One of Canada’s greatest prime ministers, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, declared that “The 20th century shall be the century of Canada.” Laurier, a man of vision, compromise, and pragmatic solutions, correctly identified a century in which Canada would truly come into its own, although not without difficulty. This News in Review story examines our current notion of statehood, our legacies, and the extent to which we will claim ownership of our future.
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Monthly Archives: February 2000
Canadian National: The Continental Railway
According to the Laurentian theory of Canadian history, Canada as a nation developed from east to west because of the immense inland waterway of the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and Sir John A. Macdonald’s transcontinental railway, the natural extension of the maritime route. The importance of railways in the evolution of Canadian society cannot be underestimated. And now, railways are once again at the core of another historical phenomenon: the “continentalization” of North American society.
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World Trade: The Subsidy War
Globalization is a political and economic concept that has been much extolled in the last decade. It is also a trading phenomenon that has had very real effects on the way Canadians live. This News in Review story, which revisits the troubled — some would say disastrous — Seattle World Trade talks, explores the advantages, disadvantages, and above all the conflicts created by the growing globalized economic system in which Canada has become a very active player.
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Y2K: Much Ado About Nothing
In light of the much touted Y2K bug, preparations on a global scale and enormous expenditures may well have resulted in what many consider a non-event. Like preventive medicine, however, planning and preparation are always preferable to disease control or crisis management. Were the costs justified or necessary? What is for certain is that it was a spectacular party that circled the globe — a celebration that in its own way once again confirmed the interconnectedness of humankind.
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