Newman - Mavericks: canadian rebels, renegades and anti-heroes

POWER IS FOR PRINCES. Yet there is no man or woman worthy of princedom in this volumewhich ranges from chronicling Conrad Blacks zeal to establish his innocence and regain some semblance of legitimacy (plus a hitchhikers earlier tour of the formidable workings his mind), to recounting the last desperate days of John Diefenbaker, the fierce renegade of Tory politics, as he went wacko in his final bid for glory.

Their qualities and fallibilities, and those of the other characters who occupy this book, inevitably concern powerseeking it, using it, abusing it and losing itand very occasionally, regaining it. Far more telling than any of the brooding fantasies contemplated by the bravest of princes were the adventures and misadventures of this posse of mavericks. They fought like hell for their share of the spoilsor moreand since they werentheroes, their survival instinct was more aggressive and powerfully spiked than that of their antagonists.

Maverick is a western term, originally meaning an unbranded range animal separated from its herd. In its urban connotation, it applies to anyone with a highly developed sense of independence who rejects or resists the dictates of adhering to a group. That rogue quality is what provides the narrative arc for the disparate characters in this book. They were masters of their fates, made life-changing decisions regardless of the consequences and perpetuated a new way of looking at the world: to a remarkable degree, they substituted deep-rooted character with personal style. They welcomed risk and never hesitated to overstep their personal prerogatives. Constantly in flight and flux and obsessed by the determination to control their business environment, they were citizens more of their age than of their country.

Of course not all the mavericks in this volume are concerned with finances. The political section is dominated by a profile of the Rt. Hon. John Diefenbaker, the most radical prime minister in the countrys historyeven though he was a Torywho became known for his maverick ideas about Canadian conservatism. Coincidentally, the original title of my political biography of him was Maverick in Power: The Diefenbaker Years. Publisher Jack McClelland, hardened the title to Renegade in Power, which he felt more closely defined his stance. Other mavericks in this book are of interest because they similarly followed no predictable patterns, but found their own path to making a difference.

The Protestant ethic that built Canada was not part of the mission statements of these mavericks, and unlike their predecessors, they believed that wealth, instead of being guarded, ought to be spentlavished, reallyon their favourite charities: themselves. I will never forget standing in the luxurious treehouse bedroom that fashion mogul Peter Nygard had built on his private Caribbean island. He was trying to persuade me that the tropical pleasure dome was just an extension of his primitive Robinson Crusoe approach to relaxing in the sun and appreciating nature. Gee, I dont know, I said, looking around, trying to get into the spirit of the place. Somehow I doubt that Robinson Crusoe had a mirror over his bed, I said, and Nygard did his best to imitate a Trudeau shrug. Then we went down to meet twenty-five of his best naked friends in his oversize sauna.

MAN HAS ALWAYS been alive to the itching in his palm. But only a few remarkable Canadians evolved their acquisitive impulses into economic influence so immense that it grew beyond their control, like a forest fire that feeds on itself. Sir Herbert Holt is a good example: he owned a greater share of Canadian business than anyone before or after him, remaining obsessively anonymous throughout. An unremembered man without friends, his monomaniacal pursuit of money and power culminated in his becoming the richest Canadian who ever lived. During his reign there was scarcely a productive agency inthe country he did not ownor that didnt feel the bite of his rivalry. Then there was Sir Harry Oakes, the gritty, intolerably nasty gold seeker who accidentally found the richest half mile on Earth under an Ontario lake, only to be hacked to death in his Bahamian paradise. No one was ever charged with the crime, since there were too many people who wanted him dead.

The compulsive drive for economic success has been a dominant shaping force in Canadian history, and the hyper mavericks in this book transformed this country from a community of traders and land tillers into one of the worlds most economically animated nation-states. Good examples were E.P. Taylor, who became not only Canadas largest brewer and the owner of our most prized racehorses, but also the founding genius of Argus Corporation, the forerunner of Conrad Blacks Hollinger empire. When I published a fairly critical reconstruction of some of his deals, and he was asked about me, he purred: Well, we all know that Newman is a communist, but Im not going to take him off my Christmas card list, just yet.

My perfect epitaph.

More colourful and more daring was Nelson Skalbania, who was the only one of my Gonzo capitalists who actually papered his bedroom ceiling with $100,000 worth of gold leaf. He bought and flipped million-dollar apartment and office buildings within minutes of each otherand never even bothered to inspect the properties. Then there was the big-city impresario, Garth Drabinsky, who flew too close to the sun too many times. He spent a lifetime yearning for legitimacy and seriously demandedto be sentenced as a mentor for prisoners wishing to learn his tricks of the trade. His conviction and prison sentence were being appealed when this book went to press.

The mania of financial empire building dislodged satisfaction with common achievement. The men in this book were unable to transact business deals without becoming embroiled in them. In the process, they set themselves beyond the prosaic strivings and fallibilities of ordinary citizensand that was what made them interesting. They shared a common strain: being mavericks meant that they obeyed their own laws, and while they viewed the free enterprise system as a beneficial discipline, they were not averse to bending it so it would reward the most deservingnamely, themselves. They shared a deadly act of faith, equating their self-worth with their net worthwhich turned out to be a fatal miscalculation.

While some succeeded brilliantly as individuals, they failed as a class. They could not adjust quickly enough to the new economic environment. Once, business tycoons were social heroesproof to an invidiously competitive society that ability and application could be spectacularly repaid. But as environmental and ethical concerns developed, it became clear that private fortunes did not represent the peak of human evolution.

Because they were mavericks, theirs was a paradoxical kinshipmaintained through incessant jousting and pulling rugs out from under competitors feetof such characters as Victor Rice, who was head of Canadas most venerable company, fired fifty-two thousand of his employees and skipped out onmultimillion-dollar government loans, and the puffed-up Eaton boys, who carelessly drove the countrys marquee department store into the ground.