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Chapter 5: Quiet Revolutionary: Tom Symons, National Unity, and Linguistic Rights
- University of Ottawa Press
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Quiet Revolutionary: Tom Symons, National Unity, and Linguistic Rights CHARLES BEER Introduction F rom an early age, Tom Symons demonstrated a strong interest in public affairs and public policy. He had a fascination with the history of his own family, and a continuing and consuming interest in local history and heritage, and in the affairs of his province, his country, and the broader world around him. He was blessed to grow up in a family that provided him with a very strong supportive environment. He understood that he had a responsibility to give back to his community and to his country in whatever way he could. The old adage that to whom much is given much is expected would have been accepted and understood by him in a very unassuming and uncomplicated way. He chose to be involved in many of the key public policy issues of the latter part of the twentieth century, but he did it in a way that was unique to him. He always maintained that one could play a vital role in the life of one’s country and in the development of important public policy initiatives through other means than getting elected. His life has been a testament to this fact. Symons’s Canadian identity is rooted solidly in his deep understanding of Canada’s Aboriginal, British, and French past, but it has never been buried there. He has continued to be open to the C H A P T E R 5 90 TOM SYMONS: A CAnAdiAn Life influence of Canada’s evolving multicultural and multiracial identity. It is this centered belief to both learn from the past and be open to the future that has continually allowed him to contribute so much to Canadian life. For approximately a decade—beginning in 1965—Tom Symons was heavily involved in shaping Ontario’s position on the role of Quebec in Canada, on the place of the French language in Ontario, and on constitutional reform. It must be recognized that his activities on these issues took place at the same time as he was in the process of establishing a new post-secondary institution, Trent University in Peterborough on the banks of the Otonabee River, and serving as its first president. He was also busy with a myriad of other interests and voluntary activity. This is demonstrated by his seminal work on Canadian Studies, To Know Ourselves; his many activities in support of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples; his leadership in the field of human rights in Ontario and Canada; his longstanding commitment to the betterment of relations between Canada’s two official language communities; and his equally longstanding involvement with the Commonwealth through a number of important initiatives. During this same period, Symons was also an active participant in the political process at both the provincial and federal levels. He was a Progressive Conservative when both of these words were important to the party’s identity. Symons himself placed a heavy emphasis on the word “progressive.” In the 1960s and early 1970s, he had a close relationship with Ontario’s Premier John Robarts and was also a key supporter of, and advisor to, Robert Stanfield, the federal Progressive Conservative leader and former premier of Nova Scotia, who had replaced John Diefenbaker in the fall of 1967. Symons was in no way a blind partisan but was extremely thoughtful in his approach to political issues and their solutions. His conservatism was forward looking, values based, and open to new ideas and to the ideas of others, no matter their political affiliation. This essay seeks to set out the important role Tom Symons played during a time when the issues of Quebec and linguistic rights were at the forefront of the Canadian political agenda. [52.91.255.225] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 23:08 GMT) QUIET REVOLUTIONARY 91 Those Days from These Days At this point in the twenty-first century, it is not always easy to remember in a vivid and visceral way the social, economic, cultural, and political climate of the 1960s. That decade remains for many Canadians one of the most transformational of the twentieth century. This in a century that saw the Great Depression, the two World Wars, the rise and fall of communism, the advent of technology in our daily lives, and the emergence of popular culture as a key determinant of who we are. Canada was no exception to the waves of change spreading throughout the globe. The Canada that...