Friday, December 21, 2001
Tugging at Caesar’s toga - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
Today, I look into the controversy surrounding John Ralston Saul’s latest book. But let me recount a story that’s related to today’s Commentary topic. I happen to have John Ralston Saul’s previous book Reflections of A Siamese Twin. I had bought the book on one of my bookstore jaunts and wanting it autographed by the author, I mailed it to the Governor General’s residence in Ottawa, Rideau Hall. About a month later, I got, via the good people at Federal Express, my book duly autographed by His Excellency himself. It sits on a bookshelf here at the house, unread. Of course signed, at taxpayer’s expense.
VANCOUVER -- The Globe and Mail’s book review of last Saturday, said of John Ralston Saul’s latest book: “At its best, Saul’s writing is provocative and witty. But at its worst, the writing is muddy, prolix, laden with unsupported generalisations ranging from the tempting to the wildly improbable.”
John Ralston Saul, of course is consort to Canada’s Governor General, Her Excellency, The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson. Saul is a left-thinking intellectual of the highest order. He’s a writer that is of international influence and his previous efforts Voltaire’s Bastards and Reflections of A Siamese Twin, have been critically acclaimed. He’s of the left, but his views are widely popular in the Central Canadian Establishment that controls oh so much of this country. He’s been given the Governor General’s book prize for non-fiction and holds a Companion to the Order of Canada to boot.
His latest book, On Equilibrium has received a lot of attention of late. News stories last week noted that Saul was critical of the West, saying it is partly to blame for the September 11th attacks. “For forty years now the West has led a rush to balance its trade figures by aggressively selling its armaments abroad. The world is awash in weaponry. You can trace the parallel rising lines of unstable areas slipping into violence as the quantity of weapons on the market increases. “To act as if our actions do not have consequences is to pretend that we are without qualities and are naturally passive factors when faced by the actions of others.”*
Another passage from the book reads: “Christian militancy has wreaked far greater destruction than anything managed by Islam.” Also, he writes that “Quite simply: corporations are not ethical. That is, they are not meant to be ethical. They are meant to be self-interested.” Much hay was made in the press as he seemed to have called US President Bush “frail” and “awkward” (Earlier this week, he said that remarks regarding Bush were misrepresented). He also had harsh criticism for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Now it’s all and good that Mr. Saul is writing what he believes. I have no quarrel with that. While not totally agreeing with everything he said, I think the fuss is made about his comments because he is the Governor General’s husband and the two -- from the outset of her nomination as Canada’s vice-regal -- have said that they would be a team, and that he would be a full partner.
There have been calls that Governor General Clarkson should resign, or that Mr. Saul should cease writing on political matters until his wife’s tenure as the Queen’s representative in Canada is up. Certainly this book’s publication and the opinions held by the author cause some trouble in matters dealing with protocol and such. As Madame Clarkson’s spouse, Saul holds the title ‘His Excellency’, thus he and his wife would be counterparts to President Bush and his wife, the First Lady.
If Laura Bush or the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, start spouting off about another country, both would suffer derision and criticism for breaching a line that is held sacred in matters political, by Heads of State. Saul is an accredited writer and he has every right to be published, however his wife is the Head of State of Canada. To have such politically charged opinions published, by a “co-head of state” if you will, is a line too muddy for me. Frankly it’s a little discomforting to have what is supposed to be a non-political office held by a partner who is so publicly political. Perhaps, Saul could disown the title ‘His Excellency’ if he wishes to publish political books.
The reality of it all is that Clarkson needn’t resign, because simply put she’s a political appointment anyways and the Liberal Party of Canada is to blame for this cock-up. In recent history, the holders of the vice-regal position have been nothing more than political appointments. Hacks, if you will. Sadly, they shouldn’t have been. Adrienne Clarkson got plumped with the largesse of being ‘Queen of Canada’ by probably kissing some Liberal backside. Saul, who was merely living with Clarkson for some 20 years prior to Clarkson’s 1999 ascension to Rideau Hall, married Clarkson in secret prior to her taking office as Canada’s 26th Governor General. (What’s forgotten also, is that her predecessor, Romeo LeBlanc, another Liberal lackey, too married his live-in prior to taking the office of Head of State.)
Perhaps then this mess could be a signalling of the change undertaken at some of our highest places. Maybe the Governor General’s office is becoming political and we should just accept it. Certainly, I won’t. I’d settle for the abolition of the Governor General’s office, if politicisation is the end all. There’s a reason why the Queen doesn’t pronounce her support or disdain of whatever government is in office in Great Britain. Canada ought to reform its system of governance rather than bastardise what we’ve merely inherited.
On Equilibrium is doing improved business because of this. But that and whoever it’s author happens to be, doesn’t take away from the fact the Globe and Mail’s reviewer, Patrick Watson, notes that the book is both “simply incomprehensible” and that the copy editing is “atrocious.” The book he says, “could be a really good book.”
Watson, himself like the Governor General a former CBC type, complained about the book to a colleague. The colleague responded, “Well, I guess you don’t edit royalty.” Watson, recounts that Julius Caesar himself, once employed “a counsellor to walk at his elbow, tug on his toga from time to time and murmur ‘Remember you’re only human’”. Watson says a good book publisher would have employed a good editor to tug on “Saul’s toga from time to time and murmur, ‘This could be a really good book.’”
If this book is a critical bust, as I’ll assume a lukewarm review in the Globe and Mail suggests; perhaps all we have to worry about is reforming our archaic system of governance and seriously consider the vice-regal’s office in that reformation. And we ought to worry more, about how the occupants of Rideau Hall are prone to utilising the attention and position of Governor General for their own agendas, political or otherwise.
* This quotation is taken from a news report (National Post, December 13, 2001), as I haven’t read Saul’s book On Equilibrium. Patrick Watson’s review of the Saul book appeared in the Globe and Mail’s Books section, December 15, 2001.
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