O.D. Skelton: The Work of the World, 1923-1941 is a lively and compelling trip through the letters, diary entries, and official memoranda of O.D. Skelton, one of the most important and influential civil servants in twentieth-century Canada. Skelton was a towering foreign policy advisor to Canada's prime ministers and a lonely advocate for the country's independence from Great Britain. His accounts detail his work as he co-operated and clashed with William Lyon Mackenzie King and R.B. Bennett over Canada's participation in the international arena. Norman Hillmer's selection and assessment of Skelton's writings offer a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the federal government as Skelton systematically built up the Department of External Affairs and the Canadian diplomatic service as instruments of the national interest, confronted the Manchurian, Ethiopian, and Czech crises of the 1930s, aligned himself with senior francophone politicians such as Ernest Lapointe and Raoul Dandurand, and watched in despair as Europe and Asia descended into war. Providing avenues into a time when Canada was struggling to define itself, this collection shows the ways in which O.D. Skelton pushed the country onto the global stage.
Empire to Umpire provides a survey of Canada?s foreign policies and varying roles in international affairs, from dutiful member of the British Empire to second-tier power and peacekeeper. Beginning before the turn of the century when Canada took its first faltering steps into nationhood, Norman Hillmer and J.L. Granatstein, two of Canada?s leading historians, offer fresh insights into the events, the ideas, and the personalities that have influenced Canada?s participation in world affairs. Two competing forces dominate our international persona: the reliance on imperial strength, first British then American, for our security and economic prosperity; and the strong impulse to do what is right in, and for, the world. What happens when the "choirboy at the Concert of Nations" is called upon to sing duets with a dowager aunt or a rich southern uncle? That is the story Hillmer and Granatstein succeed in telling in this richly illustrated history of Canadian foreign policy.
When O.D. Skelton became Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s foreign policy advisor in 1923, he was already a celebrated critic of the status quo in international and domestic affairs, a loyal Liberal Party man, and a fervent nationalist who believed Canada needed to steer a path independent of Britain. Two years later, he became the permanent head of Canada’s Department of External Affairs. Between then and his tragic death in 1941, Skelton created Canada’s professional diplomatic service, staffing it with sharp young men such as Lester B. Pearson. Skelton’s importance in Ottawa was unparalleled, and his role in shaping Canada’s world was formative and crucial. Using research from archives across Canada and around the world, Norman Hillmer presents Skelton not only as a towering intellectual force but as deeply human – deceptively quiet, complex, and driven by an outsize ambition for himself and for his country. O.D. Skelton is the definitive biography of the most influential public servant in Canada’s history, written by one of the most prolific Canadian historians of international affairs and the editor of Skelton’s voluminous papers.
The last foreign policy review was conducted in 1995 and there has been no thoroughgoing, decisive, public reconsideration of the significance of the terrorist attacks against the United States, the violent response in U.S. policy and action, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, tests and failures of the United Nations Security Council, and the transformed quality of relations along the Canada-U.S. border. Still less has there been any open, extensive, government-led reassessment of the obligations of continental defence or the new and future accommodations required to realign Canada's relations with the United States and the rest of the world. Policy initiatives have instead looked temporizing and partial.
On November 17, 1938, Great Britain, the United States, and Canada, after four years of discussion and manoeuvre, signed two wide–ranging and interlocking trade agreements. A few large elements dominated the talks. The Americans wanted to breach the walls of the British imperial preferential tariff system. The British were anxious to retain markets and political support in the British dominions and the Baltic, while protecting their domestic agriculture and improving political relations with the United States. Canada, whose acquiescence and co–operation were necessitated by the pre–existing network of trade agreements, hoped to win new export markets, to retain old ones, and to achieve international political tranquility through economic means. Although the negotiations began with a mixture of lofty and ignoble motives, in the end the latter predominated. The authors have drawn on archival and statistical materials in all three countries to provide a clear and detailed account of the economic context of the mid–1930s, the process of negotiations, the issues, and the political and economic significance, both then and now, of the final agreements. Their work is a valuable case–study of the problems that face any country that tries to negotiate freer trade. It is therefore full of contemporary resonance and relevance, and will be of interest to students of and specialists in modern history (European, British, and North American), international relations, and international economic policy.
