Although he passed away two years ago this month, the writing of Alberta Report magazine founder Ted Byfield is more relevant than ever.This became especially apparent when the National Post’s December 5 “What’s up with Alberta” email newsletter carried an article about his writing on the Alberta-Ottawa conflict.At a used book sale, reporter Tyler Dawson picked up a copy of Byfield’s 40-year-old book, The Deplorable Unrest in the Colonies, which is a collection of his Alberta Report columns from 1979 to 1982. That was the key period of Pierre Trudeau’s war against Alberta.As Dawson noted, “the thing that struck us about some of what Byfield wrote is just how similar it sounds to what people are saying today.” In fact, “when it comes to energy policy and Trudeau (the first one, though probably the second, too) some of Byfield's words could be nearly recycled in their entirety.”He then provides some helpful examples, viz:This one could easily have been written about the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2021 decision upholding Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax:“Canada, we now realize, is not in fact a federation. It is a unitary state that can be run by the two central provinces for the sole benefit of those provinces and nothing whatever exists in our constitution to defend us against any economic oppression that those provinces choose to impose upon us. Our constitutional guarantees of such advantages as resource control are shams that can be swept aside at any time by the central region.”Keep in mind that was written more than 40 years ago. Despite the best efforts of countless Albertans and other Westerners, this situation remains essentially the same today.Besides the helpful quotes that Dawson provides about Alberta’s fight with Ottawa, there’s another theme in Byfield’s writings that doesn’t appear in his article.Just as important — if not more important — than his analysis of Alberta’s plight within Canada, is Byfield’s warnings about the decline of Western society.This comes out clearly in his foreword to the first volume of his 12-volume history of Christianity, The Christians Volume 1 – The Veil is Torn A.D. 30 to A.D. 70. The West in general — and Canada and the United States in particular — have been abandoning their Christian cultural roots, with severe consequences.As Byfield writes, “That America, indeed the whole Western world, is being wrenched away from its cultural origins has become a self-evident fact.”He wanted North Americans to recognize and restore those foundations: “What are our foundations? Though it has of late become intellectually unfashionable to even think it, let alone say it, the fact is that our cultural origins are almost wholly Christian." "Our founding educational institutions, our medical system, our commitment to the care of the aged and infirm, our concept of individual rights and responsibilities, all came to us through Christianity." "Our best literature, our most enduring music, our finest sculptural masterpieces and many of the greatest paintings in every age are those of professed and dedicated Christians." "Finally, our concept of democracy came to us from the Greeks through Christianity. Is it by mere coincidence that all those nations that have best instituted and preserved democratic government emerged from Christian origins? I don’t think so.”In short, Byfield hoped that his multi-volume history of Christianity would help Canadians and Americans understand “who we are and how we got here. That is, to establish our real roots.”Despite deviations from Christian ideals in certain actions and policies through the centuries, “this is our past, this is our family and knowing who it is and what it has done is the first step in finding our way home.”Finding our way home, really, means finding our way back to God.That’s an unwelcome message in today’s 'progressive' society, but it’s no less true despite its unfavourable reception.Only by returning to their Christian roots will Canada and the US be able to reverse their rapid social, economic and political decline. That was Ted Byfield’s message and he was 100% correct.May he rest in peace, and may the spirit of his writings flourish to the revival of North American society.
Although he passed away two years ago this month, the writing of Alberta Report magazine founder Ted Byfield is more relevant than ever.This became especially apparent when the National Post’s December 5 “What’s up with Alberta” email newsletter carried an article about his writing on the Alberta-Ottawa conflict.At a used book sale, reporter Tyler Dawson picked up a copy of Byfield’s 40-year-old book, The Deplorable Unrest in the Colonies, which is a collection of his Alberta Report columns from 1979 to 1982. That was the key period of Pierre Trudeau’s war against Alberta.As Dawson noted, “the thing that struck us about some of what Byfield wrote is just how similar it sounds to what people are saying today.” In fact, “when it comes to energy policy and Trudeau (the first one, though probably the second, too) some of Byfield's words could be nearly recycled in their entirety.”He then provides some helpful examples, viz:This one could easily have been written about the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2021 decision upholding Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax:“Canada, we now realize, is not in fact a federation. It is a unitary state that can be run by the two central provinces for the sole benefit of those provinces and nothing whatever exists in our constitution to defend us against any economic oppression that those provinces choose to impose upon us. Our constitutional guarantees of such advantages as resource control are shams that can be swept aside at any time by the central region.”Keep in mind that was written more than 40 years ago. Despite the best efforts of countless Albertans and other Westerners, this situation remains essentially the same today.Besides the helpful quotes that Dawson provides about Alberta’s fight with Ottawa, there’s another theme in Byfield’s writings that doesn’t appear in his article.Just as important — if not more important — than his analysis of Alberta’s plight within Canada, is Byfield’s warnings about the decline of Western society.This comes out clearly in his foreword to the first volume of his 12-volume history of Christianity, The Christians Volume 1 – The Veil is Torn A.D. 30 to A.D. 70. The West in general — and Canada and the United States in particular — have been abandoning their Christian cultural roots, with severe consequences.As Byfield writes, “That America, indeed the whole Western world, is being wrenched away from its cultural origins has become a self-evident fact.”He wanted North Americans to recognize and restore those foundations: “What are our foundations? Though it has of late become intellectually unfashionable to even think it, let alone say it, the fact is that our cultural origins are almost wholly Christian." "Our founding educational institutions, our medical system, our commitment to the care of the aged and infirm, our concept of individual rights and responsibilities, all came to us through Christianity." "Our best literature, our most enduring music, our finest sculptural masterpieces and many of the greatest paintings in every age are those of professed and dedicated Christians." "Finally, our concept of democracy came to us from the Greeks through Christianity. Is it by mere coincidence that all those nations that have best instituted and preserved democratic government emerged from Christian origins? I don’t think so.”In short, Byfield hoped that his multi-volume history of Christianity would help Canadians and Americans understand “who we are and how we got here. That is, to establish our real roots.”Despite deviations from Christian ideals in certain actions and policies through the centuries, “this is our past, this is our family and knowing who it is and what it has done is the first step in finding our way home.”Finding our way home, really, means finding our way back to God.That’s an unwelcome message in today’s 'progressive' society, but it’s no less true despite its unfavourable reception.Only by returning to their Christian roots will Canada and the US be able to reverse their rapid social, economic and political decline. That was Ted Byfield’s message and he was 100% correct.May he rest in peace, and may the spirit of his writings flourish to the revival of North American society.
