Who Speaks for Canada?

Since our earliest beginnings, the citizens of Canada have grappled with the question of what it is that defines a Canadian. Who Speaks for Canada? brings together 200 of the most persuasive, entertaining, and commanding voices yet to be heard on the subject of being Canadian, from our greatest orators and essayists, proselytisers and poets. The texts – from the country’s literary figures, historical figures, politicians, and notables of public life – are organized by period, and range from the seventeenth century to the present.

Amongst the many well-known literary figures found in this book are: Robertson Davies, Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Denise Chong, Leonard Cohen, Gratien Gélinas, Anne Hébert, W.P. Kinsella, Margaret Laurence, Irving Layton, Stephen Leacock, Hugh MacLennan, Antonine Maillet, John McCrae, Farley Mowat, Michael Ondaatje, Al Purdy, Gabrielle Roy, and Michel Tremblay.

There are, as well, many historical figures, including: Isaac Brock, Henri Bourassa, Joseph Howe, Wilfrid Laurier, Sir John A. Macdonald, George Brown, Nellie McClung, Thomas D’Arcy McGee, and Louis-Joseph Papineau.

Politicians appear, too, including: R.B. Bennett, Tommy Douglas, René Lévesque, David Lewis, Joey Smallwood, Elijah Harper, and Pierre Trudeau.

There are public figures like Peter Gzowski, as well as some of Canada’s most celebrated entertainers: Stompin’ Tom Connors, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, and Gilles Vigneault.

Alongside the famous texts are selections that are less familiar but that nevertheless offer a wider view of what it means to be Canadian: the folktale “Le Diable à la Danse,” Moses Coady’s “Advice to Canadians and Maritimers,” the ex-slave Josiah Henson’s recollections of the Underground Railway, Ralph Gustafson’s poem “In the Yukon,” amongst others.

Who Speaks for Canada? is a compelling testament to the many ways of being Canadian.