In Transforming the Nation, leading Canadian politicians and scholars reflect on the major policy debates of the period and offer new and surprising interpretations of Brian Mulroney. Mulroney had a tremendous impact on Canada, charting a new direction for the country through his decisions on a variety of public-policy issues - free trade with the United States, social-security reform, foreign policy, and Canada's North. The Mulroney government represented a dramatic break with Canada's past.

Transforming the Nation: Canada and Brian Mulroney

History

Blake, Raymond B.

Americas

McGill-Queen's University Press

Social security programs helped to define Canada in the twentieth century and, for the generation that came of age during the Cold War, family allowances more than any other social program embodied the new national ideal. But was this program, which gave all mothers a monthly stipend to raise the nation’s babies, driven by a desire to create a kinder, gentler nation or was it more influenced by economics, constitution-making, and international trends in public policy? This book explores the family allowance phenomenon from the idea's debut in the House of Commons in 1929 to the program's demise as a universal program under the Mulroney government in 1992. Although successive federal governments remained committed to its underlying principle of universality, party politics, the bureaucracy, federal-provincial wrangling, and the shifting priorities of citizens eroded the rights-based approach to social security and replaced it with one based on need. By tracing the evolution of one social security program within a national perspective, From Rights to Needs sheds new light on the process by which Canada’s welfare state and social policy has been transformed over the past half century. From Rights to Needs is a nuanced and comprehensive exploration of the origins and development of family allowances. It will appeal to readers in the public policy community; students and scholars in political science, history, social work, and sociology; and general readers interested in the history and politics of Canadian welfare.

From Rights to Needs: A History of Family Allowances in Canada, 1929-92

UBC Press

Investigates how Canada crafted a national narrative after World War II.&nbsp;&nbsp; Since Confederation, Canadian prime ministers have consciously constructed the national story. Each created shared narratives, formulating and reformulating a series of unifying national ideas that served to keep this geographically large, ethnically diverse, and regionalized nation together. This book is about those narratives and stories. Focusing on the post-Second World War period, Raymond B. Blake shows how, regardless of political stripe, prime ministers worked to build national unity, forge a citizenship based on inclusion, and define a place for Canada in the world. They created for citizens an ideal image of what the nation stood for and the path it should follow. They told a national story of Canada as a modern, progressive, liberal state with a strong commitment to inclusion, a deep respect for diversity and difference, and a fundamental belief in universal rights and freedoms. Ultimately, this innovative history provides readers with a new way to see and understand what Canada is and what holds it together as a nation.

Canada's Prime Ministers and the Shaping of a National Identity (The C.D. Howe Series in Canadian Political History)

University of British Columbia Press

History provides some interesting case studies of what happens when trade barriers come down. Among them is the story told in this book of Newfoundland's integration into Canada in the aftermath of the province's 1948 referendum. Raymond B. Blake takes a refreshing approach to this episode in Canadian history, avoiding the old shibboleths of conspiracy and local nationalism, and instead making a down-to-earth study of economic and political events.Canadians at Last explores the efforts of the many Canadians and Newfoundlanders who tried to make Confederation work. Blake argues that Canada wanted union, to remove any uncertainty in its dealings with Newfoundland over civil aviation, defence, and trade. Newfoundland opted for union largely because Canada's burgeoning social welfare system promised a more secure existence. Investigating the complex problems they encountered, Blake details changes in trade, fishing, and manufacturing and in the political process in Newfoundland. He also looks at the introduction and impact of social programs, and the terms of the US military presence there. Finally, he demonstrates that by 1957 Newfoundland's integration into Canada was essentially complete; it was being treated the same as the other provinces, subject to the terms of union.By beginning with the 1949 Confederation rather than the activities leading up to it, and by thoroughly documenting areas of agreement, contention, and neglect, Blake writes a solid, contemporary history of Newfoundland's integration into Canada. Virtually the only complete academic treatment of this subject, Canadians at Last offers much basic information that so far has not been made available.

Canadians at Last

University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division

Where Once They Stood challenges popular notions that those who voted against Confederation in 1869 and for union in 1948 were uninformed and gullible. Raymond Blake and Melvin Baker demonstrate that voters fully understood the issues at stake in both cases, and women became instrumental in determining the final outcome, voting for Canada in 1948, believing it provided the best opportunities for their children.
 "A lively history of Newfoundland politics from the 1860s to the 1940s, with vigorous and persuasive arguments as to why Newfoundlanders were right to reject Confederation in 1869, and right to embrace it in 1949." --Christopher Moore, author of 1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal 
 "Blake and Baker vigorously bring the exciting fight of ideas in Newfoundland to life. We forget how great the stakes were--nothing less than the survival, security, belonging and recognition of a people. Readers will discover how Newfoundlanders debated for four generations whether Canada was a beau risque." --Patrice Dutil, author of Prime Ministerial Power in Canada

