We love institutional authority, though hold significant contempt for the individuals who wield it – the very opposite of the American ethos, with its passionate reverence of the President. So much of the Canadian identity revolves around being secure, being cautious. “A nation that adores father figures.” I can’t get over that description and how much it still resonates. The Indians called him ‘father’ to his face, but it was not only the Indians who appreciated his paternal qualities. Incorruptible, adaptable, courageous, courteous, kind (he had all the Boy Scout virtues, as well as the hat), the Mounties comforting presence prevented our west from going wild. Over the years he took his place as a father figure in a nation that adores father figures.

But the Mountie quickly became more than a solider. The frontier Mountie was actually a solider, disguised as a policeman by a shrewd prime minister who didn’t want to annoy you Americans had soldiers chased the whiskey traders back to Montana it might have been considered an act of war. Berton’s explanations as to the national weakness for redcoats still holds true:

Almost thirty years later, the RCMP is still scandalizing us with their behaviour but we’re as happy as ever to take no action. “…why did we let the Mounties get away with all those crimes?” he asks, referring to a scandal of the day. For a book written in 1982 (the first letter is dated April 17, the day the Constitution Act was signed), it’s amazing how much of what he says still resonates. The book takes the form of letters written to Sam, an American friend with little knowledge of his northern neighbour. Now apparently out of print, it’s an eloquent and surprisingly undated analysis of those myths and experiences that shaped the national character. In most of his books, Berton examines what it means to be Canadian and where that sense of national pride originates but, to my knowledge, Why We Act Like Canadians is the only volume entirely devoted to this study.

Indeed, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a home library in Canada that doesn’t have at least one of his history books, usually The Last Spike (personally, I’m partial to Vimy and Marching As to War). When I started this blog in January, the first book I reviewed was Canadians by Roy MacGregor, noting that “I have a particular weakness for navel-gazing books about Canada and the elusive Canadian identity.” While MacGregor wrote eloquently on the topic, there is no author who has done more to articulate the Canadian experience than Pierre Berton.

Vimy by Pierre Berton