Catholic Post-Secondary Education in English-Speaking Canada by Laurence K. Shook (review)

88 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW JohnA'scommitment to an autonomous Canadaandto theBritishconnection wasnomerepoliticalstance; thiscommitment camefromthemindasmuchas the heart. Politics andthefamilyareintermixed. In I85• theRev.Dr JohnWilliamson, professor at Queen's,becomes John A's brother-in-law. When Isabelladied, Williamson becamea second fatherto Hugh John,but to JohnA. he always remained'theProfessor.' Yet theirrelationship wasveryclose, and Williamson used it openly tolobbyfor manythings academic. Thenin 1868Williamson put pressure on John A. to have Ontario reverseits decision to cut off grantsto denominational colleges suchasQueen's;JohnA. remindedthe professor that whilehe hadwrittento 'myfriends'in Toronto,'the localGovernment is very zealous of anythinglikedictationonourpart, soI mustact cautiously.' In •885 LieutenantHugh JohnMacdonaldof Winnipegwritesfrom FishCreekto his fathertheprimeminister in Ottawa.The battleisjustover;others areexpected. The rebelshavefinallybeendrivenfrom the flanksof the field and have not withdrawnfromthe centre. The younglieutenanthadofferedto leada bayonet charge, but thechargehadbeenheldoff. The youngofficerwasin thethickof it, where'menwerehit all roundme,'andhewasa gooddealexposed. A proud butalarmedfatherthanks Godandsends theletteron to hissister in Kingston. Latertherebelleader,despite appeals, ishanged. Althoughsomeof the letterspublished in Affectionately Yoursand written byJohnA. himself tohisrelatives alsoappearin theappropriate volume in the Lettersseries, thebookof familylettersclearlystands well on itsownmerits. BRUCE W. I-IODGINS Trent University CatholicPost-Secondary Educationin English-Speaking Canada.LAURENCE K. S•OOK.Toronto,University of TorontoPress, I97•. Pp.x, 457.$I5.OO. AsRobinS. Harrispoints outin theforeword, thisbookisthesixthin a series on highereducation financed by a i958 CarnegieCorporationgrantto the Association of Universities andColleges of Canada.Three bibliographies (mainly by Professor Harris) and a studyof Protestantcolleges by D.C. Mastersand of graduatescience educationby W.P. Thompsonhave precededit. Claude Galarneau's studyof French-Catholic colleges will, hopefully,follow.Professor Shookhimselfis an accomplished scholar, who hashad a distinguished career as a Catholicpriest,teacher,and administrator, servingas president of the prestigious Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies at theUniversity ofToronto from I96I to I97O. It is nevereasyto write aboutany subjectwhich hasnationaldimensions in a federated state.Thisisespecially truein the case of highereducation which ultimately involves eleven jurisdictions in Canada(including thefederalgovernment in recentyears). The problemof organization becomes crucialand is seldom satisfactorily resolved. Professor Shook's approachis regionaland institutional .Asa result,apartfromthefirstandlastchapters onorigins andfuture REVIEWS 89 directions(which are general), his bookchronicles the development of more thanthirtyCatholicpost-secondary institutions in threeregions:eastern Canada (the Marltimes), centralCanada (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and western Ontario), andwestern Canada(includingBritishColumbia).Not surprisingly, the work suffers from a surfeitof dates,places,and obscure names(the most notableexceptions beingEtienneGilsonand Jacques Marlrain), and, though verywell written,is unfortunately rathertediousat times.Althoughan excellent reference source on any single institution, it, like somanyeducational histories ,cannotbe considered interesting generalreading.Far too muchattention ispaidtothefounding ofthemanybuildings whichinvariably cometoconstitute mostcolleges and universities. The above,however,needsto be qualifiedwhere the institutionchronicled has a particularfeaturefor which it is especially well known. Most readers, accordingly, will probablyfind the followingaccounts mostinteresting:St FrancisXavier for the Antigonish adult educationmovement;St Michael's Collegeforthemuchdiscussed andcontroversial Universityof Torontoquestion, the roleof competitive sports in highereducation, and the uniquemediaeval studies institute;the Universityof Ottawa for the bilingualeducationquestion and its explosive impact on French-Irishrelations;Notre Dame of Canada (Wilcox, Saskatchewan) for its eccentric founder,Father Athol Murray; and St Mark's College(Vancouver) for the bestexampleof the great difficulties faced by church-related institutions in regionswhere the 'one province-one university philosophy' prevails. The bookisstrangely silentononeof themostimportantrecentdevelopments in highereducation,namely,the impact of studentactivismon the curriculum and administration of Catholiccolleges and universities. When 'contemporary fashion' isnotedasin thecaseof theoptionalnatureof religionandphilosophy in highereducation (p. 256), it iswithoutcomment. Equallyunexplored isthe reference totheneedfor a 'stricter screening of students' and'a moreaggressive Canadianism' at Brescia College,University of WesternOntario (p. 304). In the west,asin Ontario,we are informed(p. 424), relationsbetweenRoman Catholiccolleges and the governments haveimprovedin recentyears.Why? Is it because sectarian indoctrination is no longera serious threatto education (p. 426), and,if so,is thisreallyso?Have all Catholicbishops, administrators, and teachers becomeasliberal as CharlesDavis?Such questions remain unanswered . Other questions, however, are treatedverywell. Deepinsightinto the problemsof contemporary post-secondary education is shown in the accountof the •951 separation of high schoolfrom collegestudies(which Professor Shook favours in principle)at St Michael's in Toronto:'... at thepurelyhumanlevel bothparties suffered a severe wrench. The highschool Basilians lostthe practical ,disillusioning butcomforting contact with college professors and research scholars. The college priests sawslipawaymuchof theoldwarmpersonal way of lifewith theirownstudents whichhadlongbrushed off on themfromtheir highschool colleagues. Now,withouthighschool priests tohelpwiththecollege 90...