Resnick, a leading Canadian nationalist, argues that English-Canadian attitudes toward Quebec have changed fundamentally since the November 1988 election. Quebec has become too selfish, he says, and English Canada feels betrayed by Quebec's refusal either to recognize or take seriously the desires of the rest of the country. He suggests that Quebec reconsider the social values it once supported, values which are in opposition to the market-oriented Canada-US Free Trade Agreement. Resnick argues that this agreement will only weaken the Canadian state, as would the Meech Lake Accord. Canada's...

At a time when Canada's constitutional arrangement is in utter turmoil, Philip Resnick has come up with a bold and brilliant proposal for a new configuration of Canada's two founding nations. Going beyond the political and social insights of Letters to a Quebecois Friend (Resnick and Latouche: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990), Resnick is no longer simply observing the English-Canadian/Quebecois situation and appealing to reason: he is attempting to lay the foundations for a Canada that will, at last, work.

What makes Canada a different kind of society from the United States? In this book-length essay, Philip Resnick argues that, in more ways than one, Canada has been profoundly marked by its European origins. This is most apparent where the European historical underpinnings both of English-speaking and French-speaking Canada are concerned, but it is no less true when one examines Canada's multiple national identities, robust social programs, increasingly secular values and multilateral outlook on international affairs today. As the war in Iraq brought home, and the 2004 federal election...