James Bond is Canadian!

I just stumbled on this interesting quote from Ian Fleming, the author and journalist best remembered for his James Bond 007 series:

“James Bond is a highly romanticized version of a true spy. The real thing is…William Stephenson.”
–Ian Fleming, The Times, October 21, 1962.

A quick search for William Stephenson came up with this:

Stephenson was born William Samuel Clouston Stanger on January 23, 1897 in the Point Douglas area of Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. … was a Canadian soldier, airman, businessperson, inventor, spymaster, and the senior representative of British intelligence for the entire western hemisphere during World War II. He is best-known by his wartime intelligence codename of Intrepid.

Canadians of Interest ~ René Lévesque

One of the first Canadian Politics books I read was ‘Memoirs’ by René Lévesque. I was probably in grade eight and found the dusty book in a forgotten corner of my school library. I remember the cover – M. Lévesque standing there staring directly at you with a cigarette hanging casually in his right hand. I had to know more about this man.

He was born in 1922 in Campbellton, New Brunswick and raised in New Carlisle, Quebec. M. Lévesque studied for a law degree at Laval University in Québec City but left to pursue a career as a news writer and announcer. A liaison officer and European war correspondent for the American armed forces in WWII, Lévesque joined Radio-Canada International (the French-language counterpart of the CBC) in 1946 and became head of the radio-television news service in 1952. From 1956 he hosted the TV series “Point de Mire” and became one of Québec’s most influential TV commentators.

He entered politics in 1960 and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Québec in the Québec Liberal government of Jean Lesage. He quickly became a leading force in Québec’s Quiet Revolution and was instrumental in the nationalization of Quebec’s private hydro-electric companies by 1964. This development allowed Hydro-Québec, which employs thousands of highly skilled French-speaking Quebeçois, to become North America’s largest and most successful producer and distributor of electricity.

The Liberals lost the 1966 election to the Union Nationale but Lévesque retained his own seat. In 1967 he left the Liberal party after its members refused to discuss the idea of a sovereign Québec and founded the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association, which later merged with another sovereigntist party to form the Parti Québecois (PQ) in 1968. He was the leader of the Parti Québecois party until he retired in 1985.

In 1976 the PQ won 71 out of 110 seats and 41.1% of the popular vote. René Lévesque became the Premier of Québec ten days later.

His government was responsible for the Act to govern the financing of political parties which banned corporate donations and limited individual contributions to political parties to $3000, meant to prevent wealthy individuals and organizations from having a disproportionate influence on the electoral process. His PQ also passed the Quebec Charter on the French Language. The objective of the Charter was (and still is) to make French “the normal and everyday language of work, instruction, communication, commerce and business.” In its first enactment, it reserved access to English-language public schools to children whose parents had attended English school in Quebec. All other children were required to attend French schools in order to encourage immigrants to integrate themselves into the majority French culture. It also made it illegal for businesses to put up exterior commercial signs in a language other than French at a time when English dominated as a commercial and business language in Quebec, while more than 80% of the population was of French origin.

On May 20, 1980, the PQ held the 1980 Quebec referendum on its sovereignty-association plan. The result of the vote was 40% in favour and 60% opposed (with 86% turnout). Lévesque conceded defeat in the referendum, but his concession speech called upon sovereigntists to persevere “À la prochaine fois!” (“Until next time!”).

M. Lévesque led the PQ in the 1981 elections to 49% of the popular vote. In 1985 he resigned as leader of the PQ and Premier of Québec over a split within the party over how prominent the issue of sovereignty should be in the next election platform. He thought it should not play so important a role which angered the strongest supporters of sovereignty in the party.

Lévesque was a constant smoker and died of a heart attack in 1987. Of the things he left as his legacy, some of the most memorable are completing the nationalization of hydroelectricity through Hydro-Québec, the Quebec Charter of the French Language, the political party financing law, and the Parti Québécois itself. His government was the first in Canada to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the province’s Charte des droits de la personne in 1977.

Two major boulevards bear his name: one in Montréal and one in Québec City.

Buy M. Lévesque’s books from Amazon:

‘Memoirs’ by René Lévesque (English) – ONLY $2.90!

‘Attendez que je me rappelle’ book by René Lévesque (French)

‘An Option for Quebec’ book by René Lévesque (English)

‘Option Quebec’ book by René Lévesque (French)

Canadians of Interest ~ Lester B. Pearson

The 14th Prime Minister of Canada, considered the father of modern peacekeeping (the United Nations Emergency Force – the first of its kind – was his creation), and Nobel Peace Prize winner for his role in defusing the Suez Crisis (the selection committee said he “saved the world” and he remains the only Canadian to ever win it), Lester Bowles Pearson was one of the most influential Canadians of the 20th century.

For twenty years he served as Canada’s foremost statesman with the Department of External Affairs, beggining in 1928. During this time he forged Canada’s international image and played an important role in the creation of the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

He began his political career in 1948 when he won the riding of Algoma-East and was made Minister of External Affairs for the Liberal government of Louis St. Laurent. At this same time he served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly.

In 2004 the CBC had a poll to determine the ‘Top Greatest Canadians’ voted by Canadians. Mr. Pearson was sixth on that list. From their introduction:

“When it comes to Canadian Prime Ministers, few accomplished so much in so little time as Lester B. Pearson. During his five years in office Pearson oversaw the introduction of the Canada Pension Plan, a national system of universal Medicare, the Commission on bilingualisim and bicultrualism, and the Maple Leaf Flag. And, he did it all without ever winning a majority government.”

Canadians of Interest ~ Mr. John Amagoalik

The first installment of a weekly-recurring post: Canadians of Interest.

This week my Canadian of Interest is Mr. John Amagoalik, widely recognized as the father of Nunavut.

Mr. Amagoalik was born near Inukjuaq in northern Quebec in 1947. Six years later his family and 17 others were relocated to Resolute Bay during a heavy-handed government initiative to assert sovereignty over the High Arctic during the Cold War. Many of his family and friends died from exposure and starvation in the hostile and unfamiliar environment. In 1995 the government finally apologized and reached a settlement for the ‘High Arctic Exiles’, largely due to his tireless efforts.

Mr. Amagoalik began his political career as the Baffin Regional Information Officer with the Northwest Territories territorial government, where he became the first of many to call for the creation of an Inuit homeland, to be called ‘Nunavut’ which means ‘our land’ in Inuktitut.

As president of the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, chair of the Nunavut Constitutional Forum, political advisor to the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut and then chief commissioner of the Nunavut Implementation Commission, Amagoalik negotiated on behalf of his people with a series of Canadian prime ministers directly.

Mr. Amagoalik has received accolades for his work with Aboriginal rights and the Nunavut claim, including the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada’s 20th Anniversary Award, a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, and an honorary degree from St. Mary’s University in Halifax.