Review: Commissions High
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200706200116 |
| Published date | 01 March 2007 |
| Date | 01 March 2007 |
| Author | Douglas Goold |
| Subject Matter | Review |
| Reviews |
| 196 | International Journal | Winter 2006-2007 |
in
Dreamland
) at the expense of all other preferences, interests, and per-
ceptions, and loses the next election as a consequence, then who should be
criticized for dreaming?
Frank Harvey/Dalhousie University
COMMISSIONS HIGH
Canada in London, 1870-1971
Roy MacLaren
Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006. xi, 519pp,
$49.95 cloth (ISBN 0773530363)
The United States has been the dominant nation in the lives of Canadians
for so long that it is easy to forget that for most of Canada’s history, Britain
was the key nation and reference point, at least for English-speaking
Canadians. One of the critical figures—and the central intermediary
between Canada and Britain—was the high commissioner for Canada,
whose curious title reflected the fact that he (and it always was a “he,” in the
period in question) originally represented one part of the empire to another.
Because of the importance of Anglo-Canadian relations, and the stand-
ing of London as a diplomaticeconomic, cultural, and social centre, the posi-
tion of high commissioner was for decades the most prestigious and desir-
able in the Canadian foreign service, and hence was held by a variety of
remarkable, distinguished individuals. These included Sir Charles Tupper
(1883-96), a father of confederation, Sir John A. MacDonald’s conservative
successor as prime minister, and minister of finance while he was (acting)
high commissioner; Lord Strathcona (1896-1914), a leading businessman
who was a director of the Bank of Montreal for 42 years and the CPR for 32
years, president of RoyalTrust for 15 years, and financed his own regiment—
Lord Strathcona’s Horse—to fight in the South African War; and Vincent
Massey, (1935-46), who played a key role during the Second World War and
whose name is associated with many memorable acts of philanthropy.
Few people are better qualified to recount the story of high commis-
sioners from the first—Sir John Rose, a few years after Confederation—
than Charles Ritchie, a century later, when Britain joined the European eco-
nomic community, to Roy MacLaren, who does so extremely well, with
great diligence. The author was high commissioner from 1996 to 2000 and
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