Боб Рей выпустил сборник эссе о суверенитете Канады на фоне напряженных отношений с США

Having now edited his first book, Bob Rae has a pressing worry about its fate out in the world, and how book-buyers will respond to it. “There’s a cynical side of me that says, ‘I don’t really care if they read it as long as they buy it,’” he quipped. In a recent interview, it was a fleeting joke, but the former Ontario premier and former Canadian ambassador to the UN is dead-serious about Reclaiming Canadian Sovereignty in a Ruptured World, which comes during unprecedented turmoil in Canada-U.S relations. The book features 29 writers, including Margaret Atwood, who ponder on the turbulent times that Canada is facing. The total number of contributors is 30 if you include Mr. Rae’s expansive introduction in addition to having edited the book for publisher James Lorimer & Company Ltd. “The words ‘existential moment’ are thrown around a lot, but I think we all recognize we’re in such a moment as a country,” Mr. Rae said. Right now, he said, is a time for Canadians to be engaged in the debate about the path ahead for the nation. “You don’t have to agree with everything in the book. I don’t agree with everything in the book.” But his goal is for people to give it a shot. Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, who was detained for about 1,000 days by the Chinese government, writes on Making the Carney Doctrine Real. Ms. Atwood contributes an essay called the Arts in Interesting Times. Allan Adam, Chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in northern Alberta, provided What Treaties Tell Us About Canadian Sovereignty. Mr. Rae himself kicks off the collection by writing that Canadians, and others, find themselves now in a rare moment of risk, possibility and decision. “The readings and essays that follow take us further into understanding the choices before us. They come at the question of rupture from a wide range of views and experiences,” he writes. Mr. Kovrig, who credits the former ambassador for advocating for his release, allowed Mr. Rae to use a piece for the collection that he had previously written for Foreign Policy in February. Mr. Kovrig said he hoped the book will inform the debate about Canada’s fate. “Canada is at a moment in its history where it is under unprecedented pressure to function as a real country,” he said in an interview. “What I wanted to try to do with that essay is point out the challenges that that approach will face, and that it will take deft diplomacy and statecraft to actually turn those ideas into anything that makes a material difference in the world,” he said of his contribution. Ann Fitz-Gerald: Being ‘nice’ is not a Canadian weakness Eric Miller: With this trade war, Canada faces its Singapore moment Other contributors include former CBC/Radio-Canada executive vice-president Richard Stursberg, economist Armine Yalnizyan and Carol Off, the former host of CBC Radio’s As It Happens, among others. “These contributors really show that there are many, many areas where Canada can and should take steps to assert what the title says: assert our sovereignty,” publisher James Lorimer said in an interview. “Hopefully the book as a whole gives people lots of ideas, lots of analysis from knowledgeable people about what the options are” across areas of culture, foreign policy, the economy and more, he said. As Donald Trump was settling into his second term as U.S. President last year, Mr. Lorimer decided to put together a book on the challenges Canada was facing and how Canadians should react. As he was pondering who might edit the project, he came across a newspaper interview with Mr. Rae. “I was taken by his very clear and strong assessment of what’s going on with... Trump and the Trump administration,” Mr. Lorimer said. Mr. Lorimer said Mr. Rae was a good editor for two reasons: Number one, “When he asked people to contribute, they said yes.” Ms. Atwood, for example, was a summer camp counsellor for Mr. Rae’s wife, Arlene, in the 1960s. “I’ve known Bob for many years,” Ms. Atwood said in a statement, explaining her participation in the project. She said she was happy to support Mr. Rae during what she called the “fourth wave of appreciation for Canada” by Canadians that she has experienced. The others took place on the backdrop of the Second World War, cultural nationalism in the 1960s and 70s and the free-trade debate of the 1980s. Asked what she thought of Mr. Rae as an editor, Ms. Atwood wrote, “Well, he didn’t edit me much!” But Mr. Lorimer said Mr. Rae was ready to actually edit, which leads to the second reason he excelled in this assignment. “He was an active hands-on editor for the contributions... I’ve done lots of contributor volumes and often the editors are reluctant to get the contributors to do what they need to do, but that wasn’t the case at all.” Now, Mr. Rae says he relishes the debate ahead that might stem from the book. “For the people who say now is just a time for everybody just to line up and shut up and support what is happening, you say no,” he said. “The greatest form of loyalty is to say, ‘Let’s have a real discussion about how we can make things better.’ And I think that’s the moment we’re in right now.”