One Canada: Memoirs of the Right Honorable John G. Diefenbaker: The Crusading Years 1895 to 1956

As part of my goal to become better acquainted with Canadian politics and political history, I'm making my way through the memoirs of former Prime Minister Diefenbaker. This volume, the first of three, follows his life from childhood to his years of law school and practicing law and right up to his entry into Federal Canadian Politics as a Conservative.

I was intrigued not only by the life of Diefenbaker--he came from humble beginnings, his father being a school teacher--but also by the portrait of Canada he portrays. The Canada of the years between 1895 and 1956 is highly regionalized, each province or section cut off from the others, held together only by infrastructure, bureaucracy and economics.

I was also interested to note how early on his life Diefenbaker began to consider a Bill of Rights. For those readers who don't know, a Bill of Rights came into effect in Canada in 1960 as a precursor the The Charter of Rights and Freedoms which was created in 1982.

I'm looking forward to reading the second and third books by Diefenbaker. I'm sure they will be just as enjoyable, if not more.

The Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx And Freidrich Engels)

I re-read this over the weekend and I have to say I got much more out of it this time than I did when I first read it at age seventeen. Perhaps it is life experience that has made The Communist Manifesto an easier read the second time through, or perhaps it is nearly two years of university education and numerous books. Whatever it is, this time I through I had a smooth, easy read. This time through I was not only reading but also thinking.

By the time I reached the final lines, "Working Men Of All Countries Unite!" I felt I had a better grasp of what Marx and Engels had been trying to say. I also felt, as I did the first time I read this work; I agreed with much of what Marx and Engels had to say.

Naturally, I disagreed with many statements too, which I will not go into here because it would take thousands of words for me to express my thoughts on Marx and Engels. Also, I am sure there are many many reviews and papers on the web offering in-depth analysis of the points which Marx raised. Whether critics, or I suggest that Marx was right or wrong on certain points is irrelevant to new readers of the work, as the readers must interpret The Communist Manifesto and decide for themselves whether Marx and Engels were wrong or right in little, part or everything.

There is one line, which is one of my favourites in the work, and it sums up many of my own beliefs: "the free development of each  is the condition for the free development of all." I firmly believe that people should have access to the education required to reach their full potential, regardless of what class, or income level they've been born into. When all people are given the resources to develop their own minds and skills then we will have taken a step towards a successful and prosperous society.

If you're over the age of eighteen and are an avid reader, but haven't picked up Marx yet, I'd say you're a little behind. Whether you agree or disagree a knowledge of Marx is necessary for a student to function in the academic world. Although Marx is long dead his ideas and the ideas built off of him still flourish, even if many academics read him as history rather than as an author relevant to current times.

My Journey by Olivia Chow

When I heard that Olivia Chow was running for mayor of Toronto, I decided not to put off reading her memoir any longer. On an accidental trip to the bookstore a couple weeks ago (I say accidental because although I was stuck at the mall waiting for a bus to come, I had no intention of entering a book store or purchasing books) I grabbed this off the shelf, along with a volume of Alice Munro's short stories, and John English biography about Pierre Trudeau. I think My Journey is definitely my favourite of the three.

Olivia Chow portrays herself just as I've perceived her in the past. She appears compassionate, strong, and full of inward beauty. When she finds a cause she gets behind it with great discipline. She's a woman with the kind of work ethic and charisma that many a young woman would like to be like. Young women in Canada have few female political role-models to look up, but Olivia is one of the few.

When a took a course in comparative political economy last term, I was made aware of the problems caused by inadequate childcare programs and so I was quite interested by Olivia's discussion of the issue in this book. The fact is, if affordable childcare is not available, then women with young children cannot work, as they must devote their time to looking after their children. If the majority of a working mother's salary goes towards childcare and there is not enough left for her and her children to live on, then it is impossible to survive, and in many cases women wind up staying home. If they are single mothers with no other avenues of support, they take welfare. As a woman--as a Canadian, I find this problematic. I was quite pleased that a woman with as loud of a voice as Olivia Chow takes the issue to heart.