Where Once They Stood: Newfoundland's Rocky Road to Confederation

Baker, Melvin

Literature & Fiction

University of Regina Press

Where Once They Stood challenges popular notions that those who voted against Confederation in 1869 and for union in 1948 were uninformed and gullible. Raymond Blake and Melvin Baker demonstrate that voters fully understood the issues at stake in both cases, and women became instrumental in determining the final outcome, voting for Canada in 1948, believing it provided the best opportunities for their children. "A lively history of Newfoundland politics from the 1860s to the 1940s, with vigorous and persuasive arguments as to why Newfoundlanders were right to reject Confederation in 1869, and right to embrace it in 1949." --Christopher Moore, author of 1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal  "Blake and Baker vigorously bring the exciting fight of ideas in Newfoundland to life. We forget how great the stakes were--nothing less than the survival, security, belonging and recognition of a people. Readers will discover how Newfoundlanders debated for four generations whether Canada was a beau risque." --Patrice Dutil, author of Prime Ministerial Power in Canada

Popular and government-funded anniversaries and commemorations, combined with national symbols, play significant roles in shaping how we view Canada, and also provide opportunities for people to challenge the pre-existing or dominant conceptions of the country. Volume 2 of Celebrating Canada continues the scholarly debate about commemoration and national identity. Raymond B. Blake and Matthew Hayday bring together emerging and established scholars to consider key moments in Canadian history when major anniversaries of Canada’s political, social, or cultural development were celebrated. The contributors to this volume capture the multiple and multi-layered meanings of belonging in the Canadian experience, investigate various attempts at shaping and re-shaping identities, and explore episodes of groups resisting or participating in the identity-formation process. By considering the small voices and those on the margins of Canada’s many commemorative anniversaries, the contributors to Celebrating Canada reveal how important it is to think not only about anniversary moments but also about what they can tell us about our history and the shifting function of nationalism.

Celebrating Canada: Commemorations, Anniversaries, and National Symbols

Hayday, Mathew

University of Toronto Press

Asked in 2010 about his pugnacious approach to federal-provincial relations, Newfoundland premier Danny Williams declared “I would rather live one more day as a lion than ten years a jellyfish.” He was only the latest in a long line of Newfoundland premiers who have fought for that province’s interests on the national stage. From Joey Smallwood and the conflict over Term 29 of the Act of Union to Williams and his much-publicized clashes with Paul Martin and Stephen Harper, Newfoundland and Labrador’s politicians have often expressed a determination to move beyond a legacy of colonialism and assert greater control over the province’s own affairs.
Lions or Jellyfish? examines the history of these federal-provincial clashes with both clarity and wit. Written by a noted expert on Newfoundland politics and intergovernmental affairs in Canada, this book studies a vital but frequently overlooked aspect of modern Canadian federalism.

Lions or Jellyfish: Newfoundland-Ottawa Relations since 1957

Driven by its strong narrative, Conflict and Compromise presents Canadian history chronologically, allowing a better understanding of the interrelationships between events. Its main objective is to demonstrate that although Canadian history has been marked by cleavages and conflicts, there has been a continual process of negotiation and a need for compromise which has enabled Canada to develop into arguably one of the most successful and pluralistic countries in the world. The authors have drawn from all genres characterizing the present state of Canadian historiography, including social, military, cultural, political, and economic approaches. In doing so their aim is to challenge readers to engage with debates and interpretations about the past rather than simply to study for an exam.
 The first volume begins with the history of Canada's indigenous inhabitants prior to the arrival of Europeans and ends with the nation-building project that got underway in 1864. The book is illustrated with over 50 images, maps, and figures, all designed to support its mission to provoke intellectual curiosity.

Conflict and Compromise: Pre-Confederation Canada

Keshen, Jeffrey A.

Knowles, Norman J.

Messamore, Barbara J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Blake, Raymond B.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Blake, Raymond B.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Blake, Raymond B.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Transforming the Nation: Canada and Brian Mulroney

Transforming the Nation: Canada and Brian Mulroney

From Rights to Needs: A History of Family Allowances in Canada, 1929-92

Canada's Prime Ministers and the Shaping of a National Identity (The C.D. Howe Series in Canadian Political History)

Canadians at Last

Where Once They Stood: Newfoundland's Rocky Road to Confederation

Where Once They Stood: Newfoundland's Rocky Road to Confederation

Celebrating Canada: Commemorations, Anniversaries, and National Symbols

Lions or Jellyfish: Newfoundland-Ottawa Relations since 1957

Conflict and Compromise: Pre-Confederation Canada