This week, Montreal columnist and author Mark Abley is my guest as we talk about his latest book, Conversations with a Dead Man: The legacy of Duncan Campbell Scott.
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Scott straddled two centuries in Canada, the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, a period of great change in the country.
More than that however, he is an enigma.
He was lauded in his time as a great poet and writer,
But he was also at the time a highly placed federal bureaucrat who oversaw policies for Canada’s aboriginals, most of which at the time were designed to supress and even eliminate First Nations cultures across Canada.
While still noted for his literary contributions, he is now also reviled for his role in promoting and carrying out what we know now are disastrous and abusive policies for Canada’s aboriginals.
In his book Abley creates an extremely interesting and readable scenario to explore both of these seemingly conflicting aspects of Scott, while also deftly revealing a not very well known and dark period of Canadian history, one that still haunts and has repercussions to this day.
I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation with author Mark Abley
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