Quotes from John Ralston Saul

In a society of ideological believers, nothing is more ridiculous than the individual who doubts and does not conform.

Canada is now the oldest continuous democratic federation in the world, in good part because most of our leaders, and certainly the best ones, have respected most of these written and unwritten rules. Other countries – almost all our allies and friends – have suffered civil wars, coups, dictatorships, sharp breaks, because they could not maintain the flexibility and respect for the Other that these rules, in particular the unwritten rules, create.

In reality high profits tend much more to raise the price of (a piece of) work than high wages. (quoting Adam Smith - ch. (III - From Corporatism to Democracy)

Remember, we non-Aboriginals were signatories. As a non-Aboriginal, I say we. And through Canada's signatures we committed ourselves to the permanency of our relationship with the words that these treaties would stand "as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the river flows." These were and remain binding legal documents. Perhaps more important, with our signatures we committed our government to act always with the Honour of the Crown.

the Canadian government – the power of each of us as citizens – has been and still is breaking the law. Breaking it by misusing it – by resorting to avoidance, by pretending to be doing what it isn't, by legalistic and administrative manipulation, by malingering. These are standard tricks far beneath the dignity of the Crown. For

technologies come and go. Economic structures evolve and change. Society adjusts. But democratic basics persist in spite of the Tofflers, Gingrich and the chorus of corporate voices. (III - From Corporatism to Democracy)

If you cannot create, then buy a company that can. In particular, the large corporations buy small, personnally owned companies that have made breakthroughs in particular areas. They are buying creativity, though the immediate rush this produces doesn't last long. Once integrated into an administrative atmosphere, the creativity is sucked out of them. (IV - From Managers and Speculators to Growth)

To live in delusion is to live in the comfort of ideology.

The only other option we have is for the government to hand control of the land to a dozen directors of a corporation sitting in Toronto or New York with no long-term interest. They simply want to extract the minerals or timber, extract the wealth from the land, and move on. That is the business they are in. You

Isn't there a risk, you wonder, of indigenous leaders being corrupted by the big corporations? No doubt. But aren't we already living with the problem of government officials, politicians, civil servants, political parties and mayors being corrupted by these companies or – to put it in gentler terms – agreeing to act in a compliant manner? They

Basic technical training is, of course, useful. But to treat it as anything more than that is to lock students into technology that will be obsolete by the time they graduate. The time wasted will also deprive them of the basic training in knowledge and thinking that might help them adjust to the constant changes outside. (IV - From Managers and Speculators to Growth)

European nightmare – the delusional myth of one blood, one race, one people. And

This reality of the Honour of the Crown is an important Aboriginal contribution to justice for all Canadians. In fact, I believe that non-Aboriginals could use it in many government-related cases. Chief Delbert Guerin, who led this long and difficult fight, died in May 2014. He was one of the great figures of contemporary Canada. By formally reintroducing ethics into the core of public administration, he changed the way we must think of ourselves. We owe him a great deal.

Such sudden respectability for undisciplined self-interest is one of the most surprising developments of the last three decades. It seems to indicate just how confused our society has become.

The fundamental issues are treaties, power and capital. Are we able to be honest enough with ourselves to accept this? Do we want a settlement or not? The shape and direction of the country depends on how we act. This must become a political issue.

At worst it was perhaps malevolent mediocrity.

Richard Atleo's Principles of Tsawalk

Voters do not choose prime ministers; they choose representatives. And the voters' muscle is expressed through the right of their representatives to give their confidence to governments and to remove it. If the ability of the representatives to give or remove their confidence is interfered with, we are no longer a democracy.

These treaties were signed not by the government but by the Crown, and therefore by the state, in the name of the people. And while our obligations are legal, they are first of all ethical.

Guerin and Delgamuukw are two examples of the continuing ability of Aboriginal peoples to shape not just how Canada functions or will function, but how Canada imagines itself. The Court's decisions demonstrate how Canada does not exist or function merely in the narrative of the British or French philosophy of governance. It

Now, with the Transparency Act, the government has set out to reveal wrongdoing by chiefs, not the Department. There is nothing wrong with the act except the context, the attitude and the political purpose.

The] passive assertion of superstitious men waiting for Destiny to fell them . . . is an attitude that most sensible men and women can easily reject. But rejection means assuming responsibility. And in our elites there is no desire to initiate changes which would insert the concept of responsibility into that of power. Only a persistent public commitment by the citizenry could bring such a thing about.

during the winter of 2012–2013, the Federal Court ruled that Métis and non– Status Indians had the same rights as Status Indians under the Constitution. This gives

There is a great deal more to ignorance than the lack of management methods or scientific research. The evils of ignorance come first from not understanding where you are or what that means. French