Last Best West: Doukhobors Arrive

When Canada needed to settle the prairies in the first half of the 20th century, Wilfrid Laurier's Liberal government was forced to look outside its comfort zone and consider a ragtag group of Russians known as "Spirit Wrestlers," or Doukhobors.

While it was the largest mass migration in Canadian history, Minister of the Interior Clifford Sifton would have preferred English or other western Europeans, but the English were abysmal farmers and the rest weren't in any rush to break ground in -30° C temperatures.

(1908 postcard showing Doukhobor women plowing fields)

So on January 23, 1899, the S.S. Lake Huron docked at Halifax, Nova Scotia with 2,140 Doukhobors on board.

My own relatives would arrive the following week on the S.S. Lake Superior and then more again six months later on the Huron.

The journey had taken a month from the Black Sea port of Batum, which was Russia at the time, now Batumi, Georgia. Other ships would arrive later, but this group headed west, settling across the prairies until eventually reaching B.C. Today I raise my bowl of borscht and celebrate 113 years in Canada!

Paul-Émile Borduas: Resplendent Anarchy

“To hell with the holy-water-sprinkler and the tuque!”

The "Refus Global" (Total Refusal) manifesto, released in 1948, was a cri de coeur against "La Grande Noirceur" ("The Great Darkness") of Quebec premier Maurice Duplessis' stifling reign. Spearheaded by artist Paul-Émile Borduas and Les Automatistes based in Montreal, Refus Global is now regarded as one of the very first salvos in what would eventually become known as the Quiet Revolution (Révolution Tranquille) over a decade later. The reaction was immediate and swift - within a month of its release in August 1948, Borduas lost his teaching position at l'École du Meuble.

Borduas in his Saint-Hilaire workshop, 1950

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia:

"Refus global not only challenged the traditional values of Québec but also fostered an opening-up of Québec society to international thought. The manifesto advocated a strong need for liberation, if not 'resplendent anarchy,' and anticipated the coming of a 'new collective hope.'"

Borduas, Composition, 1942

While only 400 copies of the manifesto were printed, they sold out quickly.

"The reign of hydra-headed fear has ended.

In the wild hope of effacing its memory, I enumerate:
- fear of facing prejudice -- fear of public opinion -- of persecutions -- of general disapproval;
- fear of being alone, without the God and the society which isolate you anyway;
- fear of oneself -- of one's brother -- of poverty;
- fear of the established order -- or ridiculous justice;
- fear of new relationships;
- fear of the superrational;
- fear of necessities;
- fear of floodgates opening on one's faith in man -- on the society of the future;
- fear of forces able to release transforming love;
- blue fear -- red fear -- white fear; links in our shackles."

Along with Borduas, the Automatistes included such artists as Jean-Paul Riopelle, Pierre Gauvreau, and Marcel Barbeau whose work resembled New York abstract expressionists Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock.

Marcel Barbeau, Rosier-feuilles (Rosebush leaves), 1946

Below is an excellent NFB documentary from 1954, "Artists in Montreal" on the Automatistes.

Remembering Remembrance: The Right To Dissent

This is my uncle Jack Gallagher who served in the Canadian Scottish Regiment during World War II and landed at Juno Beach, D-Day, June 6, 1944. We're still in touch and he recently sent me a message explaining what all his medals and decorations are, from left to right:

1. 39/45 Star - awarded for service in an active theater of operations;

2. Germany Star - awarded for active service in France or Germany;

3. Defense Medal - awarded to all Canadians serving overseas;

4. War Medal - awarded to all Canadians who served during the war;

5. Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp - awarded to all Canadians who volunteered for service during the war for at least eighteen months. The clasp was for service out of Canada. It was generally known as the AFM with the Piccadilly Clasp (Away From Mom);

6. CD Canada Decoration - warded for twelve years military service including Militia;

7. COTC Belgian Croix de Guerre; awarded for my contribution on the Leopold Canal and other parts of Belgium;

8. Order of Leopold 11 avec palm - awarded for other service in Belium and Europe."

Jack and his comrades fought for a way of life they believed was worth sacrificing for and in the process, modeled a form of valour that continues to inspire. There's nobility and grace in putting your life on the line for freedom and justice. It's the long view, the same that moves people of conscience to take a stand for the good of future generations.

So it's not surprising to see other veterans like Sgt. Shamar Thomas, the US Marine who gave the New York cops a piece of his mind during an Occupy Wall Street demonstration, defending their right to protest:



Yesterday, Colin Powell expressed a similar view:

"Demonstrating like this is as American as apple pie. We’ve been marching up and down and demonstrating throughout our history...This is something that our political leaders need to think about. It isn’t enough just to scream at our Occupy Wall Street demonstrators — we need our political system to start reflecting this anger back into how do we fix it? How do we get the economy going again?"

The right to dissent is inseparable from the values my uncle Jack and others fought and died for. When I speak out, attend an Occupy event or simply question authority, I'm forever grateful for their sacrifice.

Borderlands: Canada & U.S. Fear

"Homeland Security is a monster that will never die." ~ Derek Lundy

One of the more interesting discoveries I've encountered on my return to Canada (apart from tar sands and the disturbing ubiquity of 80s radio), has been the fact that a significant percent of Americans still believe the 9/11 hijackers entered the U.S. through Canada. It's a complete lie, but it's gained credence within FOX Nation. The truth is just too much to bear, so when in doubt...Blame Canada!



