Politics As Lived: The Life (Paikin, 2001)

Steve Paikin. The Life (2001) Paikin has interviewed many politicians. Most want to serve the public good; Paikin admires both that willingness and the more or less cheerful acceptance of the slings and arrows of outraged citizens’ complaints.

Paikin knows that there are villains, venal timeservers, vain seekers of applause and such, but those aren’t the subject of this book. What we get is an informal political history of the times when  these politicians served. Paikin interviewed the politicians and also the back-room players, commentators, pollsters and others that make their living in politics, and so gives us multiple points of view. David Lougheed, Alexa McDonough, Bob Rae, Frances Lankin, Brian Mulroney, Allan Gregg, are just a few of the people we meet.

Paikin avoids analysis and comment. He tells the stories of these people as completely as he can. The result is a very human story of Canadian politics.

Politics is an unavoidable and I think necessary part of our communal life. We are a social species; rank and status both create and control conflict. Managing that conflict is the function of politics. Democracy makes for a messier form of politics, where power becomes a means and not an end. Well, that’s the theory, and by their own accounts, supported by the testimony of the other players, the politicians profiled here do want power more for what they can do when they have it than for its own sake. Paikin’s book shows why, so far, Canada hasn’t suffered the rule of a tyrant.

His book also shows that democratic participation in government goes beyond voting,  that paying attention to what the politicos are up to is the only way to help them govern us.

A good book, recommended. ****

Canadian National Treasures (Callwood, 1994)

June Callwood. National Treasures (1994). Vision TV received its licence in 1987, and began broadcasting from its very modest studio a few months later. In 1991, June Callwood discussed an interview show with them. Her guests would be National Treasures, or at any rate people that she thought should be recognised as such. Most of her guests were drawn from her circle of friends and media acquaintances (she was a journalist and social activist). The show was a success, and helped Vision TV grow its audience. It’s now a money-making property owned by ZoomerMedia, with a more secular and marketing approach than the religious and multi-cultural service that its founders had promoted.
     This book consists of edited transcripts of nine of these interviews. They’re interesting as documents of a certain time and sociopolitical ambience that has passed. They trigger nostalgia for what looks like a simpler time, which it wasn’t. The cultural landscape simply felt smaller back then. But the transition to the larger and less easily encompassed  Canada of today was already underway.
     Callwood is a pleasant conversationalist, which makes for easy reading, but I don’t get the sense of personal or other revelations that I’ve had from Eleanor Wachtel (Writers and Company) or Mary Hines (Tapestry) interviews. However, the interview with William Hutt did change my perception of him. The others confirmed or expanded what I already knew (or thought I knew) about them. Recommended for anyone who wants to know more about the 1990s in Canada. All the interviewees have relevance today. ***

Canadians Have Had A Lot to Say: Bathroom Book of Canadian Quotes (2005)

    

Lisa Wojna Bathroom Book of Canadian Quotes (2005) A re-read. Canadians have had a lot to say about themselves and their fellow-citizens, not to mention the inordinate amount of scenery that we live in. Wojna’s collection is a commendable one. The book’s a keeper. A few samples:
     The people of Ontario have never been spoiled by perfection in government. (William Davis, Premier1971-1895).
     There’s an old saying which goes: Once the last tree has been cut, and the last river poisoned, you will find that you cannot eat your money. (Joyce MacLean, the Globe and Mail)
     You have to drop out of school now and then if you want to get and education. (Pamela Peck, PhD, anthropologist)
     The Liberals talk about stable government, but we don’t know how bad the stable is going to smell. (Tommy Douglas, founder of the CCF, which became the NDP).
     If you’re not annoying somebody you’re not really alive. (Margaret Atwood)
Recommended. ****