abbotsford BC      

Comments

[Idrian]

Hello.

I guess the reason for the omission of any mention of Red Toryism in the book is that arguably the majority of people today don't know or remember Red Toryism since the dissolution of the PC Party in 2003.