Strength of Conviction by Tom Mulcair ~ a book review

Tom Mulcair's autobiography is an easy read. At less than 200 pages, it's a quick read; I read it over the course of one day. It's certainly timely, but what does it tell us about the next prime minister?

Well, it suggests, with conviction and example, that when it comes to determination and intellect, Stephen Harper has finally met his match.

For another, what used to be Thomas Mulcair, is now clearly and simply; Tom Mulcair. After reading the book, it suits him even more.

And Mr Mulcair's story is inspiring. As the second of 10 children in an Irish-Catholic Quebec family, he grew up in a home where everyone was loved, and each knew the value of an education. "My parents adored each other," he writes. "My family was rough-and-tumble, with children all over the place and people who made four sandwiches out of one chicken wing, and who said, 'I love you,' all day."

Mulcair worked through high school and then university. At 19 he started law school and had to borrow money from his sister to buy his textbooks. He paid his way by working construction, tarring roofs in the hot, humid summers of Montreal. At that young age, two other things happened that would change his life: he joined the NDP, a strange choice in that the party was almost non-existent in Quebec. And he met Catherine Pinhas. While it was love at first sight, it was a strange combination: she was a secular, upper-class Jewish girl from France, of a family that survived the Holocaust, and he was a working-class anglo-Irish-Catholic from Quebec. They married three years later, when they were both 22. They are still together and much in love. 

By his 30s, Mulcair was someone to watch in Quebec, and the book makes that clear. He was a hard working bureaucrat running a provincial body charged with regulating all the medical, legal and technical professions. He made his mark when he went after doctors who sexually abused their patients. In 1994 he was recruited to run for Quebec Liberals and quickly became environment minister, and in that arena he made his mark again with some of the toughest legislation in the country. He resigned after the premier, Jean Charest, made it clear that Mulcair was far too unfriendly towards developers.

Unfortunately, the book provides less light on what happened in the brief years after Jack Layton recruited Mulcair to run in 2007. While the key points are mentioned, I can't help but feel there must be much more to tell, about the amazing rise of the NDP in Quebec, the tragic death of Mr Layton and the abounding doubts that the party could stay together and grow.



People were sceptical about Mulcair and the NDP, yet he proved them wrong. He became the most effective leader of the Opposition in decades, and the party's fortunes improved dramatically too.

Still, I wonder. How does Mr Mulcair feel about his role in the transformation of politics in Quebec and Canada? How does he feel about himself in mid-life? Does he have any soul-searching moments? Any fears and doubts? If he does, he doesn't tell us in this book.

We do learn about two important mentors in his life. The first is Father Alan Cox, a radical young priest who taught at Mulcair's school and told the students again and again that they had to make a difference in this world. The second was the intellectual, and premier, Claude Ryan, who, nearing death, told him, "Monsieur Mulcair, we have to remember why we’re elected. It's to help people."

One thing is very clear from reading this book: Tom Mulcair is a uniter, not a divider. In that, he is the opposite to the current resident of 24 Sussex. And that's a wonderful thing indeed.

Two previous Murray Chronicles on Tom Mulcair: from March of this year and one of his first, big rallies in MetroVancouver: Tom Mulcair in Vancouver and from February of 2014 and a small gathering at Kwantlen University in Richmond: Tom Muclair at KPU Richmond

Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.

Photo of  Pinhas and Mulcair from Maclean's. 

Photo of Layton and Mulcair from the CBC.
Book cover by the publisher: Dundurn Press.

The Galley Patio and Grill on Jericho Beach

West of Kitsilano, towards the University of British Columbia, lies Jericho Beach, and with it sand, kids, dogs and volleyballs. Along the length of the beach there are spectacular views of English Bay and downtown Vancouver, the north shore mountains and Stanley Park.

At the Jericho Sailing Club and up the stairs on the beachfront, where dogs are not to be seen apparently, is The Galley Patio and Grill.













Though The Galley has been around since 1990, it flies beneath the radar for many; it's a bit out of the way and if you don't know about it, you might not find it at all, and that might be a shame.





