Author: Ron Graham
Publisher: Penguin Canada
ISBN: 0143180509
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 366
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Book Description
Between the morning of Wednesday, November 4, and the morning of Thursday, November 5, 1981, a fateful drama unfolded that changed Canada forever. In one last attempt to renew the constitution with the consent of the provinces, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau met behind closed doors in Ottawa with the ten premiers. It was the culmination of more than five decades of constitutional wrangling, and has been called the most important conference since the Fathers of Confederation got together in Quebec City in 1864. Faced with the threat of Quebec independence, the ambitions of Western Canada, and the provinces’ demands for more power, Trudeau was embattled. But he was fiercely determined to make Canadians fully independent and to entrench a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. What happened that day still reverberates. It severed the last important link to Canada’s colonial past. It guaranteed individual liberty and minority rights in the future. It weakened the grip of the elites and gave ownership of the constitution to Canadians. But it came at a price. Quebec alone refused to sign the final deal. René Lévesque, its separatist premier, claimed he had been betrayed by his allies in the Gang of Eight. The legend of the "Night of the Long Knives" took hold, precipitating a series of events that came close to destroying the country. Thirty years later, author Ron Graham delivers a gripping account of the fractious debates and secret negotiations. He uses newly uncovered documents and the candid recollections of many of the key participants to create a vivid record of that momentous twenty-four hours. Authoritative and engaging, The Last Act is a remarkable combination of scholarly research and historical narrative.
Author: Ron Graham
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781322671611
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Author: Christopher Pennington
Publisher: Penguin Canada
ISBN: 0143180886
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468
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Book Description
It was Sir John A. Macdonald's last campaign. His Conservatives had dominated Canadian politics since Confederation. Their National Policy, which protected Canadian manufacturers from foreign competition, was well established and affection for the "Old Man" was deep and widespread. The Liberal leader, Wilfrid Laurier, was new in the job and uncertain that a Roman Catholic from Quebec had any chance of winning votes outside his home province. But Macdonald's decision to hang Louis Riel had split the country, the economy was in the doldrums, and a movement in support of free trade with the United States gave the Liberals hope. In this richly textured narrative, Christopher Pennington spins a colourful tale of a country poised to make a momentous choice and of nineteenth century politics both at its most principled and at its most corrupt.
Author: John Lownsbrough
Publisher: Penguin Canada
ISBN: 0143184016
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353
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Book Description
A pivotal event in Canada’s history For six months in 1967, from late April until the end of October, Canada and its world's fair, Expo 67, became the focus of national and international attention in a way the country and its people had rarely experienced. Expo 67 crystallized the buoyant mood and newfound sense of confidence many felt during Canada's centennial. It becomes clearer, though, as its forty-fifth anniversary approaches in spring 2012, that Expo was something more than just a great world's fair. For many Canadians, it became a touchstone, a popular event that penetrated the collective psyche. The Best Place to Be takes a look at Expo and at the social and political contexts in which it occurred. It is above all a story of people: the young men and women who worked at Expo, the visitors, and the cameo appearances from the titled and celebrated, such as Elizabeth II, President Lyndon Johnson, President Charles de Gaulle (whose visit to Expo and Montreal became infamous), U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Princess Grace of Monaco, Princess Margaret, Marshall McLuhan, Sidney Poitier, Laurence Olivier, Cary Grant, Twiggy, and Pierre Trudeau.
Author: Christopher Moore
Publisher: Penguin Canada
ISBN: 014319450X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 347
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Book Description
In 1864, thirty-three delegates from five provincial legislatures came to Quebec City to pursue the idea of uniting all the provinces of British North America. The American Civil War, not yet over, encouraged the small and barely defended provinces to consider uniting for mutual protection. But there were other factors: the rapid expansion of railways and steamships spurred visions of a continent-spanning new nation. Federation, in principle, had been agreed on at the Charlottetown conference, but now it was time to debate the difficult issues of how a new nation would be formed. The delegates included John A. Macdonald, George Etienne-Cartier, and George Brown. Historian Christopher Moore demonstrates that Macdonald, the future prime minister, surprisingly was not the most significant player here, and Canada could have become a very different place. The significance of this conference is played out in Canadian news each day. The main point of contention at the time was the issue of power—a strong federal body versus stronger provincial rights. Because of this conference, we have an elected House of Commons, an appointed Senate, a federal Parliament, and provincial legislatures. We have what amounts to a Canadian system of checks and balances. Did it work then, and does it work now?
