Реферат: Mel Hurtig Essay Research Paper Mel Hurtig2Mel

After a while Mel began to publish books. As a publisher he began to publish Canadian books. He became a great success at this because the market was wide open for this because of the lack of interest in publishing books by or about Canadians. Mel changed the market and for the first time people were able to learn about Canada from the perspective of Canadians. He created mainly non-fiction books and they were about Canada and Canadian interests. His biggest project was the biggest publishing project ever The Canadian Encyclopedia.

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This project created a lot of excitement across Canada for obvious reasons. This was the first time that such an endeavor had ever taken place. This encyclopedia was to contain information about Canada, Canadian culture and other various topics. But most importantly it was to be from the perspective of Canadians.

Despite various offers to buy the project and different finance problems of almost every kind the encyclopedia was a great success. Every Library and school across the country wanted a copy proving that Canadians truly do love their country and have an interest in learning as much as possible about this great country. A short while later Mel decided to print an updated version and to place the encyclopedia on cd rom, both great ideas. Unfortunately his Junior Encyclopedia of Canada did not do so well but those who did read it were both pleased and excited.

The reviews were amazing for the Canadian encyclopedia, the Globe and Mail stated:

Mel Hurtig and company have captured a nation in a nutshell. A reader quickly gets the feeling this is an encyclopedia one can trust. It covers just about every conceivable aspect – and some inconceivable ones – of Canada and Canadians, past and present. The slipcase should carry a warning that those who enter here do so at their own risk; they may disappear for days, and search parties may be required. (p. 221)

This was just one of the many enthusiastic responses he receive. In a letter from Pierre Berton he stated:

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I cannot control my enthusiasm for the Canadian Encyclopedia, a copy of which I now have thanks to you. It’s an absolutely first-rate work and the best thing I can tell you about it is that in the first three days that it’s been in my office I’ve used it about a dozen times. I think you ought to be congratulated for you dedication and hard work. I have a nodding idea of much this must have taken out of you.

(p. 221)

This type of praise shows just how much dedication and love for Canada Mel has. He always tries to do what is best for Canada.

Mel Hurtig was a Canadian nationalist and as such he saw the problems the government was having in regards to making policies that benefit Canada as a whole. So Mel joined the Liberal party in the hope that he may be able to make a difference. In the prairies the Liberals were right wingers and Mel was getting fed up with them and in an article in the Toronto Star he wrote:

The Liberal on the Prairies, for the most part, are not liberals at all, nor even Liberals. No real alternatives for the voters, but simply more Conservatives under another name. Most of them have failed to fight for Medicare, failed to interpret government polices to their constituents and failed to think and act in terms of the national interest.

Pierre Trudeau’s inability to democratize the structure of the Liberal party is his single most significant failure since his election. (p. 58)

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While he was running for office he came out against Pierre Trudeau often. Prompting Trudeau to call him a pain in his side. This gave Mel a boost in the ratings. However because many people in his riding simply could not vote Liberal because of it’s leader Mel lost. After a little more time with the party Mel decided to leave because of differences in opinion between him and the party leaders.

Mel was also very involve in nationalist pressure groups. The first he served with was The Committee for an Independent Canada or the CIC. Walter Gordon was the first honary chairman and he intended to focus on one major issue, a tough screening agency whose impact would be to stem the growth of foreign ownership. Mel had hopes that it would become a broad-based nonpartisan patriotic organization. Meaning he hoped that people from many different political parties and backgrounds would get together and work for a common goal. Eventually Mel was elected chairman and later on he became honary chair, but like most things it could not last forever and they had to disband paving the way for the COC.

The Council of Canadians, was an idea of Mel’s. He wanted to put together a pressure group to help oppose free trade. The COC was very successful in opening the publics eye’s as to what this new agreement meant to common Canadians. They also supported arctic sovereignty, especially when the United States began sending ships through the arctic straight without permission. They also supported that Canada work for the United Nations and help support weaker countries that need help or to work as peacekeepers.

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The COC put an emphasis on supporting Canadian businesses and stopping foreign ownership that would surely happen after the free trade agreement was signed. Besides opening the public to what the government was truly doing the COC was still fairly unsuccessful causing Mel to consider starting his own political party the Nationalist Party of Canada.

The Nationalist party was a good idea but it failed because of an political infighting. The party was formed and ran for office after just eleven months in existence. After a successful first campaign political infighting with a rival forced Mel to disband the party. The ideology behind the party was quite good with their nationalist policies and their wish to end NAFTA and focus more on Canadian interests.

Mel Hurtig was a nationalist who was not afraid to speak his mind and to fight for what he believes in. Mel was not afraid to stand up against people, like Prime Ministers, when he knew he was right. By standing up for what he believed and for what was right for Canada Mel Hurtig is a Canadian hero who should be in charge of running Canada.

Mel Hurtig: At Twighlight in the Country

John Pepe

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