I was introduced to the Galley about five years ago and it was a delightful find, then a hidden gem with great views and better than average beach food. Then, and now, we tend to refer to it as the deck, because that's really what it is: a long, narrow deck overlooking the beach and the skyline.










The food is modified beach-side cuisine heavy on burgers and fries.There's nothing wrong with that; it's beach food after all. In the past there seemed to be more menu choices, though it's always been a better variation on fast-food.





The Galley features local beers and BC wines, as well as espresso coffees and an ice cream bar. Customers place their orders inside and are given a vibrating device to take with them to a table; it alerts the dining patron by vibrating wildly when their food is ready to be picked up inside.











On our most recent visit we had a burger and fish tacos and ordered both with salads. The burger was loaded with cheese, mushrooms and onions, which would have been better had the meat been a bit more flavourful. It was over-cooked and the bun was plain and boring.

The fish tacos were lost in too much batter and, like the burger, the dish lacked flavour. This could have been remedied with a punchy salsa or an extra garnish of something. Anything.







Five years ago the food was definitely better. Even last year there was more zing to be found in the various menu items. It's not bad food, not at all. It's just not all that great, and there's lots of competition out there for beach-side fast food. On our walk along the beach we passed several vendors with one hot dog wagon offering what looked to be fantastic grilled snags, as someone from Oz would call them.

The Galley is relaxed and fun. It's a place for families, for groups enjoying pitchers of beer, and for couples taking in a romantic view. It might even be a place to have a wedding reception.







Not all that long ago the food was tastier and richer in all the right ways; The Galley was a destination in itself. It has lost something over the years, dumbed down like so many of Vancouver's restaurants, getting by on location or reputation, and not necessarily on the thing that brought us here in the first place. And while all of that is true, the Galley still showcases some of the finest sunsets in the city. Pity the food isn't just a wee bit better.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.

Kranky Cafe in Mount Pleasant

Our never-ending quest to find independent and unique coffee bars in Vancouver continued with a trip to Mount Pleasant. Near Main Street and 4th Avenue there's an interesting mix of retail, semi-industrial and residential; a neighbourhood in transition I suppose, like much of this city.






Slightly east of Main on 4th, across from a tyre shop, is Kranky Cafe. Unassuming, unpretentious and quite wonderful.















There are breakfast and lunch items including freshly made sandwiches, wraps and soups. The pies look fantastic and everything is made in house.







Indoor or outdoor seating, both are pleasant enough.

The coffee was fine. The espresso was strong without a bitterness. A proper espresso cup might have been better, but in this case that is a quibble. The latte was certainly acceptable too.

Decent service, interesting clientele and a nice atmosphere that invokes a New York City sensibility; part of a neighbourhood, yet with an urban attitude.









Sherry has visited Kranky Cafe several times, whatever that tells you, and Jeem will be back one day too. On hot summer days they serve affogato, which should be incentive enough.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.

Margaret Wente on the election

Margaret Wente, the conservative and American-born columnist for the Globe and Mail, has penned a powerful endorsement for the change taking place in Canadian politics.Under the heading, With Liberals squeezed out, a new two-way race, Wente provides insight and reason. Reason enough to vote for the New Democrats.

Back in the olden days, there were only two federal parties that mattered in Canada. Both were middle-of-the-road. Both had a string of mostly credible leaders. Every so often they traded places, but in truth it was hard to tell them apart. Then there was the idealistic wacko fringe, whose leaders were forgettable (sorry, Audrey and Alexa!) and whose popular vote rarely broke through 20 per cent.

Now it's a new kind of two-way race. Now it's easy to tell the dominant parties apart. One party stands for lower taxes. The other party stands for helping people who have a hard time making ends meet. Both have credible, experienced leaders. The party in the middle has been squashed.

As the commentator Norman Spector puts it, the choice is between the orange door and the blue door. The NDP has replaced the Liberals as the party that can stop Prime Minister Stephen Harper. If you hate what’s behind the blue door, your best bet is probably the orange door.