Author: Roger Sarty
Publisher: Penguin Canada
ISBN: 014318590X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 428
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Book Description
From 1942 to 1944, 15 German submarines destroyed or severely damaged 27 ships, including three Canadian warships, a U.S. Army troop transport, and the Newfoundland ferry Caribou. More than 250 lives were lost. It was the only battle of the twentieth century to take place within Canada’s boundaries, and the only battle to be fought almost exclusively by Canadian forces under Canadian, rather than alliance, high command. And for more than 40 years the battle was characterized as a Canadian defeat. But was it a defeat? Drawing on new material from wartime records—including ultra-top-secret Allied decryptions of German naval radio communications, Roger Sarty shows that Canada mounted a successful defence with far fewer resources and in the face of much greater challenges than previously known. He draws vivid pictures of the intense combat on Canada’s shores and the interplay of the St Lawrence battle with war politics in Ottawa, Washington and London. At the same time, he weaves a second story: how researchers reassembled the scattered war records in Canada, Britain, the United States and Germany and brought the long-forgotten battle to life for new generations of Canadians and international audiences.
Author: Ron Graham
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0143053353
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
In November 1981, in what has been called the most important conference since the Fathers of Confederation got together in Quebec City in 1864, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau met behind closed doors in Ottawa with the ten premiers. It was the culmination of more than five decades of political wrangling, one last attempt to renew the constitution with the consent of the provinces. Given the threat of Quebec independence, the ambitions of Western Canada, and the provinces’ demands for more power, failure seemed the most likely result. But Trudeau was determined to make Canadians fully independent and to entrench a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. What happened that day still reverberates. It severed the last important link to Canada’s colonial past. It guaranteed individual liberty and minority rights in the future. It gave ownership of the constitution to Canadians. But it came at a price. In The Last Act, Ron Graham delivers a vivid account of the fractious debates and secret negotiations, based on newly uncovered documents and the candid recollections of many of the key participants.
Author: Andrew Cohen
Publisher: Vintage Canada
ISBN: 0307363856
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 464
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Book Description
No other politician has ever had the impact on this country and its people that Pierre Elliott Trudeau did. This iconoclastic anti-politician emerged from nowhere in the mid-1960s, and from 1968-1984 governed Canada, sometimes well, sometimes poorly. Even after Trudeau left office, he remained a player, his infrequent speeches and public appearances sufficient still to alter the course of events. Now, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Trudeau's coming to power, Andrew Cohen and J.L. Granatstein have commissioned 23 new, never-before-published essays from a diverse group of Canadians, all of whom in some way or another have been influenced by this enigmatic leader. Among the esteemed essayists are Larry Zolf, Max Nemni, Michael Bliss, Richard Gwyn, Linda Griffiths, Mark Kingwell, Robert Mason Lee, Jim Coutts, Rick Salutin, Andrew Coyne, Linda McQuaig, Bob Rae, Donald Macdonald, James Raffan and B.W. Powe. As a whole, this is a stunning and important collection of work from an amazing scope of people -- controversial, hard-hitting, fascinating.
Author: Dan Snow
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 000728621X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 562
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Book Description
An epic history of the battle of Quebec, the death of General James Wolfe and the beginnings of Britain's empire in North America. Military history at its best.
Author: Pierre Elliott Trudeau
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 236
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Book Description
Pierre Elliott Trudeau always opposed the dominant ideology and what passed for conventional wisdom. This was true when he spoke out against the oppressive rule of Maurice Duplessis in Quebec. It was true in his years in Ottawa, as justice minister and prime minister, when he introduced controversial measures ranging from wage-and-price controls and restrictions on foreign investments, to expanded rights for homosexuals. It remained true in the years after his retirement, particularly when he has took issue with the more provocative expressions of Quebec nationalism and with federal initiatives such as Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accord. Now neo-conservative ideas have taken over. Virtually every level of government in Canada is competing with the others to reduce the role of the state and eliminate constraints on business. Less government has come to mean a smaller role especially for the federal government. And the increased powers taken on by the provinces are being used, increasingly, to substitute private interests for the public good. The Canada that promoted equality, justice, and opportunity for all is under sustained attack. Never has the need for a clear statement of liberal principles been greater. In this volume, Ron Graham brought together a selection of excerpts from Trudeau’s writings, speeches, and interviews – many of them never before published in book form – to make a highly readable, lucid, and compelling summary of Trudeau’s political beliefs. To each chapter in this selection Trudeau provided an introduction and to many of the excerpts he added a new commentary. The result is a book of remarkable power: rational, timely, and eloquent.