Derek Lundy's recent book, Borderlands: Riding the Edge of America, is a wake-up call. He warns Canadians that change is coming and if we don't take action to define the debate on our terms we'll be subjected to the same militarization seen on the U.S./Mexico border. Lundy is a Canadian who was born in Northern Ireland so he knows a bit about what he's talking about. Terrorism tends to promote the same ugly fears and obsessions with security wherever it surfaces. For this book, Lundy drove a Kawasaki KLR 650 along the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada to investigate what's been happening in the decade since 9/11.

Lundy confirms that 9/11 changed everything for the U.S. Before, economics trumped security, now it's the other way around and everyone is a suspect. The billions poured into Homeland Security has materialized along both borders as huge slabs of cement walls and Predator drones. Lundy suggests the U.S. is now committed to this reality and if Canada doesn't do something to match it we'll be doomed to bleak days ahead.

A Man You Won't Meet Everyday: Jack Layton

"My friends, watch out for the little fellow with an idea." - Tommy Douglas

Canada is mourning a Prime Minister that should have been - Jack Layton, the greatest politician our country has seen since Tommy Douglas. The comparisons have been frequently made and will continue for a long time to come. Both were NDP leaders (Social Democrats) of Anglo dissent who loved their work and approached it as they did life; as optimists who believed in the collective will of people to change the world for the better.

(Jack Layton & Olivia Chow, 1997)

Most people do their work; Jack Layton loved his. And it showed. As with those rare individuals who relish what they do, Layton attracted others to his side and inspired their loyalty. That's what he did until last Monday when he passed away from cancer at the age of 61.

Yuko and I have just returned to Canada from living abroad for over 10 years and his passing is my very first genuine sorrow back home. I was looking forward to watching Jack in action, participating in his project to better the world.

I was too young to see Tommy Douglas in his prime so my recollections are culled from old archived news reels and his written words. Above all, what stands out is his voice and his undeniable integrity. With Jack I recognized the same timbre, the same dignity minus pretense or overwrought gravitas. It's the same quality of sincerity I recognize in the music of Stan Rogers and Leonard Cohen, in the poetry of Al Purdy or Susan Musgrave and in the paintings of Emily Carr or Lawren Harris. As a Canadian, I recognize this uniqueness as intrinsically belonging to us.

(Lawren Harris, "North Shore, Lake Superior," 1926)

An American or a Spaniard might hear or see something completely different and attach their own cultural attribute to it, but it will always remain originally from Canada. Sure, it's white, Anglo-Canada but that doesn't diminish its power for me.

(Tommy Douglas, 1968)

My own spiritual beliefs are agnostic but they bend towards belief in a just universe. I see karma at the centre, but as I grow older I also recognize something larger, perhaps grace, also at work. Grace, as Bono sang, "finds goodness in everything." It's faith, not only that my good or bad deeds will be returned, but that something beyond my control can also deliver me into the hands of joy. It's as simple and as plain as what Jack wrote in his last letter to Canadians:

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

It's not only there in the substance, but also in that tender phrase, "My friends." That's grace - the faith that a stranger is not really one at all, but is a soon-to-be friend. And as Tommy Douglas said:

"Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world."

(Greg Perry)

Thanks, Jack, for your courage and grace...

Canada From Hong Kong: Harper's Victory

"Home", as E.T. knew, can be a very distant star. Canada is my true home although I haven't really lived there for longer than a year since 1995. I was in Vancouver for three months in 2003 and for a year in 1998. I try to return regularly, but family visits are a far cry from settling in.

Watching Canada from the heel of China in Hong Kong over the past decade hasn't proven to be too noteworthy. Admittedly, I've been more involved in issues related to China and Asia, but apart from last year's Vancouver Olympics, NHL games and the odd Nickelback award Canada hasn't mattered that much in the press. Sorry to folks like Andrew Potter, but something you soon figure out when living abroad is you have to go out of your way to hear how Canada might be making an impact internationally. Strangely, the images and impressions that do pop up are like moments encased in amber, fossils pointing to some otherworldly existence.

Trudeau in Alpha Flight

It wasn't always this way, however. While standing before the Maronite Cathedral in Jdeydeh, the Christian quarter in Aleppo, Syria, I struck up a conversation with a local gentleman. When he heard I was from Canada, he started raving about "Pierre Elliott Trudeau." This was in 2008. Here in Hong Kong, not a week passes that someone doesn't mention Canada's "other language" or a relative living in Richmond or Toronto as a reference to Canada's diversity and multiculturalism, policies all associated with Trudeau.


Needless to say, Stephen Harper doesn't come up, nor do any of his "policies", not even his infamous mistake of supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Harper did briefly make headlines here by not attending the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Cool, I thought, until he said it had nothing to do with politics. Then there was the G20 Summit in Toronto last year. When it erupted, Canada looked just like any other country with a hard-on for "security" rather than democracy. Oh, and then there was that young Chinese guy caught in Vancouver with a wrinkled, silicone mask after trying to impersonate an old man from Hong Kong. Now, that was big news.

That's it. Not much else registers around here, which is why I worry about what a Harper majority means as I make my way back. International impressions of Canada haven't progressed much since the 1970s, and in some instances have actually regressed. I've a feeling Harper doesn't really care...and that's not the place I call "home."