The Conservative attack campaign against Justin Trudeau has been devastating. That’s because it confirms what everybody knows: Being PM is not an entry-level job, and Mr. Trudeau does not yet pass the competency test. It is the smartest ad campaign since the campaign that shredded Michael Ignatieff as the man who didn’t come back for you. And you will see it, over and over, until the Liberals have been knocked so far down that the Conservatives can turn their guns on Tom Mulcair.

Stephen Harper's dream is to obliterate the Liberals for all time. He may well succeed. His greatest ally in this cause is Mr. Mulcair, who is everything that Mr. Trudeau is not. The Liberal leader is caught between two formidable adversaries, looking like a boy and shouting to be heard. His policies, too, are caught in the middle. In an election that will turn largely on the economy, he can't find a message that differentiates his party and resonates with voters.

Mr. Harper\s attack against Tom Mulcair will be equally simple. The aim will be to sow fear and terror. Mr. Mulcair is too risky. He'll turn us into Greece, and then we’ll be sorry.

Mr. Mulcair's strategy will be to keep putting on a smiley-face while reminding people why they hate Mr. Harper so much. He will try to imitate his mentor, Happy Jack, who took the NDP out of the wilderness toward the Promised Land. Mr. Layton didn't live to reach the Promised Land of 24 Sussex, but Mr. Mulcair could.

Mr. Mulcair will be very careful not to sound like a scary radical. He will talk about being a uniter, not a divider, and about how much he believes in manufacturing and small business, and even pipelines, under the right conditions. His job is to present himself as a strong, competent, trustworthy and low-risk alternative to the status quo.

His biography is a formidable asset. Mr. Trudeau was a trust-fund kid who inherited his dad's Mercedes and never had to do hard manual labour to make a living. Mr. Mulcair comes from a barely middle-class family of 10 kids who, as his campaign autobiography puts it, could make four sandwiches from a chicken wing. He worked construction to put himself through law school. He speaks perfect French and knows how to tar a roof. Mr. Trudeau's background is not his fault, but his professions of empathy with the struggling middle class lack a certain credibility.

Despite the media's infatuation with Mr. Mulcair, he has a long way to go. He's still barely on the map in the Tory bastion of 905-land that rings Toronto. All sitting governments have a large incumbency advantage, and Mr. Harper's government is no exception. The Conservatives have a superb, sophisticated war machine that has turned hypersegmentation of the electorate into an advanced science. They know who you are, where you live, and whether they should bother with you or not.

Don't believe anybody who pretends to know how this will turn out. The one thing I’m pretty sure of is that the old paradigm is dead. And it's not coming back.

Margaret Wente's column appeared in the August 3, 2015, edition of The Globe and Mail. 

Sculptors' Society's 8th Annual Exhibition at VanDusen Garden

It was a beautiful BC Day holiday weekend and the final day of the 8th Annual Sculptors' Society of British Columbia Exhibition at VanDusen Garden. Unlike some of the other shows held at VanDusen, the car shows come to mind, this display works in wonderful ways. It's a great setting for works from BC artists, and great for viewers too.




Keister 2 by Robert Rangno is one of the first things to be seen on entering the area reserved for the exhibition.
























Ron Simmer provided colourful expression with Hot Metal Flower Bouquet.












Dandelion caught my eye. It's a smaller piece by Anyuta Gusakova.












On the right, The Never-ending Song, in cold cast bronze, by Linda Schmidt.

Louise Solecki Weir's two pieces appealed to me: Boy With a Hat and Young Aristotle.





















A two-sided piece, almost my height, in ceramic and mixed-media called African Queen was one of several by the artist Suzy Birstein.





















And through the mix of artworks and people it was a pleasure to meet an old friend from almost thirty years ago. Jean-Guy Dallaire is a photographer, sculptor, philosopher and more. He developed what became known as Wreck Beach Originals in the 1980s and 90s. These were works based on stones, pebbles and concretions Jean-Guy found on the beaches of Vancouver. At this exhibition he was offereing demonstrations, en français et anglais, with the theme: "It's amazing what one can see... in a stone... l'imaginaire est mon meilleur ami!"







I've always felt Jean-Guy's works to be elegantly simple yet profound and natural. It was great to spend a brief time with Jean-Guy and to be energised by his boundless passion for life and art.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.