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Canadian Establishment Volume 1
Book by PETER CHARLES NEWMAN
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
About the author
Peter C. Newman
56 books27 followersPeter Charles Newman (born Peta Karel Neuman), CC, journalist, author, newspaper and magazine editor (born 10 May 1929 in Vienna, Austria; died 7 September 2023 in Belleville, ON). Peter C. Newman was one of Canada’s most prominent journalists, biographers and non-fiction authors. After starting out with the Financial Post, he became editor-in-chief of both the Toronto Star and Maclean’s. His 35 books, which have collectively sold more than two million copies, helped make political reporting and business journalism more personalized and evocative. His no-holds-barred, insiders-tell-all accounts of Canada’s business and political elites earned him a reputation as Canada’s “most cussed and discussed” journalist. A recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, Newman was elected to the Canadian News Hall of Fame in 1992. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1978 and a Companion in 1990.
Early Life and Education
Originally named Peta Karel Neuman by his secularized Jewish parents, Peter C. Newman grew up in the Czech town of Breclav, where his father ran a large sugar beet refinery. As Newman wrote in 2018, “I lived the charmed life of a little rich boy in Moravia, Czechoslovakia — until age nine, that is, when the world as I knew it vanished.” Fleeing the Nazis, his family came to Canada as refugees in 1940.
Newman initially attended Hillfield School in Hamilton, Ontario, a prep school for the Royal Military College of Canada. But, envisaging a business career for his son, Newman's father, Oscar, enrolled him as a “war guest” boarder at Upper Canada College in 1944. There he met future members of the Canadian establishment whose lives he would later document.
After graduating, Newman joined the Canadian Navy Reserves. He was a reservist for decades and eventually reached the rank of captain. For many years, he was rarely seen in public without his signature black sailor cap.
Career Highlights
Once he mastered English, Newman began writing, first for the University of Toronto newspaper, then for the Financial Post in 1951. By 1953, he was Montreal editor of the Post. He held the position for three years before returning to Toronto to be assistant editor, then Ottawa columnist, at Maclean's magazine. In 1959, he published Flame of Power: Intimate Profiles of Canada's Greatest Businessmen. It profiles 11 of the first generation of Canada's business magnates. In 1963, Newman published his masterly and popular political chronicle of John Diefenbaker, Renegade in Power: The Diefenbaker Years (1963). According to the Writers’ Trust of Canada, the book “revolutionized Canadian political reporting with its controversial ‘insiders-tell-all’ approach.” Five years later, Newman published a similar but less successful study of Lester Pearson, The Distemper of Our Times (1968).
In 1969, Newman became editor-in-chief at the Toronto Star. During this period, he published some of his best journalism in Home Country: People, Places and Power Politics (1973). He then published popular studies on the lives of those who wielded financial power in the Canadian business establishment. These included his two-volume The Canadian Establishment (1975, 1981), The Bronfman Dynasty (1978; see also Bronfman Family), and The Establishment Man: A Portrait of Power (1982). A third book called Titans: How the New Canadian Establishment Seized Power was added to this series in 1998.
Newman was also editor of Maclean's from 1971 to 1982. He transformed the magazine from a monthly to a weekly news magazine — the first of its kind in Canada — with a Canadian slant on international and national events. In 1982, he resigned to work on a three-volume history of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Honours
Peter C. Newman received the Canadian Journalism Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Toronto Star's Excellence in Journalism award in 1998. He received a National Newspaper Award and in 1992 he was elected to the Canadia
Early Life and Education
Originally named Peta Karel Neuman by his secularized Jewish parents, Peter C. Newman grew up in the Czech town of Breclav, where his father ran a large sugar beet refinery. As Newman wrote in 2018, “I lived the charmed life of a little rich boy in Moravia, Czechoslovakia — until age nine, that is, when the world as I knew it vanished.” Fleeing the Nazis, his family came to Canada as refugees in 1940.
Newman initially attended Hillfield School in Hamilton, Ontario, a prep school for the Royal Military College of Canada. But, envisaging a business career for his son, Newman's father, Oscar, enrolled him as a “war guest” boarder at Upper Canada College in 1944. There he met future members of the Canadian establishment whose lives he would later document.
After graduating, Newman joined the Canadian Navy Reserves. He was a reservist for decades and eventually reached the rank of captain. For many years, he was rarely seen in public without his signature black sailor cap.
