As part of my goal to become better acquainted with Canadian politics and political history, I'm making my way through the memoirs of former Prime Minister Diefenbaker. This volume, the first of three, follows his life from childhood to his years of law school and practicing law and right up to his entry into Federal Canadian Politics as a Conservative.
I was intrigued not only by the life of Diefenbaker--he came from humble beginnings, his father being a school teacher--but also by the portrait of Canada he portrays. The Canada of the years between 1895 and 1956 is highly regionalized, each province or section cut off from the others, held together only by infrastructure, bureaucracy and economics.
I was also interested to note how early on his life Diefenbaker began to consider a Bill of Rights. For those readers who don't know, a Bill of Rights came into effect in Canada in 1960 as a precursor the The Charter of Rights and Freedoms which was created in 1982.
I'm looking forward to reading the second and third books by Diefenbaker. I'm sure they will be just as enjoyable, if not more.
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