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From Protest to Power: Personal Reflections on a Life in Politics
In January of 1996, when Bob Rae declared he was stepping down as the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, the media was full of praise for the former premier of Ontario. In From Protest to Power , Rae provides a surprising, frank look back at his time in politics. Shedding light on his rise to power from radical student politics to becoming the leader of the first NDP government to hold power in Ontario. He takes a look at his incredible life from Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and studying with philosopher Isaiah Berlin to his life as a family man.
In the fall of 2006, with Bob Rae running for the federal leadership of the Liberal Party, it is time for us to examine his remarkable life once more. A life that has been motivated by the belief that politics and public service matter.
As he says in the new introduction, “I am running because I care deeply about my country. I want it to stay strong. I want it to stay together. And I want to play whatever part I can to help make those things happen.”
Learn more about what makes Bob run.
In the fall of 2006, with Bob Rae running for the federal leadership of the Liberal Party, it is time for us to examine his remarkable life once more. A life that has been motivated by the belief that politics and public service matter.
As he says in the new introduction, “I am running because I care deeply about my country. I want it to stay strong. I want it to stay together. And I want to play whatever part I can to help make those things happen.”
Learn more about what makes Bob run.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
400 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 2006
About the author
Bob Rae
23 books16 followersRobert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician.
Rae was elected as a New Democratic Party Member of Parliament in 1978, serving as finance critic. He won the leadership of the Ontario New Democratic Party in 1982, signed the Liberal-NDP Accord to support David Peterson's minority Liberal government between 1985 and 1990, and served as Premier of Ontario between 1990 and 1995. Rae publicly severed ties with the NDP in 2002, returning to political life in 2006 with an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. Rae was elected MP for Toronto Centre in 2008 and contested the Liberal leadership in 2009 before withdrawing his candidacy. He was selected interim leader in 2011 following the resignation of Michael Ignatieff.
Rae was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000, and in 2004 he was awarded the Order of Ontario. He was appointed the sixth chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University on July 2, 2003, and was installed at that school's fall convocation in October. Rae also became a partner at Goodmans LLP, a Toronto-based corporate law firm, an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, and a Senior Fellow of Massey College. He has written four books: From Protest to Power: Personal Reflections on a Life in Politics (1996), Three Questions: Prosperity and the Public Good (1998), Canada in the Balance (2006), and Exporting Democracy: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing a Good Idea (2010).
Rae was elected as a New Democratic Party Member of Parliament in 1978, serving as finance critic. He won the leadership of the Ontario New Democratic Party in 1982, signed the Liberal-NDP Accord to support David Peterson's minority Liberal government between 1985 and 1990, and served as Premier of Ontario between 1990 and 1995. Rae publicly severed ties with the NDP in 2002, returning to political life in 2006 with an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. Rae was elected MP for Toronto Centre in 2008 and contested the Liberal leadership in 2009 before withdrawing his candidacy. He was selected interim leader in 2011 following the resignation of Michael Ignatieff.
Rae was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000, and in 2004 he was awarded the Order of Ontario. He was appointed the sixth chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University on July 2, 2003, and was installed at that school's fall convocation in October. Rae also became a partner at Goodmans LLP, a Toronto-based corporate law firm, an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, and a Senior Fellow of Massey College. He has written four books: From Protest to Power: Personal Reflections on a Life in Politics (1996), Three Questions: Prosperity and the Public Good (1998), Canada in the Balance (2006), and Exporting Democracy: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing a Good Idea (2010).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 11, 2015
I had a great leather jacket back in college. It was functionally terrible, of course: the zipper only came a third of the way up and it was worthless below 40 degrees. But man, it was great for getting into the role of an activist. I could hammer on endlessly about Bush being the devil or waste hours reading SEC filings from Haliburton trying to uncover some nefarious plot. The jacket was my uniform. Then, one day, I gave it up. I still call it selling out but most people called it growing up. Truth be told, I think I’ve been chasing that rock throwing vitality ever since. I couldn’t help but find an echo of that regret in Bob Rae’s memoir.
Rae started as a student activist and joined the hard left New Democratic Party (NDP) fairly young. He won office as Premier of Ontario in the early 90s as the provincial Liberals were beset by internal discord. After the end of a fairly disastrous tenure as head, he left office and cooled his heels. The smart money had it that he would jump across the dispatch box and join the more established Liberals in a bid for Federal leadership. Of course, this was turn coat type stuff.
The way he talks about his conversion to the Liberal party here is farcical. One imagines Bob Rae meditatively walking around the woods of Ontario listening to Solsbury Hill trying to find his soul. In reality, a much more cynical calculation was at play. Jean Chrétien had won three Liberal mandates and reduced the parties of the far right and far left to momentary insignificance. If Rae were to have any chance at becoming a PM, he’d have to be a Liberal. To avoid the impression of impropriety, Rae spent ten years twiddling his thumbs waiting for right moment. Time, he had hoped, would dilute the stench of opportunism.
What happened since 1996? Stéphane Dion happened. Michael Ignatieff happened. Stephen Harper happened. And in a cruel twist of fate, Jack Layton happened. Since Bob Rae had left the NDP, the Liberals were decimated while an activist NDP under Layton became resurgent. One wonders if Bob Rae could have been a serious contender for prime minster had he chosen to remain with the NDP. Or would he have had a better chance if he joined the Liberals back in 2000? Then there would have been no Dion and Ignatieff. These are the big questions and the book is utterly silent on these matters.
In the end, the memoir is deeply unsatisfactory. Not because it has that nauseating PR sheen that screams “vote for me!” (Though it doesn’t help.) Rather, the tragedy here is that the book charts the betrayal of idealism and documents a too-clever-by-half political maneuver. All the self justification in the world can't help. It is fitting, then, for the electorate to reduce Mr. Rae to a minor footnote.
Rae started as a student activist and joined the hard left New Democratic Party (NDP) fairly young. He won office as Premier of Ontario in the early 90s as the provincial Liberals were beset by internal discord. After the end of a fairly disastrous tenure as head, he left office and cooled his heels. The smart money had it that he would jump across the dispatch box and join the more established Liberals in a bid for Federal leadership. Of course, this was turn coat type stuff.
The way he talks about his conversion to the Liberal party here is farcical. One imagines Bob Rae meditatively walking around the woods of Ontario listening to Solsbury Hill trying to find his soul. In reality, a much more cynical calculation was at play. Jean Chrétien had won three Liberal mandates and reduced the parties of the far right and far left to momentary insignificance. If Rae were to have any chance at becoming a PM, he’d have to be a Liberal. To avoid the impression of impropriety, Rae spent ten years twiddling his thumbs waiting for right moment. Time, he had hoped, would dilute the stench of opportunism.
What happened since 1996? Stéphane Dion happened. Michael Ignatieff happened. Stephen Harper happened. And in a cruel twist of fate, Jack Layton happened. Since Bob Rae had left the NDP, the Liberals were decimated while an activist NDP under Layton became resurgent. One wonders if Bob Rae could have been a serious contender for prime minster had he chosen to remain with the NDP. Or would he have had a better chance if he joined the Liberals back in 2000? Then there would have been no Dion and Ignatieff. These are the big questions and the book is utterly silent on these matters.
In the end, the memoir is deeply unsatisfactory. Not because it has that nauseating PR sheen that screams “vote for me!” (Though it doesn’t help.) Rather, the tragedy here is that the book charts the betrayal of idealism and documents a too-clever-by-half political maneuver. All the self justification in the world can't help. It is fitting, then, for the electorate to reduce Mr. Rae to a minor footnote.
Displaying 1 of 1 review