Career Highlights
Once he mastered English, Newman began writing, first for the University of Toronto newspaper, then for the Financial Post in 1951. By 1953, he was Montreal editor of the Post. He held the position for three years before returning to Toronto to be assistant editor, then Ottawa columnist, at Maclean's magazine. In 1959, he published Flame of Power: Intimate Profiles of Canada's Greatest Businessmen. It profiles 11 of the first generation of Canada's business magnates. In 1963, Newman published his masterly and popular political chronicle of John Diefenbaker, Renegade in Power: The Diefenbaker Years (1963). According to the Writers’ Trust of Canada, the book “revolutionized Canadian political reporting with its controversial ‘insiders-tell-all’ approach.” Five years later, Newman published a similar but less successful study of Lester Pearson, The Distemper of Our Times (1968).
In 1969, Newman became editor-in-chief at the Toronto Star. During this period, he published some of his best journalism in Home Country: People, Places and Power Politics (1973). He then published popular studies on the lives of those who wielded financial power in the Canadian business establishment. These included his two-volume The Canadian Establishment (1975, 1981), The Bronfman Dynasty (1978; see also Bronfman Family), and The Establishment Man: A Portrait of Power (1982). A third book called Titans: How the New Canadian Establishment Seized Power was added to this series in 1998.
Newman was also editor of Maclean's from 1971 to 1982. He transformed the magazine from a monthly to a weekly news magazine — the first of its kind in Canada — with a Canadian slant on international and national events. In 1982, he resigned to work on a three-volume history of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Honours
Peter C. Newman received the Canadian Journalism Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Toronto Star's Excellence in Journalism award in 1998. He received a National Newspaper Award and in 1992 he was elected to the Canadia
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 4, 2020
ESURIENTES IMPLEVIT BONIS, ET DIVES DIMISSIT INANES.
The needy shall be filled with good things, and the rich sent away empty-handed.
-Mary to the Angel at the Annunciation
I had a short but disastrous fling with this book in the warm summer of 1978.
I had found the love of my life - the girl I was later to marry - and my power-hungry testosterone levels were at their all-time peak!
Put it all down to the male nesting ego.
However, the infighting milieu of my grubby little office would soon put me dead to rights, and take me down by not a few notches!
Male nesting ego meets rough office Realpolitik:
It was a collision made in hades.
Pride goes before a fall - and the office sharpshooters had vowed to Take Me Down. Stunned and wounded, what could I do but fall mightily?
My fiancé had the Realpolitik of her own office politics to contend with. My alcohol intake started to rise...
And then I discovered St. Teresa’s.
An Edwardian-era Catholic church nestled snuggly amongst stately middle class homes in our former lumber town, it was presided over roughly by a thunder-and-tarnation-preaching, deafeningly loud rector named Father Larose.
But its wonderfully decorative wall murals were Pre-Raphaelite in their delicate pastel hues. St. Teresa’s was a place of meditation and repose...
Until Father Larose strode to the pulpit at 4PM and thundered down at us his strident Litany of the day’s Sorrowful, Joyful or Glorious Mysteries. I was transfixed. I had never encountered such downright declaratory passion in my Anglican church.
I made mental notes. And I started to read Catholic books.
So began my love-hate relationship with the Church. Even after a formal ceremony of admission in 1983 I still, like Graham Greene, had my druthers.
I now believe that little Saint Teresa, simple as a child, was leading me out of the desperate cesspool of those awful backbiting little office spaces into her innocent peace!
But FOR YEARS I couldn’t get it right. It was only lately, deep into my retirement, that I diagnosed my unrest:
I was too Proud to humbly accept Simple Peace. You see, I wanted it ALL. Just like the soul-poor men in this book. Just like the fiction of the younger Kafka.
Just like the great movers and shakers of Canada described here - the Bud Macdonalds, the Conrad Blacks, the Paul Desmaraises - where are they now?
If not gone to dust, at least gone to despair.
Despair of ever finding that elusive thing called happiness.
Despair of ever communicating at an emotionally deep level with their families.
Despair, in a raging ocean of endless meetings, of ever finding Peace.
Vanity - all is vanity.
Sic transit Gloria.
But, as Dante so wisely said, “the (real) eternal Glory of the Prime Mover shines less in one part of the universe and more in another.”
For the distribution of Real wealth - that of the Spirit - is unequal!
The needy shall be filled with good things, and the rich sent away empty-handed.
-Mary to the Angel at the Annunciation
I had a short but disastrous fling with this book in the warm summer of 1978.
I had found the love of my life - the girl I was later to marry - and my power-hungry testosterone levels were at their all-time peak!
Put it all down to the male nesting ego.
However, the infighting milieu of my grubby little office would soon put me dead to rights, and take me down by not a few notches!
