Book Review ~ The Promise of Canada by Charlotte Gray - 150 Years - People and Ideas that Have Shaped Our Country

Such a fascinating read! This book is packed snugly with the story of Canada. Not just politics, but some of the people that created and continue to develop this sprawling, multicultural country. Historian and biographer Charlotte Gray shows us the work that it’s taken to build Canada, including showing some of the dirty laundry over our 150 year span. She includes the need to bind east to west with the railway and the immigrants that built it. With excellent research and elegant narrative, Charlotte Gray chose nine characters from Canada’s first 150 years to paint this picture ~ 

George-Etienne Cartier, the Francophone Father of Confederation 

who advocated for political multiculturalism; 

Emily Carr on Vancouver Island, the Group of Seven in the east and 

the development of the arts in Canada; 

Economist Harold Innis, a prolific writer of nationalism 

about Canada as a ‘natural’ rather than political entity;

Tommy Douglas, a provincial and then federal politician

and his promotion of health care for all that brought in Medicare; 

Sam Steele and the founding of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

with their successes, benefits and deficits;

Elijah Harper, former chief of the Red Sucker Lake First Nation, spoke up in the Manitoba Legislature against the Meech Lake Accord and for Indigenous rights;

Supreme Court Justice Bertha Wilson, the first woman on the Supreme Court, 

who had strong views on the Constitutional Rights and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms;

Margaret Atwood, a Canadian literary treasure 

who has shaped Canadian literature at all levels; 

Preston Manning, the Alberta politician who disagreed 

with the traditional politics of the East throughout his career.

I can only give you a sketch of how Canada came to be, how this country grew and has continued to grow. The recent events since Charlotte Gray’s book was published, shows our strength to survive and thrive no matter the conditions.

“Cbarlotte Gray helps us to better understand who we are 

as an evolving nation ~ a country for all that 

will thrive well beyond the next 150 years.

~ Naheed Nenshi, previous mayor of Calgary, Alberta

Title: The Promise of Canada - 150 Years - People and Ideas That Have Shaped Our Country

Author: Charlotte Gray

Copyright: 2016

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Format: Non-Fiction, hardback

Type: History

ISBN: 978-1-4767-8467-0

ISBN: 1-4767-8469-4 (ebook)

There Was a Day

New printer

There was a day when any 

new technology had only one cord. One cord and plug in, and one button for on and off. But galloping technology that includes wifi 

~ you know, that thing that carries all our emails and searches and connections to a myriad of devises ~ races past me while I plod along using my laptop, tablet, cellphone 

for the mundane until one of them quits ~ 

goes to that great ‘cloud’ in 

the wifi universe leaving behind 

the big piece of plastic, ports, gears and ink.

The new piece of wifi life 

needs a technician 

~ not my skill set ~ 

to get them all working 

in concert ~ just so 

I can use my new printer. 

“We are stuck with technology when what 

we really want is just stuff that works.”

~ Douglas Adams, 

The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One

p.s. You still have to plug it in and push the on and off button.

An Unbroken Field

“Tell me, what is it you 

plan to do with your one 

wild and precious life?”

Mary Oliver penned these 

words at the end of her 

poem The Summer Day. 

Summer has yet to bless us, 

but her question stands for any season. There was no plan 

when my life stepped out 

on its own. It became a charcoal sketch with roads 

going hither and thither, 

mountains to climb, rivers 

to cross, and stars to sleep under, 

blue skies or grey, stormy 

weather or calm. Looking into 

the distance of yesterday, 

my heart may have whispered 

a direction. For each tomorrow, 

there is an unbroken field.

“Study the past if you would define the future.”

~ Confucius

Prairie Spring

Walking dusty streets where

left over snow banks and 

puddles shrink, rivulets 

of winter water drain

down opened drains

steadies my pace so 

I stay in the sun, loving 

the swing in my step.

All signs of spring on 

the prairies; fresh faced 

flowers and greening trees 

will take centre stage soon.

“The prairie is.”

~ W.O.Mitchell,

Who Has Seen the Wind

The History of Juggling

Don't know the words that followed

Juggling all the news of each day ~

acts worthy of the Ed Sullivan show 

from far away years. Plates spinning 

while the latest performer jack rabbited 

back and forth to avoid an untimely crash 

to the stage floor, and then 

Liberace, in a jewel encrusted cape 

at a grand piano 

candelabra on it's edge, 

joked and entertained us;

new songsters, like young Patsy Cline,

presented themselves to the world. 

A world gone by in a blink 

but never far from my memory.

Today's variety shows are sensational!

"Call in to vote for your favourite"

Not a feature for The Ed Sullivan Show

 ~ TV ratings his only metric. 

So here we are - juggling all the news of the day.
Sensational, lots of variety, bluster and showmanship

“The world cannot be governed without juggling.”

~ John Selden

(1584 ~ 1654

A Gift

The smoke of green sage curled 

in the air around my head,

carried by my hands;

asked that I be the vessel for 

good words, good thoughts, 

a voice for the voiceless and 

deep caring from my heart. An 

eagle feather guided the smoke 

all around me and beneath my feet 

to guide me on a straight path…

~ a blessing from the Creator.

“The excellence of a gift lies in it appropriateness rather than in its value.”

 ~ Charles Dudley Warner, essayist, author

In Pieces

Up-ended organization fell 

like pieces of a puzzle 

making a mess of 

the hours of a day ~

but the sun spread her glow

in an unblemished sky. 

As the sun descended to sleep, 

loose pieces gathered together,

and order was restored.

“The order I found was the order of disorder”

~ William Saroyan, Armenian author