Canadians might lament the fact that our constitutional motto, Peace Order and Good Government, appears downright boring when compared to the American “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, or the French “liberty, equality, fraternity”. The Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul - spouse to former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson - argued in his book, A Fair Country (2008), that “peace, order and good government” was perceived as “elite” discourse, claiming instead that “peace, welfare, and good government” was more evident in early founding documents and more germane to Canada.[1]
As Saul and others have described it, when the Fathers of
Confederation met in Charlottetown and Quebec City, the phrase “peace, welfare
and good government” was in all the documents.[2] It remained this way until the Liberal
Gladstone government in Britain was replaced on 06 July 1866 by the Earl of
Derby’s Conservative government, with Lord Carnarvon as the new colonial
secretary. Under Carnarvon, all
references to “peace, welfare and good government” were replaced by the
singular “peace, order and good government”.[3]
What happened?
In my view, too much ink has been spilled on trying to
explain this change in the terms of valiant Canadians travelling to London to
achieve independence for the country.
Critics of the change from Welfare to Order assume that the word Order
held negative connotations at the time.
Ask yourself: What was happening elsewhere while these Confederation
conferences were taking place? Could it not
be that the American Civil War (April 1861-April 1865) had sharpened a new
taste for Order?
With this in mind, I would also like to direct readers to
the works of John Stuart Mill, by far England’s most important political
philosopher of the nineteenth century.
He was a Liberal, who took a liking to politics, and he even succeeded
in winning a seat in the British House of Commons. He was in parliament when he voted in favour
of the British North America Act, which established the creation of Canada in
1867.[4] He is also the author of Considerations of
Representative Government, published in January 1861.
In chapter 2 of Considerations, “The Criterion of a
Good Form of Government,” Mill links Order with the idea of Progress, a
prevailing notion in the 19th century. “Order”, he explains, “is not an additional
end to be reconciled with Progress, but a part and means of Progress itself.”[5] To his mind, Order and Progress are not
exclusive of one another but complementary.
So, between Mill and the American Civil War there are palpable reasons
for the use of the word Order instead of Welfare.
What about the word Peace?
It hearkens back at least as far as the Glorious Revolution of
1688-89. It can be found in John Locke’s
Two Treatises of Government, the writing of which predates these events
by about a decade.[6]
And it can be found in the English Bill of Rights (1689), which uses the words
“Unity Peace Tranquility and Safety of this Nation”. Here Peace refers to the peaceful transfer of
power - from the exiled Catholic King James II to the Protestant William of
Orange and his wife Mary (daughter of James II). This peaceful transition also resulted in a
limited monarchy, as it marked the supremacy of parliament alongside the Bill
of Rights. The word Peace may also be
seen to signal the end to the English Civil Wars which occurred earlier in the
mid-17th century.
So, I put it to readers that the words Peace, Order and Good Government
followed from some very non-boring events of the past. Order may also have positive implications as
we look again at our border to the South – and beyond.
[1]
See John Ralston Saul, A Fair Country: Telling Truths about Canada
(Toronto: Penguin, 2008), Chapter 11.
[2] Ibid.,
p. 153. Saul takes his cue from Stephen
Eggleston, “The myth and mystery of POgG”, Journal of Canadian Studies, vol.
31, no. 4, Winter 1996-1997, pp. 80-96.
Saul considers Eggleston to be an “expert”.
[3] Ibid.,
p. 153.
[4]
See Graeme Garrard, “John Stuart Mill and the liberal idea of Canada” British
Journal of Canadian Studies. vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 31-46.
[5]
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty and Other Essays, ed. John Grey (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 223.
[6] See, for example: John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, Book II, paragraph 131.
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