Male nesting ego meets rough office Realpolitik:
It was a collision made in hades.
Pride goes before a fall - and the office sharpshooters had vowed to Take Me Down. Stunned and wounded, what could I do but fall mightily?
My fiancé had the Realpolitik of her own office politics to contend with. My alcohol intake started to rise...
And then I discovered St. Teresa’s.
An Edwardian-era Catholic church nestled snuggly amongst stately middle class homes in our former lumber town, it was presided over roughly by a thunder-and-tarnation-preaching, deafeningly loud rector named Father Larose.
But its wonderfully decorative wall murals were Pre-Raphaelite in their delicate pastel hues. St. Teresa’s was a place of meditation and repose...
Until Father Larose strode to the pulpit at 4PM and thundered down at us his strident Litany of the day’s Sorrowful, Joyful or Glorious Mysteries. I was transfixed. I had never encountered such downright declaratory passion in my Anglican church.
I made mental notes. And I started to read Catholic books.
So began my love-hate relationship with the Church. Even after a formal ceremony of admission in 1983 I still, like Graham Greene, had my druthers.
I now believe that little Saint Teresa, simple as a child, was leading me out of the desperate cesspool of those awful backbiting little office spaces into her innocent peace!
But FOR YEARS I couldn’t get it right. It was only lately, deep into my retirement, that I diagnosed my unrest:
I was too Proud to humbly accept Simple Peace. You see, I wanted it ALL. Just like the soul-poor men in this book. Just like the fiction of the younger Kafka.
Just like the great movers and shakers of Canada described here - the Bud Macdonalds, the Conrad Blacks, the Paul Desmaraises - where are they now?
If not gone to dust, at least gone to despair.
Despair of ever finding that elusive thing called happiness.
Despair of ever communicating at an emotionally deep level with their families.
Despair, in a raging ocean of endless meetings, of ever finding Peace.
Vanity - all is vanity.
Sic transit Gloria.
But, as Dante so wisely said, “the (real) eternal Glory of the Prime Mover shines less in one part of the universe and more in another.”
For the distribution of Real wealth - that of the Spirit - is unequal!
April 22, 2015
A tad dry but certainly interesting. This book is a bit outdated as it was originally published in the mid-70s. It looks at the richest Canadians and their lives. Power, influence and authority - extremely interesting topics and how they were wielded at that point in time and its evolution.
March 10, 2021
Four points on the Canadian scale.
This book is an entertaining work by a journalist who worked the Ottawa parliamentary beat for over 30 years and followed the careers of those Canadian business men who got involved in politics. Newman wrote this book from his notes and undocumented off-the-record revelations that he received. Newman believed passionately that democracy worked best when business leaders had control over the politicians. He was also convinced that Canada's business community had promoted an agenda that was political progressive on social issues and one which strengthened the economy.
The book does a very good job at demonstrating that a Canadian establisment did exist; that is to say that there was a network of business leaders that knew each other well, cooperated and supported the Liberal party.
"The Canadian Establishment" will always be valuable to students of Canadian history wishing to understand Canada in the post World War II era. It was easy for the general public to understand it when it came out but I think anyone who did not live through the era and follow the Canadian political news will now have difficulty following Newman's argument or keeping track of the all the characters. Anyone born after 1980 will have trouble following it unless they studied Canadian history as undergraduates.
This book is an entertaining work by a journalist who worked the Ottawa parliamentary beat for over 30 years and followed the careers of those Canadian business men who got involved in politics. Newman wrote this book from his notes and undocumented off-the-record revelations that he received. Newman believed passionately that democracy worked best when business leaders had control over the politicians. He was also convinced that Canada's business community had promoted an agenda that was political progressive on social issues and one which strengthened the economy.
The book does a very good job at demonstrating that a Canadian establisment did exist; that is to say that there was a network of business leaders that knew each other well, cooperated and supported the Liberal party.
"The Canadian Establishment" will always be valuable to students of Canadian history wishing to understand Canada in the post World War II era. It was easy for the general public to understand it when it came out but I think anyone who did not live through the era and follow the Canadian political news will now have difficulty following Newman's argument or keeping track of the all the characters. Anyone born after 1980 will have trouble following it unless they studied Canadian history as undergraduates.
November 22, 2023
In The Canadian Establishment Vol I, Peter C. Newman seeks to provide readers historical insight into the internal power structures of Canada’s elite class. This book essentially follows many of Canada’s leaders of industry during the post-war growth period of the 1950s and 1960s, detailing the various ventures, projects, and deals that have defined the nation in the long term. In arguably seeking to shape public opinion by providing context to the underlying motivations throughout the stories within his work, Newman was able to offer arguments for transparency and accountability in a “tongue in cheek” genre criticism. Further, by making his work so digestible and accessible to Canadians, Newman sought to shape political discourse in Canada, particularly when it comes to critically examining the relationship between business and politics in the country.
