Gauvreau Michael - The hand of God: Claude Ryan and the fate of Canadian liberalism, 1925-1971

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243The Hand of God
Claude Ryan and the Fate of Canadian Liberalism, 19251971
Michael Gauvreau

MICHAEL GAUVREAU

Carleton Library Series 243

McGill-Queens University Press
Montreal & Kingston London Chicago

McGill-Queens University Press 2017

ISBN 978-0-7735-5129-9 (cloth)

ISBN 978-0-7735-5186-2 (ePDF)

ISBN 978-0-7735-5187-9 (ePUB)

Legal deposit third quarter 2017

Bibliothque nationale du Qubec

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This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

McGill-Queens University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Gauvreau, Michael, 1956, author

The hand of God: Claude Ryan and the fate of Canadian liberalism, 19251971 / Michael Gauvreau.

(Carleton library series; 243)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-0-7735-5129-9 (cloth). ISBN 978-0-7735-5186-2 (ePDF). ISBN 978-0-7735-5187-9 (ePUB)

1. Ryan, Claude, 19252004. 2. Intellectuals Qubec (Province) Biography. 3. Qubec (Province) Biography. 4. Biographies. I. Title. II. Series: Carleton library series; 243.

This book was typeset by Marquis Interscript.

To Nancy Christie, the better craftsman

This project of an intellectual biography of Claude Ryan is one that has gestated for nearly two decades. It began as a conversation in the Montreal VIA station with my good friend Ollivier Hubert in 1998, as we talked about what we considered English Canadas mistaken rejection of the Meech Lake Accord. And, while researching an earlier book on the intersection of Catholicism and cultural modernity in Quebec, I had occasion to encounter many of Claude Ryans writings and interventions during the late 1940s and 1950s. However, it was not until the spring of 2006, when Daniel Cere, then director of McGill Universitys Newman Centre, invited me to speak, that the focus on a biography of Ryan crystallized. Dan was a most engaging host, arranging not only a talk about my book on Quebec Catholicism, but a stimulating conversation the following day about Ryans intellectual contribution to the Newman Centre after he left the political scene in 1994, and his place within postVatican II Catholic intellectual life. Dan put me in touch with members of Claude Ryans family, and I owe a particular debt of thanks to his sons, Andr, Patrice, and Pierre, who urged me to undertake this project, answered my initial questions, and, during an event held in early 2014 to mark the tenth anniversary of their fathers death, shared vital material concerning the life of Claudes mother and his brothers during the 1930s. This volume, however, is in no way an official biography: members of the Ryan family have read none of the chapters prior to publication, but it is my earnest hope that these pages will provide a likeness they will recognize.

My research benefited greatly from the interest and support of archivists. In particular, I would like to thank Normand Charbonneau and Estelle Brisson of the Bibliothque et Archives nationales du Qubec, Montreal, who indicated their interest in the project and, most importantly, helped me to navigate the labyrinth of access regulations that now surround the lives of political figures. I salute Estelle Brissons efforts in ensuring that I was the first researcher to obtain access to Ryans valuable correspondence as editor of Le Devoir, which has immensely enriched this study. During my many research trips to Quebec between 2007 and 2011, the support and interest of friends both old and new greatly assisted my labours. La famille LHeureux-Hubert always provided a warm welcome and stimulating conversation when I was away from home; and I was blessed to secure the friendship of Michel Brl and the late Hlne Brl, who shared their reminiscences of Quebec political figures, life during the Quiet Revolution, and, to provide me with relief from Ryans puritanical spirit, taught me how to mix a proper martini! Monique Bruneau generously allowed me permission to reproduce a remarkable photograph of Claude Ryan from her personal collection. At a rather critical juncture, when I was on the verge of abandoning my enthusiasm for the project, Dr Cal Gutkin prodded me to think again about the importance of the values of social liberalism in Canadian life. In January 2013, I was fortunate to have a moment for lunch with Louis Rousseau, whose stimulating conversation urged me to think about Ryans place in a long theological tradition of Catholic reformers, which immeasurably strengthened chapter 3. At an early stage of the project, Professor Robert Gagnon of Universit du Qubec Montral, invited me to present an overview of Ryans relationship to nationalist and Catholic currents in postwar Quebec; and Jean-Philippe Warren, whose own work has done so much to set a new standard and trajectory for intellectual historians in Quebec, asked me twice to contribute articles on Ryans engagement with postwar North American social science and his attempts to build a network of Catholic intellectuals. I thank audiences at McGill Universitys Newman Centre and the Harvard University Conference on Public Intellectuals for their interest and questions about Ryans position in a Canadian trajectory of public intellectuals. Robert Di Pede and Linda Diez of McGill Universitys Newman Centre graciously allowed me to include photographs from the centres collection relating to Claude Ryans personal life and career. I owe a special debt of gratitude to my friend and colleague Lucia Ferretti. Although Ryans political convictions were diametrically opposed to her own, she generously read a large swathe of the manuscript and perceptively alerted me to the need to think more carefully about the tensions between nationalism and individual rights. She represents the epitome of Quebecs welcoming and engaged scholarship.