John Ralston Saul

"A brilliant and timely argument about Canada's complex nature and our country's best future course. What a relief it is to read something so observant about Canada...Our politicians would do well to read this book."
- Noah Richler, Globe and Mail

"A consequence of Saul's vision is that Western Canada assumes greater influence in the Canadian story."
- Jon Midgley, Calgary Herald

"He suggests a new and believable understanding of how Canada has come to be what it is. A Fair Country has the potential to change the way Canadians see themselves forever. It offers a romantic and heroic vision, and it's a stirring and unpretentious read."
- Lesley Hughes, Winnipeg Free Press

"A Fair Country is that rare work of political thought that, by virtue of its daring, is both thrilling and sobering. One reads it with the even rarer sense that it had to be written."
- Aparna Sanyal, Montreal Gazette

"Any Canadian reading the book, or learning about its content, will think of Canada differently."
- Haroon Siddiqui, Toronto Star

SUMMARY OF A FAIR COUNTRY:

In this startlingly original vision of Canada, thinker John Ralston Saul unveils 3 founding myths. Saul argues that the famous “peace, order, and good government” that supposedly defines Canada is a distortion of the country’s true nature. Every single document before the BNA Act, he points out, used the phrase “peace, welfare, and good government,” demonstrating that the well-being of its citizenry was paramount.

He also argues that Canada is a Métis nation, heavily influenced and shaped by aboriginal ideas: egalitarianism, a proper balance between individual and group, and a penchant for negotiation over violence are all aboriginal values that Canada absorbed. Another obstacle to progress, Saul argues, is that Canada has an increasingly ineffective elite, a colonial non-intellectual business elite that doesn’t believe in Canada. It is critical that we recognize these aspects of the country in order to rethink its future.