One of the chief criticisms of The Canadian Establishment Vol I today is the fact that it now nears its fiftieth anniversary since publication. Consequently, the argument can be made that the book is no longer relevant. Yet, I found it to be quite the opposite in the fact that some of the stories were foreshadowing of events to come when speaking of influential individuals that would go on to become Canadian prime ministers, leading diplomats, and future leaders of industry. Further, I think it would astound readers to see that many of the economic models described in the later chapters are still those generally relied upon by the government today.
Overall, it goes without saying that Peter C. Newman was one of Canada’s finest journalist, editors, and authors – never shying away from the underlying stories within the inner workings of Canada’s business and political elite. The Canadian Establishment series is an example of the work in which Newman provides an insider view of Canada’s influential figures and their impact on the nation’s development during a crucial period of discovery and growth. It is a book that has generated both praise and controversy, making it a notable addition to Canadian political and business literature. Despite its age, I highly recommend it as foundational reading to support understanding of where we are today economically and politically. It was an enjoyable read, and I look forward to volumes II and III.
One of the chief criticisms of The Canadian Establishment Vol I today is the fact that it now nears its fiftieth anniversary since publication. Consequently, the argument can be made that the book is no longer relevant. Yet, I found it to be quite the opposite in the fact that some of the stories were foreshadowing of events to come when speaking of influential individuals that would go on to become Canadian prime ministers, leading diplomats, and future leaders of industry. Further, I think it would astound readers to see that many of the economic models described in the later chapters are still those generally relied upon by the government today.
Overall, it goes without saying that Peter C. Newman was one of Canada’s finest journalist, editors, and authors – never shying away from the underlying stories within the inner workings of Canada’s business and political elite. The Canadian Establishment series is an example of the work in which Newman provides an insider view of Canada’s influential figures and their impact on the nation’s development during a crucial period of discovery and growth. It is a book that has generated both praise and controversy, making it a notable addition to Canadian political and business literature. Despite its age, I highly recommend it as foundational reading to support understanding of where we are today economically and politically. It was an enjoyable read, and I look forward to volumes II and III.
September 8, 2023
I thought, I would list all the major Peter C. Newman books chronologically since
there are a few that are missing, garbled, or by the other author.
Chronologically
The 1950s
1959 Flame of Power: Intimate Profiles of Canada's Greatest Businessmen
The 1960s
1963 Renegade in Power: The Diefenbaker Years
1968 The Distemper of Our Times: Canadian Politics in Transition
1969 A Nation Divided: Canada and the Coming of Pierre Trudeau
The 1970s
1972 Their Turn to Curtsy: Your Turn to Bow
1973 Home Country: People, Places, and Power Politics
1975 The Canadian Establishment: Volume One: The Old Order
1978 Bronfman Dynasty: The Rothschilds of the New World (published in America in 1979 as King of the Castle: The Making of a Dynasty)
The 1980s
1981 The Canadian Establishment: Volume Two: The Acquisitors
1982 The Establishment Man: Conrad Black, A Portrait of Power
1983 True North, Not Strong and Free: Defending the Peaceable Kingdom in the Nuclear Age
1983 Debrett's Illustrated Guide to the Canadian Establishment
1984 Drawn and Quartered: The Trudeau Years
1985 A History of the Hudson's Bay Company: Volume One: Company of Adventurers
1987 A History of the Hudson's Bay Company: Volume Two: Caesars of the Wilderness
1989 Empire of the Bay: An Illustrated History of the Hudson Bay Company
The 1990s
1991 A History of the Hudson's Bay Company: Volume Three: Merchant Princes
1989 Canada: The Great Lone Land
1991 Canada 1892: Portrait of a Promised Land
1993 Promise of the Pipeline
1995 Nortel, Northern Telecom: Past, Present, Future
1995 The Canadian Revolution: From Deference to Defiance
1996 Defining Moments: Dispatches from an Unfinished Revolution
1996 Vancouver: The Art of Living Well
1998 The Canadian Establishment: Volume Three: The Titans
1998 Sometimes a Great Nation: Will Canada Belong to the 21st Century?
1998 Canada: The Land that Shapes Us
The 2000s
2002 Continental Reach
2004 Here Be Dragons: Telling Tales of People, Passion and Power (Autobiography)
2005 The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister
2008 Izzy: The Passionate Life and Turbulent Times of Izzy Asper, Canada's Media Mogul
The 2010s
2010 Heroes: Canadian Champions, Dark Horses, and Icons
2010 Mavericks: Canadian Rebels, Renegades, and Anti-Heroes
2011 When the Gods Changed: The Death of Liberal Canada/originally titled: Michael Ignatieff: The Man In Full
2016 Hostages to Fortune: The United Empire Loyalists and The Making of Canada
...............
