Canadian Prime Ministers

Muskoka, 1914. It’s the Age of Elegance in the summer playground of the affluent and powerful. Amid the pristine, island-dotted lakes, the granite cliffs, and pine-scented forests of the Canadian wilderness, the young and carefree amuse themselves with glittering balls, lavish picnics, and friendly competitions. But this summer promises to be different when the charming, ambitious, and destitute son of a disowned heir joins his wealthy family at their cottage on Wyndwood Island.

Through Jack’s introduction into the privileged life of the aristocratic Wyndhams and their social circle – including captains of industry and financial titans – he seeks opportunities and alliances to better himself, including in his schemes, his beautiful, headstrong, and audacious cousin, Victoria.

A cast of engaging characters vividly brings to life the idyllic lifestyle of endless summers on tranquil lakes. But their charmed lives begin to unravel with the onset of the Great War, in which many are destined to become part of the “lost generation”.

This richly textured tale takes the reader on an unforgettable journey from romantic moonlight cruises to the horrific sinking of the Lusitania, genteel Muskoka to wartime Britain, regattas on the water to combat in the skies over France, extravagant mansions to deadly trenches – from innocence to nationhood.

The Summer Before The Storm, the first of “The Muskoka Novels”, evokes a gracious, bygone era that still resonates in this legendary land of lakes.

(This synopsis is for Book One in the Muskoka Novels series by Gabriele Wills. ‘Elusive Dawn’ is the second book in the series and is also available. Book Three? You’ll have to wait until 2011…

Visit http://themuskokanovels.com/ to see more.

Win a standard book writing contract with Fireside Publishing House for the ‘Leaders & Legacies’ historical fiction series on Canada’s prime ministers and other leaders. Specifically, the book writing contract will be about former Prime Minister Paul Martin at approximately age 12, set in the south Windsor area where he frequently spent his summers.

In each book the young prime minister has to solve a crime in an adventure or mystery.

“It’s great to be part of the ‘Leaders & Legacies’ series. I always wanted to be a detective and now I’ve got the chance.”

– former Prime Minister Paul Martin

Visit www.firesidepublishinghouse.com for more information.

What has happened to the classic leader match-ups we used to be able to count on in Canada? John A. Macdonald vs. George Brown. Borden vs. Laurier. Diefenbaker vs. Pearson. Even Mulroney vs. Turner brought us true policy debate with clear choices on either side but it was the last match-up that was a classic.

In between this list was my favourite match-up, Arthur Meighen vs. Mackenzie King. 

Borden had gone through a great deal as Canada’s war time prime minister, even though the war had ended in victory for the allied countries. When his health started to fail in 1920, Borden knew the responsible thing to do would be to resign. When Arthur Meighen assumed the job, it delighted the backbench MPs who were continually inspired by his oratory and his recall of facts and figures when they were most needed. Meighen became prime minister on July 10 1920 at age 45. At that time, he was the youngest prime minister ever. Loyalty, hard work and deep knowledge about how parliament functioned had paid off.

When Meighen looked across at the Liberal benches, though, he no longer saw the regal face of Laurier opposing him. The beloved Laurier had died one year ago and so the Liberals had selected a new leader. It was someone familiar to Meighen — William Lyon Mackenzie King. Both Meighen and King had been born in 1874 in southern Ontario and raised in homes that were Presbyterian. Both attended the University of Toronto in the 1890s but there the similarities ended. Meighen believed in straight talk and logic. King was wordy and rarely committed to a particular point of view. They were as different as night and day and it made for wonderful political theatre and policy clashes.

Yes, Mackenzie King was far more politically successful but Meighen’s intellect always made him a formidable foe for the fuzzy and vague King.

It’s a whole new concept for Canadian history on our prime ministers. Take one prime minister at about age 12 and place him (or her) at wherever they were living at the time and craft a historical fiction adventure story. That’s what we did with Book One in the Leaders & Legacies series on Canada’s prime ministers, starting out with John Diefenbaker, our only prime minister who grew up in a prairie shack.

From a history perspective, it has been reviewed in the Reading Den newsletter of The Canadian History Society, as well as the Diefenbaker Canada Centre.  Maclean’s Magazine, the Regina Leader-Post and many other media outlets have also taken a look and so far the repsonse has been overwhelming and positive.  Check it out for yourself at www.roderickbenns.com

I just recently developed a Prime Minister’s ‘cheat sheet’ for school teachers and Canadian history geeks.  I simply list each of our 22 prime ministers along with two accomplishments each (which is all I really had room for).

Have a look – you’ll find it here on my website:

http://www.roderickbenns.com/free-stuff.htm

What might make an interesting discussion is whether or not you would agree or disagree with the two accomplishments I chose for each prime minister. In some cases, out of necessity, I felt I had to simply choose accomplishments from before or after their time as prime minister.

Thoughts?

I will be at Canada’s largest annual reading conference, Reading for the Love of It. It will be held at the Sheraton Centre, downtown Toronto, at 123 Queen Street West February 11th and 12th, 2010. I will be signing and selling books at the Fireside booth both days. If you’re in the area please drop by and say hi and/or pick up The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder: An Early Adventure of John Diefenbaker. This is Book One in the Leaders & Legacies series. Aimed at kids aged 10-14.