Great Canadian Speeches
From John A. Macdonald to Adrienne Clarkson
Edited by Dennis Gruending ISBN 9781550419146 Binding Trade Paper Publisher Fitzhenry & Whiteside Publication Date October 20, 2006 Size 152 x 229 mmA collection of the most powerful and moving oratory that Canada has to offer.
Throughout history, men and women of great eloquence have persuaded their contemporaries to build nations, to make war and create peace, to sway judges and juries, to celebrate the accomplishments of the living, and to mourn for the dead.
Canada has had more than its share of great orators, individuals who have used their rhetorical powers to explore important issues faced by our nation: Confederation, relations between peoples, human rights, the economy, culture, our international relationships, particularly with the United States, but also our role in the larger and developing world.
Great Canadian Speeches is a thought-provoking collection of the finest speeches in Canadian history, among them:
- Sir John A. MacDonald making a case for Confederation, while silver-tongued Joseph Howe argues against it;
- Louis Riel pleading his case to a Regina jury in 1885;
- Nellie McClung demanding the vote for women;
- Dr. Norman Bethune urging Canadians to support the Republican cause in Spain;
- Pierre Trudeau and Rene Levesque facing off in the 1980 Quebec referendum;
- Thomas Homer-Dixon pondering Canada's future in an increasingly unstable world.
- David Suzuki addressing environmental challenges
- Jean Chretien on the Trade Tower bombing
- Justin Trudeau's "Je t'aime papa"
- Stephen Lewis' talk on AIDS and the west
- and many more.
Great Canadian Speeches is an eminently readable, thought-provoking oratory for anyone who treasures our country's history and literature.
"A delight to dip into and savour."
— Quill and Quire
"Great Canadian Speeches is a remarkable collection edited by Dennis Gruending sharing orations by our political greats as well as history-makers like Norman Bethune and Nellie McClung."
— Canadian Bookseller
"Exquisitely balanced."
— Winnipeg Free Press
"Dennis Gruending's latest book is so timely. . . A teaser of a book: so much to digest of our history, and yet you want to keep discussing its meaty parts. A very worthwhile book.
— The Oscar (Ottawa)
Dennis Gruending
is a former Member of Parliament from Saskatchewan. A journalist by profession, he has worked for three newspapers and as a producer and host for CBC Radio in western Canada. His previous books includeGreat Canadian Speeches, The Middle of Nowhere, and biographies of Emmett Hall and Allan Blakeney. His articles, stories, and poems have appeared in NeWest Review, The Canadian Forum, New Internationalist, Maclean's, and Reader's Digest. Dennis lives in Ottawa, Ontario.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Joseph Howe (1835) . . . . . . . . . . . . . On press freedom
Louis Joseph Papineau (1837) . . . . . A call to arms
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (1840). . Address to electors
Joseph Howe (1841) . . . . . . . . . . . . . On education
Peau de Chat (1848) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Indian Land
Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1860) . . . . . A northern nation
Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1862) . . . . . A Canadian nationality
John A. Macdonald (1865) . . . . . . . . A federal union
George Brown (1865) . . . . . . . . . . . . Confederation address
Antoine-Aimé Dorion (1865) . . . . . . No to Confederation
George Étienne Cartier (1866) . . . . . Yes to Confederation
John A. Macdonald (1873) . . . . . . . . CPR scandal
Mistawasis (1876) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Talking treaty
Wilfred Laurier (1877) . . . . . . . . . . . On political liberalism
Louis Riel (1885) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Address to the jury
Big Bear (1885) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On trial
Goldwin Smith (1888) . . . . . . . . . . . . Commercial union
John A. Macdonald (1891) . . . . . . . . . On reciprocity
Wilfred Laurier (1877) . . . . . . . . . . . . Macdonald eulogy
