The Canadian Summer: Memoirs of James Alan Roberts by James Alan Roberts (review)

246 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW TheCanadian Summer: Memoirs ofJames Alan Roberts. Toronto, Universityof TorontoBookroom,1981.Pp.954.$19.95. BrigadierRoberts hadalovelywar.Indeed,hedevotes 137pages, morethan halfthisvolume of memoirs, toanaccount ofhisexperiences inWorldWarn. It isunfortunate,perhaps, thisreviewer isnotamilitaryhistorian or,atleast, an avidreaderof militarymemoirs.It maybethatRoberts addssomeheretofore unrevealedimportantinformation to our military annals.Certainly,he tells thispartof hisstorywell.On theotherhand,itmaybesimplythat,likesomany others,nothingelsein life hascomparedto thoseheadytimesof bloodand battle. If onemaynotquarrelwith a man'srightto assess hislife and reflecthis judgmentin printashesees fit, oneyetmayregrettheabsence of insightand information aboutthose otherexperiences whichmighthavemadehisbook more than a footnote to the history of our times.When Mitchell Sharp 'resigned'asdeputyministerfollowingthe Conservative landslidein •958, John Diefenbaker,at the urging of GordonChurchill,broughtJamesAlan Roberts intoTradeandCommercefromtheprivatesector tobecome associate deputyministerandsubsequently deputyminister. Twelvescanty pages cover theseyearsto 1963 , whenRoberts,assuming hewasableto discernanything happeningabouthim, wasin a positionto providesomething beyondtestimonythatChurchillhatedGritsin generalandMitchellSharp,that'Grit of Grits,' inparticular, orthatDiefenbaker, onatleast oneoccasion, behaved likea semi-hysterical cadinjointlydressing downanerrantcabinet colleague andthe author. In fact,Roberts wasbroughtin toTradeandCommercetoprovideGordon Churchill,itsfirstministerunderDiefenbaker, some measure of politicalprotectionagainstthe consequences of a distrustborderingon hatred for the ministeramonghisseniorofficials. Roberts andChurchillhadbeenbattlefield friends.After thewarChurchillreturnedtolawschool andpolitics, Roberts to the world of commerce.Roberts'onlyexplosureto partisanpoliticswasasa memberof Ontario'sHalton County Conservative association. By his own account, heproved a poorchoice tosave Churchillfromthemachinations of theC.D.Howekindergarten. Devoting hisenergies toingratiating himself with hiscivilservice confreres, Robertssawnothingof consequence in the antiDiefenbaker attitudes around him. Roberts, of course, wanted to be what Diefenbakerand Churchillheld in contempt:part of the Ottawaestablishment .Unfortunately, onemustconclude thatthistooprovedbeyondhisgrasp, although onemaymarvelatthemachiavellian stratagem ofthemandarinate in invitinghim to join the Five LakesFishingClub, whichled Robertsquite naturallytoconcludehe had'arrived.'When the Liberalsreturned to officein 1963,Roberts,after a decentinterval and muchdisclaimer,wasshuffledoff firsttobecome deputysecretary-general of sA•ro andthentoSwitzerland and AlgeriaasCanadianambassador. REVIEWS 247 Evenanaccount asthinasRoberts' maycause thereadertoreflectuponthe useof power by thoseaccustomed to its possession. Laurier might have reflected correctly thatCanada, inthetwentieth century, belongs totheLiberal party.Ignoring theClark interregnum,it isovereighteenyearssincewelast sawa Conservative government in Canadaand twenty-twoyearsbeforethat. The occasional Conservative forayintothe corridorsof power,all soundand fury,shockandoutrageto thecontrary,iseasilymanagedbythosewhotraditionallyrule us.A Diefenbakeror a Churchill to the 'embarrassing' contrary, most play by Liberal rules, can be corrupted, manipulated,repelled, or, if necessary, likeRoberts,absorbed. JOHNMUNRO, Dief enbaker Centre, University ofSaskatchewan LifewithUncle:theCanadian-American Relationship. JOHNW.HOLMES. Toronto, Universityof TorontoPress, •98•. Pp.xii, •44. $6.95LifewithUncleisaboutUncle Samnot Uncle Louis.It isa disturbedand concernedJohn Holmeswhohasrevisedand updatedhispubliclectureson the Canadian-Americanrelationship,givenwhen he wasthe ClaudeT. Bissell Visiting Professorat Trinity College, University of Toronto, in •98o-•. Althoughstressing that life with Uncle Sam hasnever beeneasy,Holmes believes that presenttrendsandchanges threatenthe basic equilibriumthat hasbeenslowly established on theNorthAmericancontinentoverthreecenturies .As both Canadaand the United Stateshave becomemore stridently nationalistic, rationalmanagement of the bilateralrelationshiphasbecome increasingly difficult.The gravest cause for worryisthecaptious disposition of theAmericanCongress to overrulethe administration on foreignpolicy.For Canadathe fate of the •979 East-Coast Fisheriesand Maritime Boundaries treaties hasbeentheprincipal casualty sofar. ThosefamiliarwithTheShaping ofPeace willfindinthefirstchapterasuccinct summary of Holmes's arguments in supportof functionalism asit developed intotheguidingprinciple ofCanadian foreignpolicy inthepost-Second World War period.The remainderof the bookisan examinationof the apparent breakdown intheabilityofthetwocountries toreachagreements based upon thefrankrecognition oftheimbalance orinequality of thecontinental relationshipandthewillof thestronger toexercise restraint.In thepasttheCanadian andAmericangovernments resortedto variousarrangements, shortof full treaties,suchasexecutive agreements or evena press releaseaswasdoneat Ogdensburg.These havenow beenvirtually proscribedby Congress which does not act as a rational whole but succumbs to the will of sectional interests. The disruptionof thenormalmeans of conducting Canadian-American relationscomesat a time whenthe disputes betweenthe twocountriesare compoundedbya deepening ideological cleavage. Reaganomics isnotpopularin Ottawa.Canadianshavereasonto be concerned,but isJohn Holmesdoing ...