R B Bennett

Writing a life of Bennett, who reportedly destroyed his correspondence every seven years, presents challenges for the biographer. Yet, as P.B. Waite shows, Bennett's lasting contributions to Canada are beyond doubt. He describes Bennett's bold initiatives, including his attempt to introduce unemployment insurance and a minimum wage, as well as his founding of the Bank of Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - achieved in the teeth of opposition from banking and media magnates. Waite also contemplates Bennett's friendships, his relationships, and his lifelong bachelorhood, shedding new light on his life and personality. With warmth, wit, and a deep knowledge of its subject, In Search of R.B. Bennett brings Bennett the man - his penchants, prejudices, weaknesses, and strengths - before the reader.

In 1897, a young man from New Brunswick, R.B. Bennett (1970-1947), arrived in Calgary, penniless, to practice law. Thirty years later he left for Ottawa to assume the leadership of the Conservative party of Canada and eventually to serve as prime minister. Gray tells the story of those 30 years and the events that laid the foundations of Bennett's political and business careers. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

No Canadian prime minister has a reputation as uncertain as that of R.B. Bennett (1870-1947). The Conservative party leader of the country during the worst years of the Great Depression, Bennett's fortune and ascension to the British House of Lords alienated him from the Canadian people during his lifetime, while his burial in England has kept him aloof from his country even in death. Writing a life of Bennett, who reportedly destroyed his correspondence every seven years, presents challenges for the biographer. Yet P.B. Waite shows that, while many details of Bennett's life may be unknown or disputed, his contributions to Canada are beyond doubt. Waite describes Bennett's bold initiatives, including his attempt to introduce unemployment insurance and the minimum wage, and the foundation of the Bank of Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - achieved in the face of staunch opposition from banking and media magnates. He also studies Bennett's personal relationships and his lifelong bachelorhood, sifting through rumours and weighing conflicting opinions to shed new light on his life and personality. A remarkable study of a polarizing figure, In Search of R.B. Bennett uncovers the best and worst of the life and times of a pivotal Canadian leader.

Ch. 3 (p. 49-54), "Fascism in Quebec", discusses antisemitism in Quebec in the 1920s-30s. Ch. 4 (p. 55-66), "The Department of Immigration and the Rise of Hitler", and ch. 5 (p. 67-83), "Fighting a Losing Battle - a Portrait of Sam Jacobs", show how federal bureaucrats in the departments of the Interior and External Affairs, and Prime Ministers R.B. Bennett and Mackenzie King, stringently opposed Jewish immigration after Hitler's rise to power. The Jewish member of parliament Sam Jacobs failed to change their policy.

A provocative case for the special balance and uniquely Canadian nature of the Conservative imperative throughout our history. In a manner that reflects his long-time academic and practitioner's association with conservative politics and ideas in Canada, Hugh Segal traces the deep historical roots of Canadian conservatism and the themes that unite its pre- and post-confederation reality with today's challenges and issues. The Right Balance connects the historical roots and exclusive intellectual principles of Canadian conservatism to the fundamental idea of Canada with a new and insightful perspective. Provocative and timely, this book puts the present Stephen Harper-led Conservative Party of Canada into a dynamic historical context and gives readers fresh insights into how Canadian conservatism is different and why, providing depth and texture to today's headlines. The Right Balance will appeal to both adults and students who are interested in the economics, ideas and DNA of our present political debates.

Over 1.5 million Canadians were on relief, one in five was a public dependant, and 70,000 young men travelled like hoboes. Ordinary citizens were rioting in the streets, but their demonstrations met with indifference, and dissidents were jailed. Canada emerged from the Great Depression a different nation. The most searing decade in Canada's history began with the stock market crash of 1929 and ended with the Second World War. With formidable story-telling powers, Berton reconstructs its engrossing events vividly: the Regina Riot, the Great Birth Control Trial, the black blizzards of the dust bowl and the rise of Social Credit. The extraordinary cast of characters includes Prime Minister Mackenzie King, who praised Hitler and Mussolini but thought Winston Churchill "one of the most dangerous men I have ever known"; Maurice Duplessis, who padlocked the homes of private citizens for their political opinions; and Tim Buck, the Communist leader who narrowly escaped murder in Kingston Penitentiary. In this #1 best-selling book, Berton proves that Canada's political leaders failed to take the bold steps necessary to deal with the mass unemployment, drought and despair. A child of the era, he writes passionately of people starving in the midst of plenty.