Lady Aberdeen (1894) . . . . . . . . . . . . . The role of women
Wilfred Laurier (1904) . . . . . . . . . . . . Canada's century
Henri Bourassa (1905) . . . . . . . . . . . . French language rights
Sundar Singh (1912) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sikhs in Canada
Nellie McClung (1914) . . . . . . . . . . . . Women and the vote
Robert Borden (1914) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Going to war
Arthur Meighen (1917) . . . . . . . . . . . . On conscription
Joseph-Napoléon Francoeur (1918) . . Separation
Arthur Meighen (1921) . . . . . . . . . . . . The glorious dead
Irene Parlby (1921) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Populist politics
Agnes Macphail (1925, 1930) . . . . . . . Women's equality
William Aberhart (1934) . . . . . . . . . . . Social Credit
Richard Bedford Bennett (1935) . . . . . Economic reform
Norman Bethune (1937) . . . . . . . . . . . The Spanish Civil War
A. A. Heaps (1939) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jewish immigration
Claris Edwin Silcox (1939) . . . . . . . . Anti-Semitism
J. S. Woodsworth (1939) . . . . . . . . . . No to war
Thérese Casgrain (1941) . . . . . . . . . . Women's rights
Mackenzie King (1942) . . . . . . . . . . . Conscription referendum
Lionel Groulx (1943) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quebec and Canada
Tommy Douglas (1944) . . . . . . . . . . . Socialist parables
Muriel Kitagawa (1945) . . . . . . . . . . . Japanese internment
Joey Smaliwood (1946) . . . . . . . . . . . Newfoundland wants in
Peter Cashin (1948) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Newfoundland wants out
Moses Coady (1950) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Economic democracy
John Diefenbaker (1957) . . . . . . . . . . A sacred trust
Lester Pearson (1957) . . . . . . . . . . . . Nobel Peace Prize
Woodrow Lloyd (1962) . . . . . . . . . . . On medicare
Jean Lesage (1963) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quebec's ultimatum
Francois Aquin (1967) . . . . . . . . . . . . Praising de Gaulle
Pierre Trudeau (1970) . . . . . . . . . . . . The October Crisis
Tommy Douglas (1970) . . . . . . . . . . . The War Measures Act
Joe Clark (1979) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A community of communities
René Lévesque (1980) . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes to sovereignty
Pierre Trudeau (1980) . . . . . . . . . . . . No to sovereignty
Pierre Trudeau (1982) . . . . . . . . . . . . The Constitution
Brian Muironey (1983) . . . . . . . . . . . Manitoba language rights
Remi De Roo (1983) . . . . . . . . . . . . . On economic justice
Bob White (1988) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No to free trade
John Turner and
Brian Mulroney (1988) . . . . . . . . Debating free trade
David Suzuki (1988) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Environmental challenges
George Erasmus (1990) . . . . . . . . . . Native self-government
Preston Manning (1991) . . . . . . . . . . New Canada
Maurice Strong (1992) . . . . . . . . . . . The Rio Earth Summit
Lucien Bouchard (1994) . . . . . . . . . . A separate Quebec
Paul Martin (1995) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Debt and deficit
Denise Chong (1995) . . . . . . . . . . . . On Canadian identity
Jean Chrétien (1995) . . . . . . . . . . . . Quebec referendum
John Polanyi (1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Science and ideas
Nelson Mandela (1998) . . . . . . . . . . Canada and apartheid
Joe Gosnell (1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Nisga'a treaty
Adrienne Clarkson (1999) . . . . . . . . A forgiving society
Justin Trudeau (2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . Je t'aime papa
Jean Chrétien (2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . The Trade Tower bombing
Sunera Thobani (2001) . . . . . . . . . . Soaked in blood
Stephen Lewis (2002) . . . . . . . . . . . AIDS and the west
Roy Romanow (2002) . . . . . . . . . . . Reforming medicare
Thomas Homer-Dixon (2002) . . . . . System failure
Sources
Permissions
Index
About the Editor