Dropped by the U of T Bookstore in Toronto last night to hear Patrice Dutil and J.D.M. Stewart talk about their recent books, Dutil's on John A. Macdonald, Stewart's on the prime ministers of Canada.
I was happy to be there with a small but interested audience simply because book launches on Canadian historical topics seem to have become scarce and precious lately. The discussion was lively, engaging, and often enlightening.
I think both authors would acknowledge being defenders and admirers of John A. Macdonald, but I was sorry to hear them suggest last night, as they also do in their books, that those who criticise Macdonald and even support the removal of many of his statues around Canada are simply misinformed and are a symptom of how badly history is taught in Canada.
I believe in their sincerity, but they do contribute to that attitude that stifles the discussions we need by presuming that indigenous scholars, and minority historians, and historians less celebratory of our first prime minister, are simply wrong and therefore do not need places on platforms like this one.
And though I don't teach and they do or did, I think by and large our history teachers do a much better job than they acknowledge. And that young people's views on history are hardly so dismissible.
A previous post on related thoughts
