Entering the Eighties: Canada in Crisis ed. by R. Kenneth Carty, W. Peter Ward (review)

REVIEWS 99 diploma works. Thisclose symbiosis between artistic association andpublic gallery- otherassociations werealsoinfluentialin thecreationof custodial institutions - wasnottobepermanent. The l•C•, abrogated muchofitspower andinfluenceby the mid •9eoswhenit lostthebattleto controlitschild,the NationalGallery.Since1971theAcademy hasnothelditsannualexhibition, partlybecause no major galleryhasbeenwillingto hostthe show.Current attempts bythel•C•, tocreate itsowngallery, mirroringactivities byotherartists in the formationof artist-runexhibitioncentres,showthat aspects of the originalproblemstillabound. AI•I• I•AVISDelaware, Ont. Entering the Eighties: Canada inCrisis. Editedbyl•.•CENNETI-I CAl•T¾ andw. •,EWgl• WAl•r•. Toronto,OxfordUniversity Press, •98o.Pp. •6o.$4.95. How hasCanadasurvived in the past? Will thenationendurein the future? Thesescarcely originalquestions wereputtoa select groupof historians and political scientists ataconference inearly•98o- aperiod ofconsiderable (and continuing)politicalturbulencein the nation.While fumingpoliticians and pantingpunditswereprovidingsorrowful accounts of Canada's historyand disaster-ridden visions of itsprospects, theauthors included inthiscollection addressed thequestions beforetheminfarless apocalyptic terms.Individually, theyofferednounchallengable answers, nonewinsights intoCanadian history andpolitical culture, andnoworkable blueprint forreform.Yettheircollected wisdom provided, perhaps unintentionally, some considered, evenreassuring insight intothestate andfateof thecountry. The arguments of eachcanbequicklysummarized. DonaldSmiley, whose essay introduces thebook,reasserts hisfaithin thetraditions andpossibilities of Canadianliberalpluralism,whichhe definesasthe (sometimes qualified) respect of Canadians for eachother'scollective and individualrights.In separate pieces onFrenchCanada, Ramsay CookandLouisBalthazar explain whyantagonists TrudeauandLevesque havebothbeenconsidered legitimate leadersof andby the sameconstituency. The book'sboldestassertions come from Viv Nelles and Michael Bliss in a section on the state and economic life. In a compelling, if unrealistic, argument,Nellesrecommends thatin exchange for anincreased provincial commitment to theprincipleof equalization, the federalgovernment shouldabandonits futile effortsto imposea uniform nationalenergypolicy.Blissgoesonestepfurther andassails the historical dependence of Canadians, including thebusiness community, onthecentralist ,positive state. The final section on the politicalprocess includes a series of piecemeal recommendations byJ.R.Mallorytoimprovethecredibility andefficiency of Parliament. DenisSmith,inapessimistic spirit,bothexplains andlaments the 100 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW failureoftheTrudeaugovernment toresolve constitutional problems. Lastly, RobertCraigBrownemphasizes theimportance ofpersonalities, asopposed to social forces, in determiningthecurrentsof Canadianpolitical history. Readerscaneasilytake issuewith any of theseviews.Furthermore,in a symposium on the'crises' of the 8os,theorganizers canbecriticized for not including contributions onthespecial concerns of women,immigrants, native Canadians, ortheunemployed. Yetinacurious waythese scholars doprovide a mirrorimageofthesociety aroundthem.MuchlikeCanadians themselves, the essays areat onceliberal,tentative,occasionally intemperate, andsometimes unreasonable (thoughseldomhumorous). Todaywefacewestern alienation, constitutional deadlock, andnationalism in Quebec. Yet, perspective reveals we have been there before. The conclusion that can be drawn from the book is modest but meaningful.Canadians mayneverloveeachother,andgovernmentswill foreverfumbletheir waythroughthe nation's business. But the country willprobably muddlealong- tattered, tarnished, butwhole.In anage of diminished expectations, thiscouldyetbecome cause for nationalcelebration . PnOL nX•LROI• Queen's University LawandSociety inCanada inHistorical Perspective. Editedbyr•.j.BERCUSON and •..•.KNnF•.•. University ofCalgary Studies inHistory, no2.Calgary, University ofCalgary, •98o.Pp.•7•. $5.•o. Thistypescript volumeincorporates papersdelivered someyearsagoat the University ofCalgary. The editors hopethatthearticles willilluminate some of theways in whichthe'law'interacts with'society,' andlegalhistory withother areasof history. Two authorsreconsider old work. MichaelCrossrecapitulates the now familiargroundof Irish violence in theOttawaValley.Readers maybemore thana littlesceptical of Cross's further speculation thattheShiners formeda 'genui nemovement of opposition to theestablished order'analogous to the Luddites or peasant terroristsocieties (•3).Readers maybeequally surprised tofindthatLordDurhamwasprimarilyconcerned aboutthethreatof social unrestin the evolvingcapitalist order of BritishNorth America.Counterevidence aboutthe operationof the criminallawand popularassumptions aboutthecourtsandjusticein nineteenth-century Canadawillrefute- or at leasthandcuff- the implicitnotionthatthe lawandthe administration of justice functioned asbluntinstruments ofclass control andhegemony. Moresuccessfully, StuartJamieson summarizes hisstudy ofindustrial unrest in Canadian history,Times ofTrouble, andconcludes withabrief,perceptive discussion of the question:'Is the law itself a variablethat contributes significantly tothelevelofviolence?' (•44).Hesuggests thatthelawofproperty andcontract, asthelegalcounterpart ofclassical economic theory,does notfit ...