sadly some of his older books arent rated higher, or there isn't a cover
or blurb for a few of these
Newman wasn't someone i agreed with on his views, but he was a pretty good historian
Pierre Berton and Peter C. Newman are probably the two most interesting Canadian Writers
..........
Chronologically by Goodreads Popularity
The 1950s
25 - 1959 Flame of Power: Intimate Profiles of Canada's Greatest Businessmen
The 1960s
11 - 1963 Renegade in Power: The Diefenbaker Years
23 - 1968 The Distemper of Our Times: Canadian Politics in Transition
30 - 1969 A Nation Divided: Canada and the Coming of Pierre Trudeau
The 1970s
x - 1972 Their Turn to Curtsy: Your Turn to Bow
26 - 1973 Home Country: People, Places, and Power Politics
4 - 1975 The Canadian Establishment: Volume One: The Old Order
12 - 1978 Bronfman Dynasty: The Rothschilds of the New World (published in America in 1979 as King of the Castle: The Making of a Dynasty)
The 1980s
15 - 1981 The Canadian Establishment: Volume Two: The Acquisitors
14 - 1982 The Establishment Man: Conrad Black, A Portrait of Power
24 - 1983 True North, Not Strong and Free: Defending the Peaceable Kingdom in the Nuclear Age
22 - 1983 Debrett's Illustrated Guide to the Canadian Establishment
x - 1984 Drawn and Quartered: The Trudeau Years
1 - 1985 A History of the Hudson's Bay Company: Volume One: Company of Adventurers
2 - 1987 A History of the Hudson's Bay Company: Volume Two: Caesars of the Wilderness
6 - 1989 Empire of the Bay: An Illustrated History of the Hudson Bay Company
The 1990s
9 - 1991 A History of the Hudson's Bay Company: Volume Three: Merchant Princes
x - 1989 Canada: The Great Lone Land
17 - 1991 Canada 1892: Portrait of a Promised Land
28 - 1993 Promise of the Pipeline
x - 1995 Nortel, Northern Telecom: Past, Present, Future
13 - 1995 The Canadian Revolution: From Deference to Defiance
21 - 1996 Defining Moments: Dispatches from an Unfinished Revolution
27 - 1996 Vancouver: The Art of Living Well
8 - 1998 The Canadian Establishment: Volume Three: The Titans
20 - 1998 Sometimes a Great Nation: Will Canada Belong to the 21st Century?
x - 1998 Canada: The Land that Shapes Us
The 2000s
29 - 2002 Continental Reach
10 - 2004 Here Be Dragons: Telling Tales of People, Passion and Power (Autobiography)
5 - 2005 The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister
18 - 2008 Izzy: The Passionate Life and Turbulent Times of Izzy Asper, Canada's Media Mogul
The 2010s
19 - 2010 Heroes: Canadian Champions, Dark Horses, and Icons
16 - 2010 Mavericks: Canadian Rebels, Renegades, and Anti-Heroes
3 - 2011 When the Gods Changed: The Death of Liberal Canada/originally titled: Michael Ignatieff: The Man In Full
7 - 2016 Hostages to Fortune: The United Empire Loyalists and The Making of Canada
August 26, 2019
Wasn't sure how relevant this would be given its age, but it was worth the read to understand the business establishment in Canada in the 70s and how it had evolved from previous periods in Canada's short history.
August 21, 2026
The king of snark-great read and very informative-timeless principles of power and who actually controls Canada
January 23, 2010
I enjoyed this book on the history of moneyed Canadian families
March 13, 2012
Opened a new world of possibility by making me think beyond the next sale, beyond the product I was given . . .
June 11, 2013
an interesting summary of Canada's "Robber Barron's"...all of Peter C. Newman you would want to read...stop here.
April 14, 2014
A real classic about Canadian politics.
March 22, 2010
Excellent foundation to the Barons of Canadian Capitalism.
Very readable. Very subversive.
April 23, 2017
Fine read....I usually find anything written about Canada quite boring....and I am a Canuck...but this held my interest....
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews