The surface of things: the impossibility of George Grant’s conservatism and the possibility of Canada

Abstract

This essay’s contribution to the symposium dedicated to the anniversary of Lament for a Nation explores how George Grant’s neglect of the question of the regime engenders a reductionist and, at times, misguided interpretation of political philosophy and politics by examining the fundamentally flawed understanding of Canada’s origins advanced in Lament for a Nation. At a time when Canadian sovereignty is under greater threat than at any point in the last century, it behooves us to return to the roots of our political tradition to decide if the Founders’ intention is valuable and worth preserving. Grant’s analysis is an obstacle to this enterprise because his failure to grasp the significance of the political not only precludes him from recognizing the full complexity of modernity, but also from understanding the intention of the Canadian Founding and the vitality of the Canadian regime.