Long revered by conservationists and sometimes criticized by historians, founding Commissioner of National Parks James B. Harkin was never previously the subject of a full-length biography and largely remained an enigma. Ted Hart’s new biography redresses this lack and helps clarify his subject’s historical role.
Hart well demonstrates Harkin’s significance as a conservation leader and visionary. The author shows how, by the end of Harkin’s tenure in 1936, he had established numerous national parks and a system of national historic commemoration.
The previous absence of a major work on Harkin may derive from the fact that few of his personal papers have apparently survived. Hart has nonetheless made skilful use of available archival evidence, including the papers of various prime ministers, National Parks records, Harkin’s small collection at Library and Archives Canada (LAC), and Alberta collections.
One item missing from his bibliography is the papers of Mabel Williams, Harkin’s long-time secretary and close associate, which were only recently donated to LAC. Hart makes good use of Williams’ published writings, which provide an important glimpse into Harkin’s conservation philosophy.
The picture that emerges in this biography is that of a savvy idealist. Hart’s treatment reinforces a familiar interpretation of Harkin among conservationists, but he endows it with greater clarity and authority.
Hart references the developing historical scholarship on national parks, but treads rather lightly over some problematic aspects of Harkin’s tenure. For example, left undiscussed are such episodes as the 1936 expropriation of the ancillary reserve of the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation on the north shore of Clear Lake during the establishment of Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba.
While perhaps representative of the treatment of First Nations people in that era, such injustices must also be taken into account in assessments of Harkin’s legacy. Hart is fair in referencing scholars’ criticism of Harkin’s policy regarding predators and instrumentalist approaches to domesticating wild grazing animals in the Arctic, although his disagreement with some of their criticisms is also apparent.
Hart’s consistent focus on the contexts surrounding Harkin’s tenure enables readers to better understand and appreciate the commissioner’s decision-making process. We’re given a first-hand look at the myriad pressures bearing upon national parks administration in its formative period, and Hart demonstrates Harkin’s skilful navigation between competing interests and viewpoints.
While we learn little about Harkin as a person, Hart has given us a sensitive portrait of Harkin the administrator. This is an important contribution in itself, as current historiography has faulted Harkin and his peers for being “pragmatic bureaucrats rather than visionaries,” overlooking the idealistic strains that motivated Harkin in particular.
In Hart’s account, pragmatism is no sin. He sees it as a necessary part of advancing government programs and views outstanding public servants as equally deserving of biographical treatments as sports stars, generals, and scientists.
In terms of its technical attributes, the book is nicely laid out, its illustrations are generally of high quality, and it contains a comprehensive index. While tending to underplay the controversies, Hart’s biography represents a step towards rebalancing the historiography of both national parks and governmental service in Canada — perhaps akin to the balanced approach he finds so admirable in his hero James B. Harkin.
Recent surveys indicate that our country’s national parks and national historic sites are among the most valued symbols of Canadian identity. As the system of national parks prepares to mark its centennial in 2011, Ted Hart’s insightful and engaging biography of J.B. Harkin underscores both Canadians’ debt to the system’s founder and the continuing resonance of his vision of protecting this country’s natural and cultural heritage for all time.
— Lyle Dick (Read bio)
Lyle Dick the author of Muskox Land: Ellesmere Island in the Age of Contact, winner of the 2003 Innis Prize, and Farmers "Making Good" (revised edition 2008), co-winner of the 1990 Clio Prize.