Pluck of the Draw

Ernest Renan, the nineteenth-century French intellectual, is largely remembered for having written that “forgetting is a crucial factor in the creation of a nation.” What is less often cited is his reasoning: “Indeed, historical enquiry brings to light deeds of violence which took place at the origin of all political formations, even of those whose consequences have been altogether beneficial. Unity is always effected by means of brutality.”

I recalled Renan’s comment while reading Anne Trépanier’s book on the pre-Confederation press. I had thought that the current vilification of Sir John A. Macdonald, which has led to his name being taken off buildings and his statues being taken down, was the result of relatively recent revelations, like those in James Daschuk’s Clearing the Plains, from 2013, about his government’s treatment of First Nations. I had assumed that their fate was a matter of little awareness or concern generations ago. And I had thought...