In an era of instant news headlines and empty libraries, a project that seeks to deepen our thinking on a sustained basis through the written word seems downright old-fashioned. To make the point clearer, do you think that many people would respond favourably today to this ad in your local paper?
“In the press and speedily will be published . . . a collection of essays . . . This work will be printed on a fine paper and good type, in one handsome volume . . .”
Likely, the naïve publishers would find themselves with reams of their “fine paper” left over and few subscribers. Yet, in 1788, those were the simple words that beckoned citizens to become engaged in the largest democratic constitutional exercise that the world had ever seen by reading the Federalist Papers. The reservoir of ideas appearing in the 85 essays that comprise the Federalist Papers is simply astounding. It is an exercise that will likely never be replicated again on such a scale.
Sadly, Canada cannot claim to have engaged in a similar exercise at our constitutional birth. To satisfy the Canadian obsession for being distinct from our American friends (despite having so much in common), there is a domestic example of deep intellectual engagement on our society and its governance.
In 1950, a young Pierre Elliott Trudeau co-founded a publication called Cité Libre,which quickly became a thorn in the side of Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis. The journal was considered radical, heavy on philosophical musings and even contained some poetry. Cité Libre folded in 1966 as many of its key figures entered the political arena, but not before it played a part in the Quiet Revolution and made major contributions to the intellectual capital of the Quebec Liberal Party, which returned to power in 1960.
Initiatives like the Federalist Papers and Cité Libre demonstrate how much can be gained from a persistent, thoughtful examination of fundamental aspects of our society – and how powerful such a force for enlightened thinking can be. Canada would be well served by such an initiative today. At the risk of immodesty, it is the reason that we have launched C2C: Canada’s Journal of Ideas.
The aim of C2C is to contribute to Canada’s national arena of ideas by promoting principles of democratic governance, individual freedom, free markets, environmental stewardship, and peace and security. Broadly speaking, these are values shared by many Canadians. Many who hold them call themselves conservative, others libertarian, others classical liberal, and still others would not hazard to attach a label to their views, for one reason or another.
Over the course of the next year, we will begin to explore aspects of each of the key values that we’ve just identified. Based on the project’s success – dependant in large part on it being read and commented on by people like you – it may become a more permanent part of Canadian life. Not surprisingly, many of these values today find themselves in a state of tension or outright conflict. From how to combat terrorism in a democracy, to reconciling human rights with trade, to the reasonable accommodation debate, to coming to grips with environmental challenges and on to renewing the federation, we see the outward manifestation (or symptoms) of this values contest. While newspaper articles, magazine stories, and blogs do an excellent job of identifying many of these challenges, these outlets would readily admit that they often do not have the resources, space, or mandate to deeply delve into them. Think tanks and educational institutions help a little by giving a broader point of view; however, significant gaps remain in the approach taken by these institutions on the majority of these issues. Moreover, there is little accessible philosophical debate on the underlying principles and subsequent approaches to our national life. It is this hole in the infrastructure of our democratic society that we hope to help fill.
C2C takes full advantage of the distribution capabilities and interactivity of the Internet, while allowing more old-fashioned readers (some of us included) to download articles or complete issues for printing and reading in hardcopy at your leisure. Unlike the Federalist Papers and Cité Libre, our readers can respond to articles without waiting for the next publication. Modern technology would have made the founders of those publications envious.
As a forum for critical and deeper thinking beyond the issues-of-the-day, C2C promises to bring something new to Canadian discourse. This first issue, with the fitting theme of “The future of conservatism” is full of thought-provoking articles from a range of established and emerging authors. While it is not possible to do justice to their work in just a few sentences, a brief note on their contributions is here to encourage you to read those pieces closest to your interests.
Dr. Travis D. Smith leads off our themed articles with a compelling essay that exposes Canada’s progressive and conservative traditions with important implications for the future, while Michael Lindsay highlights a new brand of conservatism that has been developing in the United Kingdom and might be coming soon to a ballot box near you. Mark Milke gives a fresh perspective on communicating conservative ideas in the modern media environment. With a look back to 1867, Brigitte Pellerin makes the case for a renaissance of the federalism of our forefathers, in part, to achieve a more focused and smaller government.
Our first issue also features articles dealing with individual freedom and democratic governance, as well as two book reviews. You do not want to miss C2C’s exclusive interview with Luis M. Garcia, a courageous Cuban who grew up in Castro’s Cuba and who longs for freedom for his country and is baffled by apologists for the oppressive regime. An article by Christopher Sands and Baghdad-based Shuvaloy Majumdar, two experts on democratic assistance, challenges Canada to get off its laurels and go global with “peace, order, and good government”. Collin May reviews a new collection on the life and writings of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and what he teaches us about moral and political courage. Finally, Adam Daifallah offers a dynamic review of Margaret MacMillan’s new book on how one week – Nixon’s visit to China – changed the course of history.
A final point warrants mention. The Federalist Papers were sold for one dollar, and issues of Cité Libre for 35-cents. It seems to us that projects of this type have never sought commercial gain. Indeed, they may have failed if they sought such ends. Fortunately, some committed Canadians and numerous individuals supporting this initiative have made C2C possible on a freely-available and widely-dispersed basis. All you need to do is visit www.c2cjournal.ca today to access these articles, and subscribe to hear about future issues when they are published.
If ever ideas knew no boundaries, then that time is surely now.
