Rae, Bob. From Protest to Power Personal Reflections on a Life in Politics. 1996, Viking. First edition, Dust jacket. 304 pages. Signed by former Ontario Premier and Federal Liberal leader Bob Rae.
Political memoirs (okay…probably all memoirs) are the author’s attempt to make sure that their legacy is framed in the way that they want. They need to be taken with a grain of salt. And, yet, for me…they are like crack cocaine. I can’t get enough of them, and I have a hard time putting them down. I do roll my eyes a lot at the authors interpretation of events (in the case George W. Bush’s “Decision Points” I actually laughed out loud). When all is said and done, they are must reads for every political junkie.
This book is no exception to that rule. Having been published in 1996, it only covers the period up to, and including his time as Ontario’s first (and only) New Democratic party Premier (confession time…I cannot wait for the inevitable volume 2).
It begins with his family’s early life in Canada and England. It moves into his own early life. It moves to his time at University, including his meeting and becoming roommates with a young Michael Ignatieff. It discusses his time in school in England. He comes back and goes to law school. Here, his lifelong fight for his version of social justice begins.
He soon enters politics. His time as a federal NDP MP and as opposition leader is interesting. Fun Fact: He moved the motion that brought down the Clark government AND the motion that brought down the Miller government (regardless of your political inclinations, you have to consider that cool – in both cases, it led, ultimately, to Liberal majority governments).
Going into the 1990 election, all the polls made it look like the Liberals would safely retain their majority. All the parties saw it, including the NDP. It would be Rae’s third election as leader. He expected his party to lose and that he would retire soon after. However, something happened. During the course of the campaign, the polls shifted. The NDP appeared in the lead. The results held, making Bob Rae Premier.
The remainder of the book, Rae presents his version of events while he was premier. He passionately defends what most consider a failed premiership. For example, “Rae Days” are a form of job protection. The broken promise on auto insurance was another form of job protection. The scandals and resignations, were chalked up to inexperience. Interspersed, he takes swipes at his successor, Mike Harris. He does this by contrasting his government’s compassion with Harris’ bull in a China shop approach.
I love political memoirs. This book was no exception. I recognize that he’s trying to protect his legacy, and, yet, reading his perspective does, in fact, provide a view that, in some cases, I hadn’t considered. All in all, this book is a must read for all the political junkies out there (as will be volume 2, when it comes out).