Duty to Dissent

During the First World War, Henri Bourassa fierce Canadian nationalist, politician, and journalist from Quebec took centre stage in the national debates on Canadas participation in the war, its imperial ties to Britain, and Canadas place in the world. In Duty to Dissent, Geoff Keelan draws upon Bourassas voluminous editorials in Le Devoir, the newspaper he founded in 1910, to trace Bourassas evolving perspective on the wars meaning and consequences. What emerges is not a simplistic sketch of a local journalist engaged in national debates, as most English Canadians know him, but a fully rendered portrait of a Canadian looking out at the world. By situating Bourassa within a larger panorama that connects him to prominent war resisters from around the globe, Keelan offers fresh insight into one of Canadas most influential historical figures, reshaping our understanding of why Quebecs position on the Great War differed so radically from the rest of Canada.