In praise of ordinary people
Review of "How Canada Works" by Peter Mansbridge and Mark Bulgutch.
HOW CANADA WORKS: THE
PEOPLE WHO MAKE OUR
NATION THRIVE
Peter Mansbridge
and Mark Bulgutch
Simon and Schuster Canada, 2023.
It was an impulse buy. I was looking through the 70 percent off Christmas clearance rack at London Drugs when I spotted a book cover with the name “Peter Mansbridge” (of CBC’s The National). For almost thirty years, this trusted icon with the fatherly face on the evening news informed and comforted our nation through 9/11, floods and tornadoes. So I bought the book.
This book is about the “little people” (those of Kuyperian vintage will think “Kleine mensen or luyden”); the people who ride the bus each morning, or drive that bus, deliver mail, keep our airplanes from crashing, clean windows in high rise office towers, stock grocery shelves and those who, eventually, make us look good in our coffins.
The photos of these folks on the cover are in black and white. But the stories of the 27 workers are in living colour. The colours are their dedication, their focus, their humility, their sense of making the world a better place and of tremendous pride in their work.
Jennifer Handley is the mayor of a small town, Nanton (population 2,220) in Alberta. Annual salary: $16,000. She can’t enter a local coffee shop without hearing the various complaints about garbage pick-up, water waste or too many gophers. But, she says, “we are not doing this for the money; we are doing it because we care about our community.”
I loved the remarks of dairy farmer David Wiens (“The Farmer”) from Grunthal, Manitoba. He has a deep attachment to the cows and the land – not just any land, this land. Automated machines, he says, allow cows to be milked anytime they need it and individualized transponders ensure issues are noted and addressed. “A comfortable cow lives longer and produces better,” he says. What a testimony to such a reward for respecting God’s creatures! He is one of many farmers who works hard but finds great joy his vocation. “[D]airy farming is what I know and it’s what I love,” he says. “It’s a way of life that I believe reflects values that are important in our society. I’m bringing Canadians locally produced milks, cheese, butter, and yogurt, while caring for the land and caring for the animals.”
These simple, first person accounts reveal why people chose their particular field, pursued appropriate training, found a sense of accomplishment and purpose (what many Calvinists would describe as “calling”) in doing a job well and achieved satisfaction in fulfilling that calling.
Another hard-working group
I appreciate the variety of voices in this collection – and yet, as I read them, I also felt I that a few elements are missing. I thought of my experiences teaching English as a Second Language to recent immigrants over the years and wondered if voices like theirs could have added another dimension to the book. For example, one of my Filipino students arrived at each morning class after working a full night shift cleaning floors at Shoppers Drug Mart, while her two children and husband – who she hadn’t seen for three years – were still living in the Philippines. (She quit attending the class when her employer wouldn’t adjust her hours so she could attend.) Like so many other ESL students, she didn’t have the luxury to choose a career, to follow her passion, and to pursue training for that career. But she, too, made “Canada Work” by diligently scrubbing floors and – during COVID – worked even harder under the added stress of sanitizing door handles and counters.
Missing, too, are the stories of people who may have great passion for their work but are burdened each day by the stresses and strains of being part of a system that doesn’t “work.” I’m thinking of the many health care professionals whose work is chaotic due to the constant shuffling of the health care levels of responsibility (particularly in my province, Alberta). Or police officers who leave home in the morning unsure if they will return safely to their loved ones, or encounter violence due to a lack of access to care for mental health issues and/or substance abuse.
Clearly, a book this size cannot include each possible person who “makes Canada work.” And Canada “works” pretty well most of the time! But the absence of certain voices is worth noting, especially since readers will likely come to the book with expectations of stories relatable to their own.
How Canada Works is co-authored by Mark Bulgutch, a retired journalist who spent 40 years at the CBC, eleven as senior editor of The National. He and Mansbridge have also written Extraordinary Canadians, as well as Inspiring Canadians. This book chooses to celebrate and give voice to those who aren’t particularly special, or extraordinary. It’s a lovely addition to their shared works.
Like anyone with some form of celebrity status, Mansbridge goes about his daily life aware that his face is recognizable. In his introduction, he relates a self-effacing anecdote. He is caught speeding near his home in Stratford, Ontario. As the police officer checks out his driver’s license and insurance, he says, “Peter Mansbridge!” and Peter hopes that he will get off lightly. Turns out the officer was in Scouts with Peter in their younger days. They reminisce about past experiences. Before the officer lets him go, the officer asks, “Well, Peter, what do you do now?” He has no idea of who he is. He was just another regular person caught speeding on a day at “work.”
This book is in praise of ordinary people. The two high-profile authors aren’t focused on their own visibility. Instead, they are amplifying the voices of the everyday folk who work hard, who don’t need to shout or need microphones to know that they are crucial in making Canada “work”.