There's so much I could write about My Journey but I won't, because I wouldn't want to spoil the book for prospective readers. Regardless of whether you're an NDP supporter or not, or whether you're even Canadian or have an interest in Canadian politics, Olivia Chow's memoir is a great example of what it means to devote your life to other people's lives and to building a better society.

One Canada: Memoirs of the Right Honourable John G. Diffenbaker

I thought I would take the opportunity to share this trio of books on former Prime Minister Dieffenbaker. I picked them up at a thrift store bag sale over a year ago and recently pulled them from the bottom of a shelf and dusted them off. A great deal of my reading has involved Canadian politics as of late and so these three volumes are high on my to-read list.

The Longer I'm Prime Minister: Steven Harper and Canada, 2006-- (Paul Wells)

Two days ago I was about fifty pages into this book and I hadn't touched it in over a month. Today, I'm done, after a marathon day of reading yesterday and an hour or so spent reading this morning. I wanted to finish it last night, but midnight came and went and I had an early bus to catch in the morning.

I had my reservations about reading The Longer I'm Prime Minister because I knew it was about Harper. I was afraid it would one of those "lovey-dovey" books in which the author sings the praises of the Conservative leader and tells us why Conservatives are the only ones who had safely see Canada into through the next century. I was pleasantly surprised when Paul Wells began to critique Harper. However, Wells wasn't tipping his hat in the direction of any other party. He was just as hard on the Liberals, Bloc and NDP.

Perhaps it is because I am a political science major, but I read through this book with the same hunger and suspense that many readers devour romance novels, YA fiction, or thrillers. Of course I already knew the narrative, having lived through a great deal of it from the time my political awareness began in about 2008 up until 2013, when the book was published.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with Paul Well's analysis of the Conservative Party and of the last decade or so. The part that gives me chills is the way in which Harper's government has endeavored to decentralize and privatize Canada. I am concerned by the a government that places corporations and their profits before social programs and the environment.

I wish I could vote right now for a new government. After all, I didn't pick Harper. I didn't even have a say last time around.

The Fiddlehead: Atlantic Canada's International Literary Journal No.258 Winter 2014

I finally read my first issue of "The Fiddlehead." The Winter issue arrived more than a month ago, but somehow it shifted from the top of my dresser, to my desk, to the top of my record player, back to the desk and then onto the dresser again before I finally threw it my book bag this morning just before I caught the bus into the city for class. I subscribed in January and have to say I'm quite impressed with my first issue. "The Fiddlehead" is a quarterly literary publication, which is more of a book than a magazine. Over my bus rides and the moments I had before my class on foreign policy began, I read through the whole issue, all 100+ pages.

I could go into detail about every poem and short story in the issue, but I won't as that would take a very long time. I will say that I was impressed by the opener to the issue, a short story titled "The Disaster Equation" by Jane Rogers about a small group which encounters a number of misfortunes aboard a boat and a poem titled "Me the Man in a Hurry" by Alberto Rios, a collection of humorous lines about not wanting to pass a woman on the sidewalk in a small town.

I look forward to the remaining three volumes of my subscription to "The Fiddlehead" and would recommend the literary journal to readers of literature in any country.

The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection (Virginia Wolf)

As much as I would like to write this without giving away the ending to Wolf's short story, I cannot. I will spoil the ending only in part. Things are not what they seem within the mirror. The narrator has a rather overactive imagination as he or she describes the woman seen within the looking-glass.

Although I read this story for a class, I feel the need to write about it. It struck me, not because Wolf's style is particularly unique or because she can turn a phrase like no other writer, but because she latched onto the idea that if we are looking at a person or a thing indirectly, there is a good chance that person or thing is not what we believe them to be; we see only distortion.

We spend most of our lives gazing at the reflections of things rather than at the thing itself. Quite often the media serves as our looking-glass through which we view the world. At times we allow our politicians and corporations to fill this role.

"The Lady in the Looking-Glass" is my first taste of Virginia Wolf, but the degree to which her short story has caused me to think, makes me certain it will not be my last taste of Virginia Wolf.