Law and Society in Canada in Historical Perspective ed. by D.J. Bercuson, L.A. Knafla (review)

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 REVIEWS 101 therealities ofcorporate power andtradeunionorganization. The resulting frictionsparked thesortofindustrial unrestof the6osand7os. Twomorearticles arebyhistorians. Chapman uses thewestern anti-drug crusade from •885to •925asacase study oftheways inwhich areform•lite influenced popularopinion aboutlawandthelaw-making process. Thorner uses courtrecords to testthe myththatthewestern frontierwasa havenof orderandlawfulness. Hisconclusions pointtoamorecomplex picture, andto thedifficulties inusing andinterpreting thissortofevidence. The remaining articles are by lawprofessors, whocross from theopposite sidethe'great divide' separating thestudy oflawfromthestudy ofhistory. Levyawkwardly triestoprovethatthespecific exemption fromtheEnglish PoorLawin •79• indicates awidersetofattitudes about social andeconomic behaviour inUpper Canada. In aninteresting, hazypiecePatenaude suggests thatthereformof Quebecprivacylaw reflectspost-warsocialchange.And, with minimal historical context, Fraser describes themorecontemporary identification and investigation of childabuse in NovaScotia. In sum,then, thisis a useful,occasionally engaging, but inauspicious collection. The authors nibbleatthegreatthemes setfor thevolume. Butfew takeusveryfar intothisalmost uncharted territory ofhistorical research and interpretation. Thereishardlyanyindication of thegreatreefof legaland courtrecords available tohistorians, andoftheorganizational andconceptual problems arising fromthem.Thecollection concludes withauseful bibliographybyeditorKnafla . B.K. ADAMS University ofToronto The Passionate Observer: Selected Writings. DONALD CREIGHTON. Toronto,McClellandandStewart , •98o.Pp.xiv.•,• •. $•9.95. This curiouscollection of shortpieces wasassembled by DonaldCreighton shortly beforehisdeathin •979-Mostof these articles havebeenpublished before; manyin theGlobe andMailorMaclean's. Theyfallunderthreegeneral headings ofcontemporary politics, literaryreviews, andbiographical essays on fellowhistorians or near-historians. They all demonstrate Creighton's fine prose style andhisartistry withlanguage. In thefirstsection, fromwhich the titleisdrawn,Creightonshows hisprofoundsense of despair withthedrift of Canadian political affairs,especially astheyrelatetoQuebec andWashington. Led by the Grit intelligentsia, Canadahad abandoned the wisdomof the Macdonaldian constitution and nationalpolicy.Our searchfor material prosperity haddiverted thecountry intothecontinental embrace ofAmerican industrialcapitalism. Biculturalism, the pactof Confederation, and special status for Quebec aroused himtoparticular fury.Creighton believed thatthe decentralist policies of theTrudeauadministration wereleadingCanadaback into the deadlocksand frustrationsof the dual majoritiesof the preConfederation era,asa preludeto separatism. ...