In this collection of essays marking the centenary of Pearson's birth, eighteen leading academics, journalists, public servants, and politicians recreate and reassess Pearson's premiership from 1963 to 1968. Robert Bothwell (Toronto) introduces Pearson the man and Denis Stairs (Dalhousie) presents his political ideas. Governor General award-winning author and journalist Christina McCall and J.L. Granatstein (Canadian Institute of International Affairs) compare Pearson and his nemesis, John Diefenbaker. Stephen Azzi (House of Commons) and Greg Donaghy (Department of Foreign Affairs) write respectively about the prime minister's relations with Walter Gordon and Paul Martin Sr. Tom Kent (Queen's) and Penny Bryden (Mount Allison) discuss the Pearson welfare state, while Claude Ryan, editor of Le Devoir in the 1960s, and Michael Behiels (Ottawa) debate national unity. Patrick Brennan (Calgary) looks at the media. Monique Bégin (Ottawa), Andrew Cohen (Globe and Mail), Blair Neatby (Carleton), and former public servants Ross Campbell, Al Johnson, Geoffrey Pearson, and Gordon Robertson gauge the scope of Pearson's legacy. The collection also includes an introduction by the editor and a foreword by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
The Land Newly Found is comprehensive, fascinating collection of first-hand accounts from the frontiers of Canadian immigration history. Drawn from letters, newspapers, and reportage, these vivid accounts range from the 18th century to the present day, and provide an insightful look into the lives and minds of newly arrived immigrants to Canada as well as the politicians, policy-makers, and public who witnessed their arrival. Chosen for their immediacy and engaging acuity into the Canadian immigration experience, these eyewitness accounts are broad in scope, revealing the hardships and heartbreak, hard work and happiness of people beginning their lives anew in a foreign land. From war brides and home children to refugees and boat people, The Land Newly Found not only explores the personal stories of those who choose to make Canada their new home, but provides keen insight into the policies and political struggles of a budding multicultural nation.
An outstanding collection of firsthand accounts from the front lines of our military history, drawn from letters, diaries, and reportage from the Plains of Abraham and the Red River Rebellion to the battlefields of two world wars and Korea, as well as the harrowing missions in Bosnia and Afghanistan. This is a book that animates our past in the words of those who lived the Canadian military experience.
From two of Canada’s foremost historians comes a highly original compilation of eyewitness accounts from our nation’s history. Chosen for their immediacy and engaging qualities, these first-hand accounts are broad in scope, including General James Wolfe’s victory at Quebec in 1759; the escape of a fugitive slave; the hanging of Metis leader Louis Riel; suffragette Nellie McClung’s crusade for women in 1914; the daring World War I exploits of ace pilot Billy Bishop; the Canadian surrender to the Japanese in Hong Kong in 1941; the modern phenomenon of Wayne Gretzky; and Canada’s great success at the 2002 Olympic Games. Drawn from letters, newspapers, reportage, and diaries, these vivid accounts of history in the making cover the range of time from first contact to the present day, providing an exciting and immediate window into Canada’s diverse history.
On November 17, 1938, Great Britain, the United States, and Canada, after four years of discussion and manoeuvre, signed two wide–ranging and interlocking trade agreements. A few large elements dominated the talks. The Americans wanted to breach the walls of the British imperial preferential tariff system. The British were anxious to retain markets and political support in the British dominions and the Baltic, while protecting their domestic agriculture and improving political relations with the United States. Canada, whose acquiescence and co–operation were necessitated by the pre–existing network of trade agreements, hoped to win new export markets, to retain old ones, and to achieve international political tranquility through economic means. Although the negotiations began with a mixture of lofty and ignoble motives, in the end the latter predominated. The authors have drawn on archival and statistical materials in all three countries to provide a clear and detailed account of the economic context of the mid–1930s, the process of negotiations, the issues, and the political and economic significance, both then and now, of the final agreements. Their work is a valuable case–study of the problems that face any country that tries to negotiate freer trade. It is therefore full of contemporary resonance and relevance, and will be of interest to students of and specialists in modern history (European, British, and North American), international relations, and international economic policy.
When O.D. Skelton became Prime Minister Mackenzie King's foreign policy advisor in 1923, he was already a celebrated critic of the status quo in international and domestic affairs, a loyal Liberal Party man, and a fervent nationalist who believed Canada needed to steer a path independent of Britain. Two years later, he became the permanent head of Canada's Department of External Affairs. Between then and his tragic death in 1941, Skelton created Canada's professional diplomatic service, staffing it with sharp young men such as Lester B. Pearson. Skelton's importance in Ottawa was unparalleled, and his role in shaping Canada's world was formative and crucial. Using research from archives across Canada and around the world, Norman Hillmer presents Skelton not only as a towering intellectual force but as deeply human - deceptively quiet, complex, and driven by an outsize ambition for himself and for his country. O.D. Skelton is the definitive biography of the most influential public servant in Canada's history, written by one of the most prolific Canadian historians of international affairs and the editor of Skelton's voluminous papers.
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